UK Mountains Expedition Report

Peaks climbed : Ingleborough(723m), Simon Fell(650m)

Total Distance : 17.6km, Total Ascent : 651m

Today's plan was an ascent of Ingleborough and Simon Fell.

Parking up in the pleasant hamlet of Clapham we were soon away walking up the road to the Ingleborough Hall estate. There is a small cafe which we bravely passed without stopping, although were forced to pay the entry fee of £2.50 each to walk along the riverside. It was definitely worth it as the path follows the Clapham Beck up past a pleasant folly which looked out over Thwaite Scar and on past Ingleborough Cave into open country.

So far we'd enjoyed the warm weather, electing to walk in T-Shirts. Out onto open ground we passed Gaping Ghyll, a sink hole which dropped some 200 feet to the cave below. Ahead we could see Little Ingleborough and further on Ingleborough itself but as we ascended we realised the cloud base was slowly dropping and would meet us before the summit! Also the strong wind had picked up which bought with it, rain. At this point, one of the team decided to answer the call of nature but badly misjudged the swirling wind, much to his embarrassment! Stopping just past the Little Ingleborough summit we donned our waterproofs and continued. Of course, the rain almost immediately stopped but the wind was chilly and despite climbing up, we kept the gear on.

On the plateau there is a left turn up to the actual summit which by now was completely enveloped in cloud but we could sense were were still ascending, although at a drastically reduced rate. Finally, appearing out of the mist we spotted the summit trig point and the cross shaped seating shelter. A quick visit to the trig point and we quickly sought refuge on the lee side of the shelter.

There were quite a few other walkers there and we passed some time out-bragging a group that thought they had the better of us with their boasts of being in the Himalaya!

Time to leave we had some minor navigational issues trying to get back onto the track, then we were met by a guy who was completely lost so helped him down to the correct path, meeting yet more people who had ascended from the Whernside direction. Some discussion took place and eventually we sorted ourselves and the others out and began to descend towards Simon Fell. A few metres down and we were below the cloud base so could easily see Gaping Ghyll so could better orientate ourselves for our onward journey and also inform the group descending to aim for the small tent adjacent to Gaping Ghyll.

The walk over to Simon Fell was soon completed but other than being a tick in the box, was a particularly unimpressive peak. Leaving it we stopped for lunch sheltering behind a pile of stakes before we retraced our steps to the foot of the final climb to Ingleborough, then set off across open ground to pick up the descent path. Off path walking here is easy and we soon started down the main path that would swing us around to the East side of the Clapham Beck to Long Lane and provide an interesting alternative to our ascent route.

The final section passes close to Ingleborough Hall, which remains out of view and the path descends through a couple of tunnels before emerging at Claphams church. There were warning signs for cyclists to dismount and given the darkness of the tunnels and unevenness of the ground, combined with the possibility of meeting walkers on the way up, was sage advice. It was a short walk from there to the car, but unfortunately a pub got in the way, forcing us to stop for refreshment.

Peaks climbed : Dodd Fell Hill(668m), Drumaldrace(614m)

Total Distance : 12.5km, Total Ascent : 350m

From the car park I could see both peaks, unfortunately they were about 90 degrees different in direction. They were both out and back walks so the order didn't really matter but Dodd Fell Hill looked like the hardest of the two so I started with that to get it out of the way. To get to it I needed to walk down the road a little to pick up a track that crossed some open land to a small road that led to a farm. From there it was just a case of heading up through soft going ground, bogs, tussocky grass but nothing in the way of a path.

As I made my way up I picked up odd sheep tracks which I followed as far as was sensible, then headed off in the general direction of the summit. Why it is that sheep don't go directly to mountain summits is beyond me, it would make life so much easier! I had a wall to negotiate which was easy enough as I found a section that had collapsed or maybe been knocked down by previous walkers. Either way, it was an easy crossing. Approaching the summit area I got onto another thin track which led to the actual summit, maybe sheep do climb mountains and I am doing them a dis-service! The summit itself wasn't too impressive, but in the distance I could see Pen-y-Ghent, Ingleborough and Whernside so it was well worth the effort. The weather had been kind so far but it was very windy so I didn't wait long before heading down.

I got back to the wall and followed it along, hoping for a convenient crossing point which I soon found - a wooden gate-like structure that made crossing easy. It was then a few minutes down to the farm road. I followed that to the main road and down the hill a little before breaking off onto a good wide track which took me to within a short distance of the summit of Drumaldrace. Through a gate there was a notice about bird nesting and some restrictions on access which included today but was an odd range of non-contiguous dates. I realised that the restriction did not include weekends so clearly the 'concern' was not for the birds themselves, unless they don't nest on weekends. Suitably unimpressed I continued on to the summit, which is marked by a good sized cairn, to claim not only my second mountain of the day but also the final mountain in the Ingleborough group, thereby completing that section.

Back at the gate it seemed like a good opportunity for lunch so I sat and enjoyed the views across the mountains. Eventually of course it was time to leave so I packed away, checking I had everything and set off. The walk back to the car retraced my steps to the road, up the road and along it to the car park. A good day out with excellent weather and a fine end to the Ingleborough group of mountains.