The Boggiest Summit

Starting from Buckden, today’s plan was to bag a couple of Nuttalls that overlook the very pretty Wharfedale with Yockenthwaite Moor being first on the list.

I followed the Dales Way on the bank of the River Wharfe to Hubberholme before the first uphill of the day, a good track up to Scar House.  Above the intake wall I never saw another person all day.

I roughly followed a way close to the walls at the side of Strans Gill but staying out of the fenced-off areas enclosing new plantations as part of a Langstrothdale initiative.  None of the recently erected fences were marked on the map but they didn’t add any difficulty to the navigation needed to head towards the summit Yockenthwaite Moor.  The Nuttalls suggest following the wall to its end and then undertake some bog-hopping among the peat hags but I had aimed off and took a more direct route towards the top.  As I neared the trig point in the mist, the hags just to the east assumed a formidable obstacle.  Taking a straight route was impossible and it was a serious challenge to keep my feet dry and avoiding plunging into the peat.  I reached the trig point without much incident but the Nuttalls’ assessment that this is “the boggiest hill in Yorkshire” appeared to have some merit.

Yockenthwaite Moor trig point

Leaving the top and negotiating some more peat hags I took aim for the small building marked on the map.  This turned out to be an abandoned shepherd’s bothy with no roof but it otherwise appeared to be a sturdy structure on an isolated and windswept hillside.  It is worth noting that an approach to the summit directly from the south rather than from the east would be a little more enjoyable and easier on the feet.

I continued to the group of four tarns marked on the Ordnance Survey’s Explorer map only to find them completely dry.  I managed to take some screenshots of my GPS track showing me having walked through the two biggest!

I descended past a limestone crag and having dropped out of the mist I could see the way ahead, up Hagg Beck towards Birks Fell.  This was my plan at the start of the day but I couldn’t steel myself to take on another sizeable slope uphill, especially into the murk, so I decided to leave that summit for another day.

The Dales Way back to Hubberholme was a very pleasant low-level walk with upper Wharfedale showing off its charms with various some falls within the river.  Perhaps I should consider the Dales Way as a route once my legs get too old for the hills!

A Sunday Stroll

On the day before a bank holiday with a good weather forecast and within easy travelling distance from the major Lancashire and Yorkshire conurbations, the Nuttalls above Kettlewell were free of the crowds that almost certainly would be engulfing both the national and Yorkshire 3 peaks.  Despite complaints from some hill-goers that our high places are becoming overcrowded, it’s easy enough to find peace and quiet on the hills if you use some imagination.

Driving through Wharfedale was hampered by the number of cyclists on the road although I left them behind when I drove to the summit of Park Rash Pass – hardly any seemed willing to take on the challenge of such a steep route!  I parked at the top and took aim for Great Whernside, putting a short boggy passage behind me and making my way up a couple of water-eroded gullies to the ridge where the walk to the summit became a very pleasant stroll.  On the way down I had a passing conversation with a paraglider who was bemoaning the lack of breeze – I suppose that each of us has our own definition of good weather!

Pen-y-ghent and Ingleborough from Great Whernside

Great Whernside summit

I reversed my route to the pass and started up the fellside towards Tor Mere Top, a deleted Nuttall but a Bridge summit.  To here, and beyond, the path (for what it was worth!) negotiated hags and boggy terrain until the plateau of Buckden Pike presented itself.  I met only a few other walkers including a couple who sarcastically said that they were “glad it isn’t a wet day”, a sentiment with which I could empathise as the majority of the way up was a peaty mess.  Another encounter was with a family asking if this was the right path to Starbotton – a quick check of the map confirmed it was and I pondered the demise (but maybe it’s always been this way!) of map-reading and navigational skills.  I’m sure that they didn’t realise how lucky they were being able to walk in such good weather.

The final flagged path across the plateau to Buckden Pike’s summit came as a pleasant change.  As with Great Whernside the top afforded an unusual profile of Pen-y-ghent and it is selfishly gratifying knowing that you are seeing familiar mountains from unfamiliar angles.

the path to Buckden Pike summit

Pen-y-ghent from Buckden Pike summit cairn

The solitude of walking on less-frequented routes and summits adds to a greater appreciation of the landscape and, for me, gaining different viewpoints greatly increases the enjoyment of my time on the tops.