Mallerstang

This was the day, the day when the third COVID-19 lockdown ended and travel beyond our local area, although officially discouraged, was allowed.  And after five months since my last day on the hills I decided to head to the Pennines which would likely be quiet of other walkers and social distancing guidelines could easily be followed.

The high ground to the east of Mallerstang Edge has four Nuttalls and the broad ridge didn’t look to have any technical ground but the weather made up for the apparent easy nature of the terrain.  The MWIS forecasted gales, low cloud and persistent rain; they weren’t wrong!

I parked the car at Cotegill Bridge and conditions were awful.  The cloud base wasn’t far above me and the wind was blowing heavily from the west, pushing sheets of fine rain towards the hills.  I don’t usually plan to start walking in the rain and I briefly considered heading straight home but I knew that I would rue the missed opportunity.  I put my gaiters and waterproofs on and was soon heading uphill towards Hell Gill Bridge.

I walked uphill roughly parallel to Jingling Sike before crossing the stream and aiming for Ure Head.  The ground was boggy for most of the way to the summit of Sails where a circular triangulation station marking the top was submerged in water.  Little Fell was a short and simple walk away and was the first Nuttall summit of the route, but the way to the next Nuttall, Hugh Seat, was a bog trot.

There was a shelter at the depression between Hugh Seat and Archy Styrigg and I settled down for some lunch.  Once on the move again navigation was quite straightforward – with the wind coming from the west and my route heading north, as long as my left elbow was cold then I was going the right way!  There were no walls to afford any shelter and a tall slim cairn below Archy Styrigg gave me some respite from the ceaseless wind for a couple of minutes.  I reckon that the wind was a constant 30 miles per hour so far but it got worse from here – probably up to 40 mph – with a constant roar in my ears from the flapping fabric of my hood.

After Archy Styrigg the ground to High Seat had some areas that, in the continuing murk, looked like tarns.  It was an illusion; they were patches of grey grit and stones that looked like tarn beds but not like the usual black peat dried up tarns occasionally found in the Pennines.  They looked quite firm but they contained enough moisture to leave footprints almost an inch deep.

At High Seat I decided to descend to Outhgill and finish the walk along the road, just to get out of the wind as soon as I could.  I had contemplated walking down the top of the Mallerstang edge itself, above Hangingstone Scar, but that would add a couple of miles more in the wind and I was fed up of it.

I took aim for the gap leading to Slow Brae Gill and had to take care on the steep slope that allowed me to lose height quickly.  Marshy ground led to the ford after which the way to the hamlet was easy.

The day had been characterised by wind and bog and this was not a walk for rubbish footwear.  If your boots weren’t waterproof, they would have soon been found out.  Luckily, my new Altberg Tethera boots were only on their second outing and kept my feet completely dry despite the conditions.  However, the incessant wind-driven rain prevented me from taking any photos, for fear of ruining a perfectly good camera but despite the rubbish weather, it was better to be out than sat at home working.