Great Shunner Fell (716m), Lovely Seat (675m) and Dodd Fell Hill (668m) 12th December 2009

 

Lovely Seat

 

Great Shunner Fell (716m)

I parked the car at the Buttertubs Pass, at a parking area by the cattle grid near the summit. It was foggy and I could see only a few feet in front, so I had to concentrate on my navigation from the start. I started walking at 10.40 am along a wet and boggy track, before meeting an area of peat hags on Hood Rig. Beyond the peat hags a path followed the the fence that climbed over Little Shunner Fell to Great Shunner Fell. Apart from some boggy areas the path was easy to follow and this made navigation easy. The fog didn’t lift at all on the ascent even though I could see blue sky overhead from time to time. The path connected to the Pennine Way and from here it was a short distance to the stone shelter on the summit. The ascent had taken an hour but the fog hid any view, so after some hot soup I started the descent back to the Buttertubs Pass. When I got below Little Shunner Fell the fog lifted, revealing Lovely Seat towering above. I reached the car exactly 2 hours after leaving it.

 

Great Shunner Fell from Lovely Seat

Lovely Seat (675m)

After eating lunch in the car I set off for Lovely Seat. A fence climbed up the hillside and although the going was wet and boggy lower down once the slope steepened a path emerged that followed the fence line. As I climbed higher there were good views of Great Shunner Fell, Dodd Fell Hill and Pen-y-ghent, although mist enveloped me before I reached the summit. I arrived at the at the top at 2.30 pm but I had no view despite being able to see the sun and patches of blue sky. I stayed a little while in case the mist lifted but when it showed no sign of doing so I descended back to the car. I got to the car at 1.55 pm, a total time of 50 minutes.

 

   The trig on Dodd Fell Hill

Dodd Fell Hill (668m)

I drove through Hawes and on to the road to Kettlewell before taking a narrow dead end road called Cam High Road. I parked on the grass verge by the Pennine Way and set off at 2.45 pm. There was about an hour before sunset but this road lies at over 500m so I only had a short ascent to the summit. I walked along the Pennine Way at first before taking to the open hillside just after crossing a gate. The fog had completely lifted and there was bright sunshine. It was a beautiful winter’s afternoon, with lovely views to Buckden Pike, Pen-y-ghent, Ingleborough and along the dale formed by Snaizeholme Beck. On the open hill there were sheep tracks to help but the going was mostly wet and boggy. I reached the trig on the summit at 3.15 pm and stayed for 10 minutes to enjoy the view to the main hills of the Yorkshire Dales in the pleasant sunshine. I descended on a more direct line to the Pennine Way and followed this to the car, reaching it at 3.50 pm.

 

Buckden Pike in the late afternoon sunshine

 

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Peel Fell 602m 23rd November 2009

 

Heading for Peel Fell

 

Peel Fell is in England by 50 metres and it was Chris’ last English Marilyn. It was grey and damp, with rain from time to time, as Chris parked the car by the side of the road just outside Kielder and near the track that runs up to Deadwater Fell. We started at 10 am, walking up this track and through the forestry. The wind increased as we climbed and when we got out of the forest was quite strong. The rain became heavy and continuous, the mist came down and it wasn’t very nice. We were sick of rain and getting wet. We followed the track up to the Dewey of Deadwater Fell, with it’s trig and summit communications masts.The other side of Deadwater Fell a wet and boggy path, known as the Kielder Stane Walk, headed for Mid Fell. It was so wet underfoot that it was difficult to know which was worse, the bogs or the tussocks at the side of the path. On top of Mid Fell there was a large cairn with a cross on top, known as the Riever’s Cross. We continued to follow the path over the same sort of boggy terrain to Peel Fell, reaching the summit at 12.30 pm. We had a beer to celebrate Chris’ English completion and a quick bite to eat and after a 10 minute stay we descended back along the path. When we got to the track we took the branch that descended the other side of Deadwater Fell, without visiting the summit again. We made the mistake at one point of descending a mountain bike track, but this was hard work, so we ignored the other MTB tracks and kept to the track. We reached the car at 3 pm in heavy rain and 10 minutes later we were on our way home.

 

Chris at the summit of Peel Fell

 

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Creag na Criche 456m and Knock of Crieff 279m 22nd November 2009

Creag na Criche

 

There were 4 of us, Chris, Jon, Alison and I, who set off from the small car park by the ford in Little Glen Shee at 11.15 am. It had been sunny but by the time we started walking it was clouding over, although the rain didn’t arrive until we were on the hill. We followed a track that climbed around the hill until we came to a gate. After climbing the gate we took to the open hill, and although there were faint paths in places it was tough going at times. We had trouble identifying the top as there were so many lumps and bumps but after heading for the wrong bump we found the right one. We reached the cairn at 12.15 pm and by this time it was raining heavily, it was windy, and it wasn’t very pleasant. We started the descent at 12.20 pm and took a different line to the track. Once on the track we followed it back to our starting point, reaching the car park at 1 pm.

 

Creag na Criche

 

Chris drove Alison and I at the bottom of the Knock of Crieff as he had no desire to climb it again. Alison rushed on ahead and I climbed the hill in a more leisurely fashion. The path climbed through the forest to a viewpoint, although this isn’t the summit. The view took in the Lomond and Ochil Hills, and a misty Ben Chonzie and Beinn Each. The path continued through an area of felled trees and entered the conifer plantation near the summit. There is a ciarn marking the summit, which I reached after 25 minutes walking. Alison was there and we descended together, reaching the road after a 25 minute descent.

