Yorkshire Dales Bikepacking

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fatbikephil
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Yorkshire Dales Bikepacking

Post by fatbikephil »

Well finally a period of decent weather looked like it was going to coincide with one of my holidays. South looked better than north so I figured on a jaunt around the Yorkshire Dales to ride the bits of the YD300 I've only done in the dark, in the daylight; and to re-visit some of my haunts from many bike trips round here when my folks had a caravan in Hawes.

I called in at the folks place and did think of starting from there (near Darlington) to save car parking hassles. In the event I drove to Reeth and abandoned the heap on the village green. As forecast, it was sunny! And quite hot, to the point that I'd given some thought to dealing with the heat. So obviously starting the day with a humongous climb was a really good idea.... I'd had a pre ride meal of cake from the Dales bike centre so pushed most of the fearsome hill up to Fremington Edge (as per YD300) noting a stiff breeze which would make the next 36 hours most pleasant. A dude on an e-bike pulled along side out of Hurst and chatted for a bit about (my) bike. He seemed a decent sort but I wanted to ask him - "Why are you on that when you are younger than me!" Oh well, it get's people out I suppose but there are an awful lot down there now.

On the descent to Langthwaite I indulged myself somewhat as normally I'm starting to feel the distance (on the YD300 that is) so tend to take it canny whereas today, under the circumstances, I gave it some stick! Then more climbing on dust dry grassy trails and the steady pull to Level House.

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Old Gang Lead mines and smelter - a huge industry in it's day. Note weather....

I eschewed the precipitous descent down the hush that the YD route follows, in favour of the bridleway up to the top of Gunnerside Gill -

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Shades of Glen Tilt and some pretty tricky bits. A stream out of an old level provided the bottles first fill up. Keep drinking buddy! Then more fun grassy bridleway followed.

What didn't follow was the Buttertubs pass. Instead I opted for the slightly lower and more engaging climb up past Oxnop Scar. I saw a Red Kite circling around me but sadly it didn't get close enough for a good pic. I'm seeing a lot more of these fab birds though which is very nice. Silly speeds were approached on the descent, followed by a pint in the sun in Askrigg. Then another.

Now what. I did have a notional route plan and a bivvy spot in mind but it was a bit early to be blazing up Cam fell just yet. The Crown wasn't serving food for an hour so I figured on Hawes as it's chippy is ace. A leisurely cruise along the back road followed and then a fine fish tea sat in the sun.

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This is a nice thing - a Triumph 500 lump shoe-horned into a Greeves roadster rolling chassis (not a Scottish for the aficionados!) Black marks for oil tightness though. Some bloke wandered up to the owner and started banging on about 'patina' which is a word I hate when applied to a motorised vehicle (and one that is seeming to be applied a lot recently) as it belongs to a piece of furniture not something with an engine. 'Rat', 'Nail', 'f*****d' are fine or even just 'well used.'

Anyway another huge climb beckoned. There are four ways up to Cam fell from Hawes so obviously I chose the easiest one. Along the road to Burtersett and up the wee road over to Semer Water until it crosses the Roman road, then up this, much hated on the YD as it's an 8 mile grind. For me it was a four mile grind into a stiff headwind which was a blessing to be honest. In fact I made a few route choices based on doing the climbs into the wind, in order to keep cool.

Bivvy locus reached but too early so I sat on a small hill and watched the sun steadily sink to the horizon whilst reading and sipping whisky. Then I went back aways and.... rolled out my bivvy bag. No faffing looking for a spot or worrying about shelter, just roll out the bag on a level piece of grassy hillside! Yes! Finally I was bivvying without a tent, tarp or shed!

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Sunset over the lakeland hills

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Oh look, it's sunny again :-bd

This had all worked out well, I would ride down the roman road and Pennine Way to Horton in Ribblesdale, have a huge breakfast in the Pennygent cafe and then proceed east then south, back west then north. Easy. Except I was horrified to discover that said cafe was shut. In fact shut down by the looks! What's that all about then as it was a goldmine. And Horton had precisely Hee Haw in terms of other shops or eating establishments. Hells bells, now what. And why didn't I bring my stove! There was no way I was dong 7 miles of road riding to Settle so I figured on heading to Clapham. This threw my route plans into disarray but eating food was my priority. But how to get there. I wasn't going to go the direct route as that would be dull. I wanted to do the lovely trail from Selside to Clapham past Moughton Scar so up the road (back north) we go, the first of many bits of back tracking, route repeating and random wandering I would do, all thanks to a closed cafe!

