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Contents : PENNINE WAY       Introduction Day 4 Day 9 Day 14   Prep and Planning Day 5 Day 10 Day 15   Day 1 Day 6 Day 11 Day 16   Day 2 Day 7 Day 12 Day 17   Day 3 Day 8 Day 13 Prep Runs                     SPECTACULAR VIEWS FROM TWO GREAT FELLS ON THE PENNINE WAY     NATIONAL TRAILS GUIDES UK - DETAILED DESCRIPTIONS & GALLERIES           Day 11 :: Two Great Fells :: Thwaite to Horton in Ribblesdale :: 17 miles           As usual I started the day with a yoga workout.  I was very tired, having slept last night next door to a couple who chatted until the early hours of the morning and resumed their chit chat at 6.20 am.  All I could do to dampen the sound was to wear my headphones and play waterfall and river recordings I had made the afternoon before. Today’s run was to be completed in two stages.  Originally I had planned to run 23 miles, but through bad planning on my part I had not taken into account the severity of the route to be covered today.  I had also acquired a minor injury to my seat and I was afeared least I overdo it today and render myself unable to complete the remainder of my run.   With some last minute re-planning I was able to reduce my route to 17 miles by omitting some stretches of road between Hardraw and Dodd Fell. I would be running up and over Great Shunner Fell between Thwaite and Hawes.  This is a considerable run, rising to a height of 710 metres.  Rachel would meet me at Hardraw where the Pennine Way descends to the road and village.  She would then drive me to the foot of Cam Fell which I would ascend to Cam End via the Dales Way and there rejoin the Pennine Way and descend to Ling Gill, pass Old Ing Farm and continue along Birkwith Moor past Jackdaw Hill and Sell Gill Holes (each famous for their pot holes) and finally descend into Horton-in-Ribblesdale where I would be spending the night. It was time to go.  This was the first really sunny day of the holiday.  I ran in shorts for the second time, rather than the tracksters I had been used to running in.  The sky was a brilliant azure blue and as I took my first footsteps I could not help stopping to admire the view.  The Pennine Way from Thwaite holds some magnificent views back towards Thwaite village and Thwaite Wood.               Start of Pennine Way up Great Shunner Fell from Thwaite   Thwiate Wood from Pennine Way at Cloggerty Rig           Great Shunner Fell was ascended from Thwaite via a farm track for the first mile or so.  There were splendid views across to Little Shunner Fell and Great Shunner Fell. From where I was it seemed I should have to cover both summits, although the map indicated otherwise. The farm track disappeared just before Far Dale Gill but I was left with a good, clear path to follow, and as I later discovered, all of the boggier parts were paved. I was making good time and thought that I would arrive earlier than I had scheduled to meet Rachel.  Great Shunner Fell is a long and high mountain.  The price to pay for the slopes not being too steep is a greater distance to travel, albeit climbed more gently, as the path must ascend to the summit and the summit is 710 metres high.  The ascent is a little steeper and shorter than the descent.  All of the way up I had terrific views across to Little Shunner Fell and of the Swale valley rearward. I soon came upon a spoil heap that had a smell similar to urine.  I passed it quickly and wondered from whence it had come and what it had contained.  As I continued uphill I had a splendid view up Graining Gill which separates Little Shunner Fell from the Cliff Gate Road running between Thwaite and Hawes. Because the visibility was so good I had a clear view ahead of the summit I was aiming for.  It seemed an awfully long way ahead.  There were many gills running across the Pennine Way and draining into the Thwaite Beck below and to my left.  Thwaite Beck separates Little Shunner Fell from Great Shunner Fell.  The area around the head of Thwaite Beck is known as Guy Mea. Some of the gills I passed provided an interesting contrast to the grassy slopes of the Fell with raised peat hags flanking their reedy waters.  Where these gills crossed the Pennine Way there were paving flags to assist the crossing.             Grainy Gill   Guy Mea from spoil heaps on Pennine Way           As I continued to climb I had a first glimpse of Birkdale Tarn away over to my right, and laying on Tarn Moss, high above Birk Dale.  