It’s been a while. Circumstances have conspired against me. Freezing weather, high winds, rain and a monster bout of sinusitis have curtailed my hill-climbing exploits. But, we’re back and with a bang. What a great day out.
The Descender agreed to come out for a spin. He’s been whinging a bit recently, something about a lack of miles, but the Fred beckons and he needs to up his game!
We set out from Brough Castle and headed south for our first hill. Number 78, Lamps Moss. We’ve both done this on the Etape du Dales, but from the other direction. It was a slow, steady climb up into the mist. The final steep road with a precipitous edge was the highlight.
We soon polished it off and headed down the other side towards Keld. What beautiful country! A mixture of limestone scars and gritstone edges. Lots of stone-walled fields with monopoly hotel style barns dotted the hillsides. We quickly arrived at Thwaite, and set off up Buttertubs (No 49). A steep start led to a fairly easy middle section, finishing with a final steep ramp at 20%. The top came with a struggle as the wind was starting to pick up.
Close by was number 3 on today’s list, Oxnop Scar, which provided the highlight of the day. A steep (25%), rough start brought us to a sharp gravelly corner, I lost grip on this, but made the bend. The Descender was not so lucky. A yell from behind, and I turned to see him sprawled on the floor, still clipped in. What a photo opportunity!
After a quick dust-off and a massage of his bruised pride we were off again. This was a lovely climb, with a vertical limestone scar providing the boundary of the final rise. We descended down a rough single track gated road and were quickly back on the B6270 and soon ensconced in a great little tea shop in Gunnerside. A top up of Yorkshire Tea led to renewed enthusiasm and a return to climbing. A steep hill out of Feethem led onto the final climbs of the day. The first, “The Stang” led quickly and steeply out of the valley to the boundary with County Durham. After a photo stop at the top, we set off on a fast and furious descent back to Langthwaite, only interrupted by a necessary adjustment of my quick release as my front wheel had come loose!
The final climb to Tan Hill was long and drawn out. It only gets 3/10 in the book, but it must have been done in better conditions. We battled strong winds for nearly ¾ of an hour, finally arriving at a misty and very welcome Tan Hill. The highest pub in Britain was notable for its warm interior. A welcome relief from the wind! It’s hard to believe that I was last in the bar here 25 years ago on a Pennine Way trip. My memories are hazy, courtesy of the five pints of Old Peculiar I drank back then! Today was less boozy. A quick cup of tea, two hot tarts and a stroke of the pet lamb and we were back on track for the final descent back to Brough.
57.8 miles, 2380m of ascent.
