Let’s Do It The Pennine Way – Hardraw to Kirkby Stephen

This morning Che dropped me at Hardraw, a small village but a significant point on the Pennine Way. I was endeavouring to walk from there up a four and a half mile climb to the top of Great Shunner Fell. From there I would leave the Way and veer westwards across five miles of trackless countryside to Hugh’s Seat, and north to High Seat. Great Shunner, Hugh’s Seat and High Seat are three of the top ten highest mountains in Yorkshire.

On the map below, Hardraw is bottom right and I would be following the pink line up and beyond the top of the page.

I was well up for it today, with only 5kgs on my back and a spring in my step. Another sunny, warm day, but as I climbed up over the first brow there was a pleasant breeze. Great walking conditions. I didn’t need to drink much water at the moment and I had two litres. In credit.

Looking southwards the valley below was Wensleydale, looking fabulous in the sun.

Southwestwards the distinct shape of Ingleborough stuck out in the far distance, just right of centre.

Nearly ten years ago I walked this stretch of the Pennine Way in the opposite direction with my mate Chip. He had been fighting cancer for some years and he struggled to climb up Great Shunner Fell from the east. I relayed our rucksacks to the summit for the last half mile but, at the top, although he was desperately tired, he slung it back on his shoulders and carried it all the way down, past Hardraw into Hawes.

I was in awe of the lad. And admired his grit on the stretch that I was now walking up. Suddenly I thought about him and my chest filled with warmth. I felt him here with me as if I could touch him. I spoke to him as I was walking and asked him if he could say or do anything to prove he was there. I felt him even stronger, but nothing was said or signalled to me. I told him it was ok if he couldn’t let me know he was there, as I knew he was. Then it finished and I was walking with just the breeze in my lungs.

I’m being honest here and I know some people reading might take the piss out of this episode. Please don’t do it directly to me. I’m just a bloke whose memories sometimes trigger strong feelings. That’s all.

The path continued to climb over several horizons.

Before I finally reached Great Shunner summit.

A German lad came up the opposite way. He looked absolutely drained. He didn’t have a rucksack and was carrying a small flask. I asked him if he had any water and he said he had finished it and was very thirsty, so I topped him up from my stash, and felt self-righteous.

Striking out away from the Pennine Way there was no path, but the rough pastureland and peat bogs spread out along a ridge below me. I dropped down carefully, as there are many hidden troughs in the undergrowth that can swallow your foot and break your ankle.

The peat is metres thick here, containing thousands of tons of carbon dioxide locked in. It is also combustible, and discarded cigarettes, disposable barbecues, unattended campfires and sparks from machinery can cause fires which sometimes continue underground for months.

The lack of a path was knackering and I slowly made my way across the ridge towards Hugh’s Seat. In some areas there was evidence of prevention measures being taken to avoid the erosion of the peat.

On this stretch I didn’t see anybody for four hours. Just me and the moors.

I was pleased to reach Hugh’s Seat as it was not far off the height of the summit of High Seat, sitting a couple of miles away. And there was a bit of a path forming, which made life a lot easier.

There were great cairns on the way, as well as stone shelters like the one on the left, which are lifesavers in bad weather.

The path dropped slightly, and then began to rise up the side of High Seat. The wind was strong up here and I felt fresh and quite fit, reaching the summit in good time.

Now I had to drop down the steep western side of the mountain to reach the road a mile and a half below. There were long sections of near vertical cliffs, interspersed with very steep areas of rough and deep vegetation. It took me an hour to find a safe way down, and even then I was sweating a bit on occasions. I messaged Che to pick me up from a small village church and made it down to the road by 16.30.

Looking back High Seat didn’t look as dangerous as it was.

We drove down to Kirkby Stephen and after a fantastic day’s walk I had a great evening with my sis.

Night night.