Over to my left the summit of Little Shunner Fell was still at a far higher altitude than I.  I knew this Fell to be lower than the summit of the Fell I was upon, and as I had been toiling for some time now this was very discouraging.  All of the way up I was continually disturbing red grouse idling very close to the path.  As they flew into the air just ahead of me, with their trumping sound, I started, each time being taken totally by surprise. The breeze, which did not exist in the valleys below, was now increasing slightly, just enough to keep the flies away from me.  The breeze was the only thing that kept them from following and annoying me. At Shunner Fell Rake I passed the beacon cairn and here the slopes of the Fell began to steepen considerably.  At last the final assault lay before me and I was soon standing on the summit of Great Shunner Fell where I surprised a courting couple.  Rather, I think it was more a question of them surprising me.  They were dressed in ordinary day to day clothing and were not dressed for mountain or moor.  I suppose the weather was so good they had no concerns about the hostility of this mountain. I sensed that they wanted me to leave, and I was about to.  However, I really wanted to take the time to admire the view and to take photographs and I therefore stayed a further five minutes to do so, despite their steely glares and obvious frustrations.  I had exerted effort in climbing the Fell and I was jolly well going to take advantage of it! On the summit is a stone weather shelter, although it was not in use today.  I felt good. The sun was beating down upon me and I was perspiring profusely but the fresh breeze provided sufficient cooling to allow me a degree of comfort.  The views in each direction were magnificent and I took photographs from each of the four cardinal points.               Pennine Way paving near Carr Gill   Carr Gill           Then I moved on, downhill.  My injury was not troubling me too much.  I believed that I could now make very good time, running quickly downhill.  The path looked smooth and clear.  I sped down.  I had a good view of the Way stretching out before me like a winding river, far into the distance – very far.  In the air above me I could hear skylarks singing merrily. I raced past Herne Head, Herne Edge and Jinglemere Crag and continued past Bleak Haw, Northern Stamp and Black Hill Moss, from where I could see Hawes far in the distance.  I received many funny looks as I raced downhill, at a very fast pace, from day trippers on their way up.  As I descended the path began to change to a surface of hard, sharp stones and this slowed me a little.  But before long I was down to Hardraw, where Rachel was waiting to meet me.               Weather shelter on summit of Great Shunner Fell   Pennine Way heading towards Shunner Fell Hags           I quickly changed shirts and then Rachel drove me towards Horton-in-Ribblesdale, bypassing Hawes and taking the Widdale road.  We parked at the junction of the Dales Way, an old Roman road leading up Cam Fell.  I parted company with Rachel and began the second leg of my run.  A mile or so in front and above me (way above me!) was the Pennine Way junction on the Cam High Road.  The scenery here was striking.  As I began to run I was met by a small footbridge over the Gayle Beck.  This was beautiful in itself, but the view from it was even more so. As has so often happened to me on this holiday I was uncertain that I was on the right track.  My path was not signed as the Dales Way and there was some confusion in finding the path before I set off.  I was reasonably sure it was correct, but desired some confirmation.  The path had merely been signed “public footpath”.  As Rachel drove off I felt a little insecure but on the way up I met a hiker who confirmed that I was indeed on the Dales Way and that the Pennine Way was waiting for me at the top, much as I had gambled it would be. I continued my ascent, heading towards Cam End, where the Pennine Way joins the Dales Way. Once I gained the summit I did indeed meet the Pennine Way and there was a large sign post pointing the way for me.  I could see back down the Dales Way to the Ribblehead viaduct and in the distance ahead of me I could see Pen-y-Ghent, large (even at this distance), gloomy and foreboding.  Tomorrow I would be ascending it.                         Pennine Way near top of Cam Fell   Descending the Pennine Way from Cam End           The path was stony, muddy and difficult to run on, but at least it was easy to see.  