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Helbeck – Mount Ida and Barnarm Scar
Driving over the foggy A66 was quite good practise for the pup, although he did get quite close to that German Wagon at one point and I noticed we got to Brough quite quickly.
So, after parking prettily outside somebody’s house we wandered up the road towards Helbeck. The mist was well down and the drizzle drove in that drizzly kind of way that stops you seeing through your specs.
We passed the red flag indicating that Warcop Training Area was shooting stuff at other stuff but judged that the 3800 metre buffer was well big enough to allow the bagging of Mount Ida. The view was a bit more than 80 metres, so we handrailed stuff – mainly walls and fences and there seemed to be a bit of a rocky ridge with a hint, just a hint of a path to the cairn on the top. We gazed at the lovely view that we couldn’t see from here.
And retraced to the nearest wall, which we handrailed till we got to the bit where it was falling down, where we crossed and descended a stupidly steep and grassy slope with extra steep bits till finally, I spotted a wall below and there, looming out of the mist was the apparently huge and mountainous profile of Barnarm Scar. On such a day, it appears as a remote Scottish Corbett or Munro, but the narrow ridge leading to the well-defined, almost pointy top is not much more than 40 metres from the bottom. And the top has an odd little hole, just big enough to stand in, and , apparently the result of walling off a small rocky bay. The construction seems to be quite ancient and has a selection of herbs and dead birds in the bottom.
The mist cleared a bit as we descended the lovely ridge and returned whence we came, although we used field paths to make a circular change from the outward route back to Brough.
I must say that Barnarm Scar fights well above it’s weight for it’s size. It’s a beautiful, isolated rocky tor, appearing much much bigger than it actually is.
And I wonder why I’ve never visited the Helbeck scars area before. It’s a lovely, lumpy, rocky sort of place, full of interest. I should return on a nicer day.
After this, we visited Great Musgrave for the brief and not-very-exciting bagging of Great Musgrave Hill. It’s on the Pennine Journey route, so if you’ve done that walk, you’ll have bagged Great Musgrave Hill. The enjoyable part of this bit was the long conversation I had with an old chap washing his car - concerning drumlins (Gt Musgrave Hill is a drumlin by the way) and karst and jumping out of perfectly serviceable aircraft (he was a retired paratrooper). Anyway, as we chatted his car-washing water went cold.
We only did five miles. There’s a map below for anybody with a couple of hours to spare who might be passing by Brough on the A66 and feels the need for some lovely karst scenery.
I drove back. That dog’s a nutcase.
4 comments:
Looks dreich Mike. Good to see Lucky is picking up his driving skills.
You need to show consideration to new drivers.
Been to Brough a few times but i don’t remember going up there. Lovely area.
Well that's definitely a route I haven't done!
I'd forgotten about this post!
dawn - driech! Lucky's a bit mad at the moment. He'll never get insured..
Alan - Get yourself up Barnarm scar - but only if you're passing that way - its too far to come for a four mile walk!
Chrissie - I can't believe it!
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