Great Shunner Fell and Nine Standards Rigg

Sunday 20th April 2014

On this walk I completely ignored everything that I had said in my previous post about what my goals and aims were for this holiday. I had said that I wanted to visit new places to find the hidden gems in places where the scenery is not as dramatic as in the Lake District. After a day spent looking at waterfalls in Wensleydale I abandoned my new-found philosophy and walked over two hills that I have been over before and didn’t go anywhere I hadn’t been before. I had realised this irony during my planning, but the alternatives, such as the Mallerstang Hills, were not as appealing as the walk that I had originally planned which was prompted by a desire to revisit Nine Standards Rigg. So, I followed the Pennine Way out of Hawes to the top of Great Shunner Fell (despite doing that previously in both 2004 and 2009), following the Pennine Way off the fell and into Swaledale until I reached Keld as I did in 2009, and then I followed the Coast to Coast route over Nine Standards Rigg (most of which was done in 2010). This walk hardly treads new ground, and yet I still saw some gems.

Knowing that this was going to be a long day I set off early from the village of Hawes over Wensleydale on the Pennine Way. In 2009 I stopped off at the Green Dragon Inn, not for a pint but to visit Hardraw Force and although this waterfall is definitely a gem, since I’ve seen it before and I had a lot of walking ahead of me I gave it a miss this time and climbed a green lane up towards Great Shunner Fell. It takes a long time to climb the broad gentle gradients of the southern ridge of this vast, grassy bulk of a hill but even though the surrounding scenery is not very inspiring, it felt good to be climbing a mountain again for the first time since September. As I climbed higher the weather closed in becoming very windy and misty, so I wrapped up warm and ploughed on all the way up to the top of the hill on a very good path of flagstones that ensured I had a dry passage over the top and down the other side where extensive bogs were easily crossed.

The views were never good despite early sunshine as extensive upland mist obscured the scenery meaning that the views down Swaledale were poor until I had almost reached the tiny hamlet of Thwaite. It was annoying to have to climb again out of Thwaite so soon after the long descent, but the path brought me to a gem that more than made for it, a wonderful terrace path perched high above beautiful Swaledale and below the crags of North Gang Scar. An interesting walk through the rock-strewn landscape led me to a delightful scene of primroses scattered all over the hillside, which was exactly the sort of hidden gem that I was supposed to be looking for on this holiday, and with an enthralling mix of rock and flower it keep me interested all the way into Keld. I ignored the sign to Kisdon Force, which I had followed in 2009 to find a tranquil, isolated waterfall, and just before reaching Keld turned down to the river beside Catrake Force.

This most delightful place is the spot where the Pennine Way and the Coast to Coast Walk cross each other, and there can be few better places anywhere in the country. In this divine valley location, a place literally made in heaven, I stopped to have my lunch on the other side of the River Swale from Catrake Force. This is the sort of place where you wouldn’t mind giving up on a walk just so you could spend the rest of the day there. Unfortunately I didn’t do that, so after managing to tear myself away I climbed past Catrake Force to East Stonesdale Farm where I left the Pennine Way and took the farmer's track to Stonesdale Road and joined the Coast to Coast Walk on an interesting little path above Cotterby Scar that brought me into the quiet little valley of Whitsun Dale where a small farm rules over the whole area.

Climbing out of the valley I followed a good track that slowly deteriorated as I passed grouse shooting butts until eventually I realised that I was actually moving away from Nine Standards Rigg. Just at that moment a large lake appeared before me that a quick look at a map revealed was Birkdale Tarn, confirming that I had indeed gone the wrong way. It’s funny how the realisation that you have gone wrong slowly begins to dawn upon you starting with a suspicion that something isn’t right until eventually you are faced with the stark fact that you have actually been following the wrong path. Unfortunately, it took me a long time to realise this, so I had to reverse my steps a long way until I eventually reached the path of the Coast to Coast and resume the trail beside Ney Gill.

By the time I reached the high point on the path between Whitsun Dale and Birk Dale I was tired and fed up with the dreary landscape. I didn’t want the effort of going over Nine Standards Rigg so considered following the route that I had taken in 2010, which is the recommended winter route around the hill via Jingling Pot. However, the reason I was doing this walk was because I’d failed to reach the summit of Nine Standards Rigg in 2010, so in the end I came off the path and headed up the vast virtually pathless hillside towards the top of Nine Standards Rigg. The contrast with Great Shunner Fell was striking as even though they are very similar hills the paths that go over them are completely different. Whereas Great Shunner Fell has an excellent flagstone path all the way over the top, Nine Standards Rigg has nothing on the ground to reduce the erosion of all those feet. Instead there are three routes for use at different times of the year and I was now taking the spring to early summer route that climbs the pathless southern slopes over increasingly wet and boggy ground until eventually I reached the top of the hill.

The sight of nine immaculately constructed cairns at the top of Nine Standards Rigg failed to wipe the memory of the bog-trot that led up to it, but they were nevertheless an impressive sight. I had actually reached the top in 2004, in excellent weather, so this was not my first time, but since then the cairns have been restored to their former glory with each one a different shape. All nine are masterpieces. Some are tall, some short, some wide, some thin, some pointed, some tiered, and one is even square-shaped. I had been gutted not to reach the summit in 2010 so I was really happy to be able to return this time and despite being very tired I came off the hill satisfied that I been back to the top of Nine Standards Rigg. The route off is fortunately very easy with a long descent that for the most part took me along a good track and down a road. This was a very long but satisfying walk and I felt great to be walking up a mountain again, I just wish there was a better path on the southern slopes of Nine Standards Rigg.