Kingsdale, Gragarath, Whernside, Yorkshire. [22.3km] Thu 29nd Nov 2007

With a fairly traffic clear drive I arrived in Kingsdale about 7:15am. Daylight was still slowly emerging as I set off back down the road and then through a gate below Hunt’s Cross and up onto the fell. I joined an old track and plodded steadily up with little to see because of some cloud still swirling around. I was heading in a NW direction towards Marble Steps Pot and it is the first time I am using my new 25K map of this area. I find the new colour scheme that the Ordnance Survey has adopted is pointless and obscures vital details on the map. Why do they do such daft things?

Three chairs on Gregarath.

Approaching Marble Steps I was also approaching mist and light rain. I looked behind to see Ingleborough summit being swept with cloud. So much for the sunny day the Met Office had forecast. It was wet rushes after the pot but eventually I reached the wall which leads up to Gragarath. Following the right side of the wall the going was variable and quite wet in places. I kept climbing steadily and then was in thin cloud. As the gradient flattened I inspected some interesting cairns to my right. The way onwards was still fairly boggy but following the wall at least I wouldn’t get lost. A came across 3 chairs against the wall which must have been brought up for a reason but I can’t think what it could have been.

At Green Hill I turned right and followed the wall down. The gradient soon got rather steep and as I lost altitude I dipped below the cloud and had a bit of a view down to White Shaw Moss. I sat down for a while to enjoy the scenery before continuing. I joined the freshly stoned track at Foul Moss and followed it to the road. I turned right and followed it to the path to the left which leads up to Whernside. As I climbed I didn’t walk into cloud again. The wind had got up but the cloud was blowing away giving some clear patches. By the time I reached the summit Trig Point I had a fairly good view, but no sunshine yet. I also met some people for the first time today. They were sheltering behind the wall and having something to eat. I didn’t stop but turned right and set off down the main path towards Ingleton.

Tree & Ingleborough from Scales Moor.

The main descent route is down to Bruntscar but I left that path and continued along the wall for a more direct line back to my car. There was a minor path there but it was quite wet in places. Eventually I left the bog behind and was walking on limestone escarpment. The views across to Ingleborough were now very nice in the changeable weather. At the end of the Limestone I made the short, steep descent to Twistleton Lane, which is a track, and followed it right to a ford and footbridge over the River Twiss. Just over the footbridge I returned to my car.