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I do like this area and smooth grassy trails are fab. The fast run down to Clapham was ped free so taken at high(ish) speed. The cafe was shut but the excellent shop is actually a better bet as they sell a range of pies and sandwiches, coffee, cake and ice cream. I grabbed an armload and retired to their seating area and sat and ate for some considerable period of time. But where now!

For starters, east along the fine network of lanes and trails that the various YD200's/300 have used.

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Reg's favourite clapper bridge.

Back roads took me to Settle and I decided that I should probably stop again and eat more food sat in the sun, this time courtesy of the 3 Peaks bike shop. There were loads of bikes around but no bikepackers, oddly. I felt a bit out of place as it's roadie central round here. One turned up and I couldn't help noticing her quads which were big enough to have made Chris Hoy run away crying. I guess it's the many hills hereabouts - if you do any distance you are going to grow a set of impressive climbing legs, and probably why so many pro roadies have come from Yorkshire and it's environs. Anyway enough of that, lets get up another mega climb, wishing my quads were that big....

Not that I needed them as I was single speed, therefore pushing....

The lovely moorland traverse of Gorbeck followed then more route rumination. Mastiles lane was the obvious choice but I've done it a few times in recent years and it would lead into the southern section of the YD300 route - all fine stuff but I got a view of Embsay Moor (last climb on the YD) and thought "there is no f****** way I'm climbing that ****" so instead took the byway / bridleway to Littondale. This is a fair old traverse with a few ups and downs but its another lovely trail with another high speed descent. As expected the clouds were starting to build, the slow beginning of yet another weather system entirely at odds with the forecast. At least I would no longer have to worry about sunburn. At Kettlewell I had to stop to eat a large amount of food and drink more beer. The menu indicated 'Sausage and onion roll' which I figured would be a good mid-afternoon snack to take me to Sedburgh where I would get a bigger meal. It turned out to be a large plateful of sausages, onion rings, and monster chips. Food and drink are cheap round here. Less than four quid a pint and this plateful was £9. Scotland is a rip off! There I've said it, but it's true. Eating this lot took a long time and removed any possibility of me doing the hideous climb up to Cam Head and a possible trail to Scar House Reservoir I'd not done before.

Instead I twiddled up the road, ignored a couple of other huge climbs, and along to Cam (there are a lot of Cams hereabouts - he was a Roman) woodland and more route reversal back up the roman road, past my bivvy spot and down the Pennine Bridleway to Dent head. I checked out the wee hut, me, Bob and two others had kipped in in 2016 on the YD300. It had looked a bit dilapidated when I passed in the dark last year and sure enough, the roof is partially gone and its covered in sheep sh*t.... I screamed down the Dent road, no traffic at this hour, Sedburgh my destination. Which was a major disappointment. There was no Spar, Co-op or anything open apart from a posh hotel and one pub which looked busy. No chippy, no nowt! Bloody hell, now what. I had some food left (and actually quite a lot in my belly) so I just cracked on.

Next up was a fine trail....

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Up by the Howgill Fells. Plan A was the route right over them but I couldn't be arsed with another monster climb. This is a beaut and very reminiscent of some of my local trails. Time was rolling on however and I was starting to feel a bit weary. Where the route crosses the burn coming out of Cautley Spout looked good for a pitch up but the wind was dropping and I was paranoid about having a midge fest. No I needed some height and a breeze. Oh what an idiot I am.

This came in the form of the Pennine Bridleway from it's end point (in the middle of nowhere, most odd) over the flanks of Wildboar Fell. I figured there would be some good spots up the trail, well away from the farms at the bottom so hopefully no chance of an early morning visit by an irate farmer, given I would be breaking the law! And such a spot did appear - just below a bit of a limestone escarpment and so sheltered but hopefully drafty enough to keep insects at bay. It had properly clouded in so I figured I'd deploy my new DCF tarp. Up in jig time and into my bag, a few midges around. No whisky tonight but I'd been out for 14 hours so after reading a bit I turned in, eyelids drooping.