 

A cloud covered Ben Chonzie

 

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Ben Ledi (879m) 21st November 2009

The swollen Garbh Uisge

 

The weather forecast was dire, storm force winds, heavy rain and flooding but that didn’t stop Chris and I from heading for the Coireachrombie car park just north of the Pass of Leny on the A84. It had been a sunny morning but by the time we started walking at 10.05 am it was clouding over. There was a clear path all the way to the top so navigation would be easy if the weather got bad. Early on there were vies to Stirling Castle, the Wallace Monument at Stirling, and the Ochils. Above us the craggy east face of Ben Ledi rose into the clouds that were fast descending but we just followed the path into the mist. Lower down we were sheltered from the wind but once we were on the south east ridge the full force of the wind hit us. It was far from storm force though and the rain wasn’t too bad, the worst being the boggy nature of the path. We reached the trig on the summit at 12.10 pm, 2 hours and 5 minutes after setting off. It was windy, cold and raining on the top and we only stayed for 5 minutes. Shortly after starting the descent the rain came down heavily and the descent was grim and unpleasant. At least we were sheltered from the wind once we got off the the south east ridge and we reached the car at 1.55 pm, a total of 3 hours 50 minutes. We had lunch in the car and whiled away the weekend by looking around the shops in Stirling.

 

Chris at the trig on Ben Ledi

 

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The Menteith Hills: Beinn Dearg 427m and Craig of Monievreckie 400m 20th November 2009

Beinn Dearg in the rain

 

Beinn Dearg 427m

There is room to park a car at the entrance to the track at NN617047 but there was a car already there when we arrived so Chris parked the car in the lay-by opposite.We started walking at 10.40 am up the steep track which led to Ben Gullipen. It had been sunny on the drive to the hill but the sun had disappeared and we had frequent heavy showers for the rest of the day. As we climbed towards the communications tower on Ben Gullipen there were views of the Ochils, Stirling Castle, the Gargunnock and Fintry Hills, Uamh Bheag, Ben Ledi and Ben Venue but it was hard to enjoy due to the heavy showers and strong wind. From Ben Gullipen a rough wet path descended to the col below Beinn Dearg. I lost the track here and didn’t see that Chris had gone left. I made the mistake of climbing over a stile and I ended up climbing some small vegetated crags and wading through deep heather. It was hard work and to make it worse I climbed a small subsidiary top when I didn’t need to. I reached the summit at midday, 5 minutes after Chris, although his ascent had been easier than mine. From the top there were views of Earl’s Seat, Meikle Bin in the Campsies and Duncolm in the Kilpatricks, as well as the hills we had seen earlier. We started the descent at 12.10 pm by following the wet path by which Chris had ascended the hill. This became a quad bike track and after crossing a stile the path disappeared. We traversed some rough, waterlogged ground before reaching the track, which was followed to the car. The whole round trip took us two and a half hours.

 

  Chris descending Beinn Dearg towards Ben Gullipen

 

Craig of Monievreckie (400m)

Chris drove us round to the Braeval Forestry Commission car park and we had lunch in the car. We started the walk at 2 pm by walking up a forestry track and following the red route. At NN538013 a clear path left the track and climbed through the forest. After a walker’s gate the open hillside was reached and to our surprise the path just kept going. It went over the 393m foretop and all the way to the summit, which was reached after an hour and ten minutes. Looking out over central Scotland the extent of the flooding could be appreciated, and more rain was to come. The view took in the Campsies, Gargunnock and  Fintry Hills, the Kilpatricks, Ben Ledi, Ben Venue and Ben Lomond. We descended after a five minute stay at the top, contoured round the 393m foretop and endured more heavy rain. We got back on to the path just before the gate and then retraced our outward route to the car. The whole walk was a 2 hour round trip and we celebrated with a small beer before setting off.

 

  Chris nearing the summit of Craig of Monievreckie

 

Descending Craig of Monievreckie

 

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Turner Cleuch Law 551m 19th November 2009

Chris climbing to the summit

 

The drive north was wet, really wet. The Lake District was flooded, people had died but what did Chris and I do? We climbed a Marilyn! Driving through the Southern Uplands was incredible, flooded valleys, swollen rivers, and even a car that had come off the road. We took the road over the Yarrow Water to get to Turner Cleuch Law, the river was incredibly high but we carried on, determined to climb our hill. The car was parked by the side of the road, at NT282290 and we followed a track that climbed the hillside by the side of the forest. Conditions were highly unpleasant and climbing upwards in the lashing rain we seriously doubted our sanity. We reached the unmarked summit after 25 minutes walking, a thankfully short time. It was windy and the rain felt like needles in the face. After a few photos we turned tail and fled down the way we had come, the round trip taking 45 minutes. However, our adventure had only begun …

We had to head back towards the Yarrow Water and an hour and a half after passing over the river, it had burst it’s banks and was flowing in the road. It looked iffy but Chris went for it in his 4WD and we made it. At one point he was driving in the river as it was impossible to separate the two and the river was flowing in the same direction as the road. The water on the road became shallow and then we came to the junction with the A708 Moffat to Selkirk road. For about 100 yards to the left and right of the junction the road was under deep water and it looked touch and go whether we would make it. Luckily our route was straight on and straight uphill. After that we had no more problems but another hour and we wouldn’t have made it through the Yarrow Water.

Chris on the summit

 

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