Fountains fell and other plans

 

Its probably a good idea just to go over current walking plans, so that anybody who’s interested can do whatever it is you do when you’re interested in something.

There’s a theme running about climbing all of the Yorkshire dales 2000 foot tops. This is going well just now and the next victims to the Knipe boots and paws are Fountains fell and Darnbrook Fell this coming Sunday (29th)

I’ve also just decided a new theme for the winter, which will be local County Durham walks. this is my contribution to saving petro-chemicals and also my own petrol money at the same time. Walks will either be very doggy friendly or , at least, discrete. the dog is coming with me anyway. They’ll be easy for me to get to if it snows a lot, too….

There’s a couple of additional walks in there too, as special Christmas offers….

So, here’s the programme for the rest of November and for December:

27 November Elephant Trees from Wolsingham

29 November Fountains and Darnbrook Fells from Arnclife

6 December Slit Vein, Rookhope from Westgate

8 December Crookrise and Cracoe Fells from Embsay with Martin Banfield

13 December Dodd Fell Hill from Hawes

22 December Winter solstice Dead Stones howff from Killhope Cross (time tba)

24 December Drumaldrace from Semer Water

27 December Fell Head from Tebay

31 December Middlehope Moor from Cowshill

Everything starts at 09:30. If it snows a lot, or the roads are very icy or something, it may be a bit later.

Some of the walking will be after dark, so lights will be needed

North Pennines Night Walking

And now for something completely different…. A man with a doorbell up his nose.

Actually, nothing to do with nasal doorbells – as winter draws on and the nights are getting longer, there comes a time when all good walks either start or end in the dark.
Theres also always the possibility that due to some misfortune, it will go dark in the middle of a walk.
So, I decided to have a walk in the dark – to sort of, get accustomed to the idea and, frankly, to do something different.
I parked up at Cowshill in Upper Weardale at 9:00 pm and crept passed one or two farms and a keeper’s house quietly so as not to disturb any dogs (unsuccessful) and arouse any suspicions as to where I might be going dressed like a hillwalker at that time of night.
After passing over the dam at Burhope Reservoir, I plodded up the long road on to the high Weardale/Teesdale ridge. For this, I didn’t need a light, but once off the road, I switched it on and bagged the first top – High Field – a stony place at 708 metres
Navigation along this ridge is specially easy because there’s a fence to follow, which goes all the way to Killhope Cross. Parts of the fence are new, though, and don’t appear on my map, so it’s a bit of a leap of faith to follow the thing at first.
I soon hit some very deep and squelchy bogs and, after the first dunking, I decided to try my bootless walking theory and removed my boots and socks.
This was a cold shock at first, buit once you stop worrying about wet socks (no socks), the peaty bogs are actually quite pleasant and even knee-deep sucking slutch was no hindrance – I just battered on through. Soft peat, hard peat, sand and stones, grass and heather.... but nothing painful!
A yellow half-moon appeared just after High Field and when it broke through a cloud, I could turn off my light and walk by moonlight.
The thing I noticed the most was the absolute and total silence. It was a windless night and would have been frosty if it happened in just a few more weeks time. A really cold, frosty, moonlit night up here would be absolute magic.
I could see the orange glow from Durham/Tyneside, and the occasional light in the sky, but apart from that, it was just me and the stars and the moonshadow.
I pressed on to Burnhope Seat , at 746 metres, tonight's high point, and, further to Dead Stones 710 metres, where I spent an hour or so hunkered down inside the howf.
Rebooted, the next part, over Lambs Head was tough. Here, I met a maze of bogs and hags and at one point I seemed to have lost the ability to balance. I teetered from tussock to bog hole. It took an age to get to the trig point on Highwatch Currick. I began to be very late and I couldn’t get a mobile signal to send a message home that I would be late.
Dawn dawned as I reached Cowshill and, after driving a little way down Weardale, my text message was sent. I got three in return – a missed call from home, a “if you don’t reply to this, I’ll come and get you” message and an acknowledgement of my text.
Next time, I should give these things more time. It’s a lot slower in the dark.
This walk would be absolutely cracking on a fine, clear, cold and frosty January night with a big moon. But not an experience to have with the chatter of companions.

14 Miles and 1800 feet of climbing