13th August 2008 - Austwick, Sulber Nick, Ingleborough and Gaping Gill Circuit - 11.5 miles and about 2400 ft of ascent
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Inspired by Ady in Accy's social outing set for 23rd August (when I'm away) I thought I'd give what I'd guess to be Ady's route a bash this morning. I'm off work this week and had been hoping to do a few runs but on Monday and yesterday my 'knee of doom' didn't feel up to it, following two hard runs at the weekend. This morning though it didn't feel too bad and I whizzed over to Austwick for the run.
It sounds like Ady plans on starting up the lane (nearer to Ingleborough) but I parked up outside the Gamecock and set off from there and up Townhead Lane. Eventually this lane becomes a track that meanders up to Crammock Farm with then a sharpish little hill climb up onto the plateau that you follow all the way to Sulber Nick. Once on this plateau there's a terrific view of Pen y Ghent and Plover Hill to the right and Ingleborough and Simon Fell to the left. Once I hit the track up from Horton at Sulber, it the same old track (where I've left countless clumps of flesh and bone from stumbles and trips) all the way up Ingleborough.
Just above Sulber I was flagged down for directions by three (weird) walkers. One guy asked for directions to "the road". When I enquired what road, he pointed in the Horton direction and asked whether "the road" was down there, going onto explain that they had walked thus far out of Ingleton and were looking for a circular walk back. I explained that the road at Horton went to Settle but to go that way would be one mother of a walk or he could go up the same road the other way to Ribblehead and cut back on the Ingleton road from there, equally a shed load of miles. Failing that I said (pointing in the exact opposite direction) they could walk over Ingleborough and into Ingleton from there. In the same vein as an American tourist who once asked me for directions to the London Eye in London when we were virtually stood right under it, the weirdo walker then asked "where's Ingleborough".
Moving swiftly on I then scooted up Ingleborough, reaching the trig after 1 hour and 13 minutes. Then it was down, over Little Ingleborough and on towards Gaping Gill where there must be a pot holers convention going on or something, as the gulley that leads into Gaping Gill was full of tents and campers. After Gaping Gill I then went over the top, rather than down through the mini rocky gorge where the running's more tricky, and at the track that leads to Ingleborough Cave crossed a style and went up to Long Lane. It was then nothing more that a "short hop" down Loooong Lane and an equally "short scoot" up Thwaites Lane before cutting the corner and dropping down into Austwick for the finish; 2 hours 12 start to finish, with weirdos, taken at a steady trot.
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