I ran slowly and carefully.  The scenery soon changed form the harsh rugged moorland at Cam End to a fertile wooded valley as I descended to Ling Gill.  The pleasant murmur of running water played softly to me for a short time as I ran past its slowly flowing waters and crossed over at the Ling Gill bridge.  I stopped for a very short time to take a drink and eat an energy bar.  I had not eaten since leaving Thwaite and was feeling a little low on energy. I soon neared Old Ing Farm.  Just before reaching it I was awed by the sight of a gill falling away into a deep pot hole.  I dared to stand at its very rim to take a photograph vertically down into the deep, dark abyss into which I could just make out the water spouting.                Ling Gill   Gill by Old Ing Farm           I continued on my way, noting the rapidly changing scenery.  As I approached Old Ing Farm there was a beautiful pastoral view of hay-makers busily working their fields with the soft droning of their distant tractors.  The scent of the drying grass, even from this distance, was evident.  The fields were lined yellow and green and here and there were rolls of hay.  It was like crossing the border to another country. The last time I had been here it had been snowing.  It certainly looked different now.  The good track I was on continued past the farm and curved toward the forestry plantation to my left.  There was a narrow track leading to the right.  It was unsigned.  Fortunately I remembered from my last run here that this narrow track was in fact the Pennine Way.  Not signing this turn off is, in my view, a serious blunder, and many unwary hikers must go astray at this point, if coming from my direction.               Hay making at Old Ing Farm   Pennine Way - turn right at wall at Birkwith Moor           I knew that a short distance ahead of me lay a difficult boggy area.  However, the earth was now less wet than when I had last been here and when I reached it I soon discovered the bog much easier to traverse than last time.  Perhaps I was just getting used to bogs!  Next came a small but steep climb followed by a descent to a stone wall, where the Pennine Way meets Birkwith Moor and turns sharp right along a green way. I continued along the green way. to Jackdaw Hill, where I stopped to peer into one of the many depressions that bounded the track.  This was in fact a small pot hole.  I carried on running and soon came to Sell Gill Holes.  Last time I was here I had just carried on running.  This time, however, a group of children with their mother had strayed from the path ahead of me.  Their actions attracted my attention and I guessed they were looking into a large pot hole.  I could see a river valley ending in a large depression, and not continuing beyond.  This certainly looked to be a pot hole. As I approached they left and I ran over to where I had seen them.  Sure enough there was a large pot hole and the beck was literally spurting into space.  From the gaping black hole of the pot I could see a misty vapour rising.  The sound of the beck spouting into the hole was that of a hollow, echoing thunder, deep and guttural.  There were several large caverns, not merely one.  I stayed long enough to take several photographs and then resumed my run.               Sell Gill Holes   Penyghent in the distance           As I neared Horton I could see the Ribble valley on my right, beautifully farmed and wonderfully fertile.  Penyghent, ahead of me, appeared much larger than earlier.  It looked solitary and unforgiving.  It did not look capable of supporting good weather and I was concerned for tomorrow.  I knew that my descent of Penyghent would take me down a steep cliff face.  If it was wet it would be very slippy and dangerous.  That side of Penyghent is more or less a rock climb, rather than a footpath. As I came to the end of my track I ran into the car park of the Crown Hotel, where I would be staying the night.  Rachel was there to meet me and had already booked in and unpacked.  Thank you Rachel.  She even had a soft drink ready for me.  Rachel had done well today, finding her way through difficult road routes. I immediately went to my room, showered and then stretched, and took Rachel to the nearby village of Settle for a small treat – an Italian meal. We then drove to Scaleber Force to make a sound recording and then to Hanlith, where I would be running to tomorrow, to show Rachel the way.         Day 10 Day 12       Author - Roy McKee Copyright © Roy McKee 2006