Goodbye to the Dales

At the start of this year I had six summits remaining on my ticklist that were in, or very close to the border of, the Yorkshire Dales.  My two previous walks had bagged four of those tops and the thought of doing the third walk appealed as its completion would mark a milestone in my bagging quest and I could move on to another area.

At a misty Lamps Moss layby I donned my boots on and reset my GPS primed before starting on the narrow path and over the limestone pavement leading to Dukerdale.  There was no clear path on the ground and a bit of meandering was needed until reaching a fingerpost at a track above Rollinson Gill.  Continuing eastwards over boggy ground and peat hags led upwards into thickening mist, heading to the plateau and on to White Mossy Hill.  I located the highpoint, marked by a couple of small embedded boulders.  Despite the poor visibility there was definitely no higher ground to create any doubt about where the summit was.

Following a track northwards I soon reached some flagstones, laid to combat erosion, and then the path junction at the county border marking the seasonal variations of the Coast-to-Coast path.

the Yorkshire - Cumbria boundary

The trig point is not quite the highest point of Nine Standards Rigg so I looked for the small cairn just to the south-east.  Although not technically within the Yorkshire Dales National Park, the Rigg was the last of my ticklist summits within the Yorkshire Dales area.

Nine Standards Rigg trig point

I moved on towards the toposcope commemorating the wedding of the (then) Prince of Wales and Lady Diana Spencer, erected by the Kirkby Stephen Fell Search Team.

Nine Standards Rigg toposcope

But the highlight of the walk is at the northern end of the Rigg – the Nine Standards.  The still poor visibility didn’t detract from how impressive the cairns were and it is a place to linger to appreciate the stone artistry.  The possibility of a revisit, unlike many of the Dales’ summits, is very likely.

most of the Nine Standards

I dropped down to Rollinson Gill, trying my best to keep my feet dry and rejoined the path above the previously visited fingerpost before retracing my steps back to Lamps Moss.

Although I had completed my Dales ticklist, since I had previously visited Green Hill, an updated survey had “moved” the summit.  So, for the sake of accuracy, I drove down to Leck Fell, put on my boots again and started along the shooters’ track.  At the shooting hut, the track continues for a short while, before a cross-country ascent over rougher ground to reach the ridge.

I followed the wall to the “old” summit and the spot height before climbing over the wall to reach the “new” summit, now firmly situated in Yorkshire.  And now, my ticklist summits in the Dales had no ambiguity about whether I could claim them all.

Gragareth from Green Hill

Along the ridge to Gragareth was straightforward and just before the trig point I met a young man who was holding a Nuttalls guidebook.  He had visited the trig but I pointed out to him that the trig wasn’t the summit.  He headed for the small cairn marking the true highpoint and then waved over to me in thanks.  I touched the trig and made my way to the cairn before taking a beeline down to the Three Men of Gragareth, a group of three cairns now rivalled by a similar group just to the north.  A final descent over the screes to the lane completed my Yorkshire Dales walks.

Gragareth trig point

Three Imposters of Gragareth

Three Men of Gragareth

Gragareth Revisited

I’d been up here before I added the Moss and Wright lists to my own seemingly never-ending ticklist and with those lists came Gragareth North Top and Green Hill South Top, both of which I might have walked over on the previous visit but I couldn’t be sure.

Eight of us plus Pebbles the dog started the walk from Leck Fell and headed uphill into the fog towards the Three Men of Gragareth.  The cairns made for a welcome photo opportunity, particularly for three women, before we walked to the trig pillar and then the rather nondescript true summit of Gragareth which is marked by a small and unimpressive cairn.  Surely the highpoint of the county of Lancashire deserves something of grander stature!

Gragareth North Top lay just west of the path and was easily bagged although it was probable that I hadn’t previously been to that point.  Green Hill South Top lay on the path and no extra effort was needed with a high likelihood that this had been reached on earlier walk on these hills.

There was a fair amount of snow on the ground but nothing that merited the use of axe or crampons as the recent warm spell had ensured that the ground beneath was not frozen.  There were some colourful exclamations from party members when the occasional bog plunge occurred!  We followed the ridge to Green Hill, Great Coum and the trig point of Crag Hill before descending the broad spur to Bullpot Farm.  From there an easy path led to the bone-dry bed of Ease Gill before we trudged up the long heathery slope of Leck Fell to the cars.

Inevitably, the group was keen for post-walk refreshment and quite by accident we found The Royal Barn in Kirkby Lonsdale, home of the eponymous brewery, where the fine selection of ales and dog-friendly bar provided a very welcoming atmosphere.