Captain's Log

Dales 30

The weather forecast was for showers. Our current campaign in the Dales had not been blessed with good weather. It was grey and dreary as I parked up in Malham Tarn’s carpark and we got out of the car to get kitted up. We were hit by a cold wind and we put our anoraks on for warmth. Despite the poor weather prospects we were going up high today, up to the summit of Fountains Fell (or Fountains Abbey, as the Kapitan would later call it). To be fair, the Cistercian monks of the abbey once owned the land for sheep grazing. From the summit of the fell, we’d follow its broad ridge southward to Knowe Fell. We’d then drop down to a lower level and use the Pennine Bridleway as a route back to the carpark at Malham Tarn.

I’d done Fountains Fell as part of my Dales 30 Venture (see All’s Well On Fountains Fell). The Kapitan, Cabin Boy and Ted hadn’t ticked it off though and so I was venturing up there again for their Dales 30 tick list. In fact, this would be Ted's very first Dales 30 peak.

Malham Tarn

By the time we reached the track alongside Malham Tarn, the wind had dropped and we started to feel a lot warmer. Malham Tarn looked like a desolate place on such a grey day. The distant hills were capped with mist. We made our way around the Lodge and then diverted away from the tarn, across fields on the Pennine Way path. In fact, the Pennine Way would take us right to the top of Fountains Fell. Halfway across the fields we encountered twenty or so cows coming towards us along the footpath. As we got closer a couple of the calves started a short run towards us. I wondered if they might set the whole herd off running. The Cabin Boy started to panic and we quickly climbed the hillside on our right to bypass them. Fortunately, they didn’t follow us. The Cabin Boy didn’t relax until we got through the stile into the next field. The view to Fountains Fell opened up. At least, the lower half of it opened up; the upper half was cloaked in mist. 

Fountains Fell

After Tennant Gill Farm we started the long climb up the side of Fountains Fell.  The advantage of tackling the hill from this side is that the path is always gradual and the ascent does not feel like a great effort. It does feel like a long way though; especially when we entered the mist and we lost any view to gain our interest and distract us from the plod. The southerly wind even assisted us to some extent, but it did make it colder as we approached the top. Three large cairns, built out of mine works debris loomed out of the mist and we used their meagre protection from the wind to have a coffee break. After a rest we left the Pennine Way and went in search of the old mine workings. Note that there is a sign on the Pennine Way that warns you not to stray from the footpath because of the mine workings. The ones with their shafts disappearing into an abyss are fenced off and so you’d have to be unlucky to stumble into them. We visited three of these shafts, one of which was capped by a stone structure. The summit of Fountains Fell is flat and we followed a vague track through the mist to the summit cairn. It would be easy to miss in very bad visibility. That was the Dales 30 peak ticked. Ted looked happy.

We started heading south on an even vaguer track. Fountains Fell Tarn should have been over to our left but it was lost to the mist. The track disappeared and a wall appeared on our right. We used this as a navigational handrail to the small cairn that indicated Fountains Fell South Top. More wet moorland plodding brought us to a high stone wall that seemed to block our route southwards. I remembered this from the last time I was up here. On that occasion I thought that it would be impassable. Fortunately I discovered a stone step stile  (near to the junction with the north-south wall) that allowed me to get to the other side. I found the same stile today and we all climbed over and continued our journey southwards. Navigation was now easy since a wire fence ran along the spine of the fell to Knowe Fell. We trudged on through the bog and wet grass. Nearer to Knowe Fell I noticed that the wire fence had recently been replaced; a change since the last time I was here. Occasionally the mist rolled back and we could look eastwards down Fountains Fell's slope to Tennant Gill Farm and Malham Tarn. Just as quickly, the mist would roll back in again. Eventually a familiar concrete pyramid appeared out of the mist and we were soon standing next to Knowe Fell's summit trig. 

On my previous walk I’d climbed a more or less  direct route from the road, at Henside to the south west, to the summit of Knowe Fell. The route had been trackless and I’d wondered whether I might have been better making use of the bridleway shown on the OS map to the southeast. I tried this alternative route today. This turned out to be a poor decision. The initial descent to the southeast was trackless and the bridleway non-existent. We walked along a boggy track left by an ATV instead. We all jumped as we disturbed a Buzzard feeding off the carcass of a sheep. The large bird flew away and then soared in circles until we’d left the area. I eventually spotted the bridleway and we made our way across to it. It wasn’t much of a path, but it did bring us to a gate that let us through a stone wall to the next part of the fell. We were below the mist level now and so we at least had a view. We followed the bridleway to the single track road at Henside. 

Black Hill 

A tarmac plod took us back towards Malham Tarn. There were a few cars that came by us on the single track road, but it was safe enough. Near to Capon Hall we turned off the road to head off on a footpath around Black Hill. There was a stile-fingerpost combination that we had to traverse to get over a stone wall. It turned out to be quite a challenge since the fingerpost overhung the standing area on top of the stile, making the traverse tricky. We all managed to contort our way across it without impaling ourselves. The OS map indicated a track heading across Black Hill’s  western flank to meet with the Pennine Bridleway to the south. In reality this track disappeared well before reaching the bridleway. We may have been better just setting a bearing over the summit of Black Hill since the Pennine Bridleway was an unmissable target on the other side. It was a bit of a relief to reach the solid surface of the bridleway and we set off westwards towards Malham Tarn. 

Pennine Bridleway

I noticed that somebody had painted a small picture on a rock embedded into the track. It showed the outline of what looked like a horse, a sun, an enigmatic outline of a figure, and the words ‘Kendal Mint Cake.’

‘There must be a story behind that’ I said to the Kapitan and Cabin Boy.
‘A horse must have come along here called Kendal Mint Cake," said the Kapitan. The Kapitan has one, or maybe two, positive attributes, but perhaps creative thinking isn’t one of them. 

The winter sky drew in darker as we made our way eastwards. I was convinced that it was going to rain. It was easy, flat walking along the bridleway, but it still seemed a long way. Limestone scars started to appear that drifted downwards towards Malham Cove, that was hidden from us. We crossed a road and climbed through a gap in the scar at Langscar Gate. My heart sank when we saw cattle grazing the area on the other side. Fortunately, our path went around them and they took no interest in us. On reaching the carpark we took our boots off and climbed into the car as the first of the rain started. Perfect timing.   

It had been a long walk today. It was unfortunate that we’d walked most of it in mist since normally there are epic views off Fountains Fell. At least the rain held off and we remained dry…well apart from our feet. The Kapitan, Cabin Boy and Ted were happy to have ticked off another Dales 30 peak.