Dales Skyline

Myself and Shaun Lennon from Idle AC knocked this off in yesterday's monsoon conditions. :w00t: Fortunately it was fairly warm otherwise it could have been a nasty day out.
This linear route of some 36 miles/10000' was featured in the last Fellrunner by Duncan Elliot (Bowland FR) and is a traverse of 10 peaks on the southern Dales skyline viewed from Bowland. Basicly it's the 3 peaks sandwiched by Calf Top and Crag Hill to the north-west and Fountains Fell and 3 minor trigs to the south-east. It starts at Barbon just north of Kirkby Lonsdale and finishes in Settle but it's only a 30 min drive along the A65 so not too much hassle. The cafe/shop at Horton provides a good midpoint to refuel - or provide shelter from the storm !! It took us a slow 11-38 partly due to the conditions, a long break in Horton and a couple of cock ups in the clag due to a reluctance to get the map out in the wind and rain. Sub 10 hours is certainly realistic in reasonable conditions.

It's a great route contrasting classic 3 peaks country with the wild, less frequented fells nearby. Easily done in a day, it makes a good Dales counterpart to the Cumbrian Traverse with the added bonus of some proper fish and chips at the end !!! Well worth adding to your 'to-do list' :thumbup:

Any idea when it'll be up on the GoFar site Tony?

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Originally Posted by tinyman

Any idea when it'll be up on the GoFar site Tony?

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Round about November hopefully just before the next Fell Runner comes out. I am off on holiday soon but will be working on another batch of routes when I get back in September.

Myself and shaunandrachel had a crack at this yesterday.

We decided to go from Settle to Barbon to keep the forecast strong southerly winds in our back as much as possible and set off at about 7:15. It didn't stop raining apart for a short spell at about 4.00pm when we were coming off Crag Hill and the bogs and streams were full. The clag was down most of the way and the compass was out from Rye Loaf Hill to Fountains Fell then from Whernside to the descent off Crag Hill. We had to stop for about half an hour in Horton to warm up a bit and pluck up the courage to carry on. Got to the summit of Calf Top at about 5:15pm after a last killer climb and back to Barbon in the dark after 11:24 hrs including the stop. We were both just relieved to have finished it!

Great route, would like to do it again in better weather but starting in Barbon.

Peaks covered in order:

Warrendale Knotts
Rye Loaf Hill
Malham Moor
Fountains Fell
Pen y Ghent
Ingleborough
Whernside
Green Hill
Grag Hill
Calf Top

For anyone else thinking of having a go, details here: http://www.gofar.org.uk

Well done given the conditions a great effort. how easy is the route finding, I havent read the article in the last fell runner but will dig it out tonight.

Thanks.

Route finding is generally OK, we were just being overly cautious as we didn't want to get caught out and spend longer than necessary in those conditions and in good visibility it should be a doddle. If you're a veteran of the 3Ps and Fellsman then the middle section won't present a problem. If you're doing it the "classic" way, the start from Barbon up to Calf Top would be straight forward whilst you are fresh, didn't give us any problems reversing it in the dark, and the last section from Fountains Fell to Settle mostly follows walls and fence lines.

A route well worth doing, even when it's mostly under water!!

If you can't find the mag article I think there's a pdf copy of it on the gofar site.

Looks like a good route... may well give it a bash in the next couple of months.

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Originally Posted by Hank

Looks like a good route... may well give it a bash in the next couple of months.

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Yes it's great route in itself and for training for longer stuff like the BGR - I would not be surprised to see a lot more attempts on it this year. Congrats to Chris and Rachel for completing it in those conditions - I think it's just as bad coming down Calf Top as it is going up it :w00t:

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Originally Posted by Hank

Looks like a good route... may well give it a bash in the next couple of months.

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Let me know if / when you have a weekend sorted. I fancy this too

Yep keen on this too, will be up for it.

Myself and Jess Palmer had a cracking day out last saturday, on this route.

We started at Barbon at 0720hrs and finally got out of that easterly wind on reaching Settle Market Cross at 1627hrs. Time taken 9hrs 7 minutes.

As all the 3 peakers will know, the conditions underfoot were excellent. This really is a cracking route across the Dales, getting you to the quieter areas as well as running over the usual suspects. Highly recommended.

Full route details here: http://www.gofar.org.uk

Matt

Good effort Matt, you certainly seemed pleased with yourselves when we bumped into you at the Market Cross on the way back from the 3 Peaks. Well done both.

bump for andygib
Brett may want to merge...

A fantastic running of the Dales Skyline on Saturday