*sigh* I had actually nodded off when a large gust of wind made the tarp flap. DCF is like a crisp packet so it's a bit noisy. I got up to tighten guys and settled back in. But the wind got stronger and stronger (I was actually able to view a forecast as I had a signal - 8-9mph all night...) and the tarp flapped and cracked louder and louder. Sometimes it would press down against me as the wind dropped over the adjacent scarp, sometimes it looked like the tarp was about to take flight. It was now dark so getting going was not an option as I didn't have lights. I was cursing as I'd expected to have two really warm, still and dry nights out. I couldn't even drop the tarp as there was a bit of rain now in the forecast for first light. At 3am I gave up. It was starting to get light but I couldn't stand it any longer and I was worried I'd be about to lose my new and expensive tarp and pole on it's first outing. Then I had a sleep deprivation induced bad idea....

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The worst tarp pitch in the world. Basically I pegged out all four corners at the tie points, pulled the two mid panel guys out to the bikes handlebars for a bit of lift, and used a large rock to lift the middle edge (i.e where I usually have the pole) then wriggled under it and back into the bag. The tarp was touching the bag but there was still enough breeze around me to hopefully minimise condensation. The best news was that the noise was much less and I dropped off soon after.

That said, at 5.30 am I woke to even more wind and thought "To hell with this lets go" It was light so I packed up in jig time (all dry so actually this was a good idea and a top tip for you flat tarpists if the wind gets up), ate the last of my food (crisps and two snickers) and plodded up the last of the climb. Of course at the top was a large wall with a nice sheltered bit in it's lea. And on the fun descent a number of other sheltered spots presented themselves. This is becoming a habit....

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Funky sculpture at the top of the big climb up Lady Anne Clifford's Highway

This is a great trail and despite the spots of rain and cloud, my general feeling of wabbit-ness and annoyance at not using one of the many good bivvy spots I passed, I enjoyed the smooth grassy trail. But lo, what is this? A barn at the side of the trail. It's full of sheep. And sheep sub standard. But the wee shed next door isn't and has a stone floor. Out came the bivvy bag, off with shoes and in. Bang, out like a light for an hour and a half. I could have stayed longer but I didn't want the farmer to appear as it was now after eight. Off again and down the fast and little used descent to the road. Hawes again and it's spar shop but first, breakfast in the posh cafe at the bottom of the High Street. I'd have preferred the pennygarth cafe that all the bikers use as it's cheap. But, in keeping with the trip so far, it was shut. Still, I ate lots of fried things and a very large scone so that was alright. Spar provided a couple of snickers and a bottle of coke for the last few miles and climbs.

Back along the road to Askrigg, with a strong tailwind, and then the YD300 route on the fine byway above the dale, the climb out of Bolton Castle and then the big tracks through Apedale and round into Swalwdale and a final precipitous blast down to Gunnerside and Reeth. As I was cruising along to Castle Bolton a chinook flew past and then 10 minutes later flew back, right over head. I wonder if they had forgotten something. The phrase "sitting duck" sprung to mind as these things are huge, and slow. I pity the poor buggers who have to fly in these monstrosities in this day of military hi-techery. Funnily enough one of those American things with the two big rotors on its wings which can pivot flew past the following day - it might as well as had "shoot me" and a target painted on it... You see a lot of this as Catterick Garrison is just up the road and various branches of the military (and the yanks by invitation) use it as a training area. Looking down at low flying harriers and getting waved at by the pilot, as you stood on a hillside, was a key feature of my childhood.

Anyway I was done. 275k and more climbing than I care to recall, some fab weather and some normal weather but bone dry trails and lots of good food and beer. :-bd

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And finally a word from our sponsors. In view of the weather I wore my BB bamboo T shirt (the blue one) and it was fab. Loose enough to allow the air to circulate, but close fitting enough to not be too flappy, and to show off my manly rib cage. It kept me cool when it was hot but was also OK when temps dropped to 10 degrees on the Tuesday morning. After nigh on 30 hours of wearing, it didn't smell much either, unlike me :???:
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RIP
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Re: Yorkshire Dales Bikepacking

Post by RIP »

Ooh, lovely that was. What a fab trip. You've given me horrible flashbacks about the Moughton 'bridleway' though :wink: .

Sorry to hear the tarp didn't behave itself. Mine's never done that I don't think. Wonder what was going on there?

Water from a lead mine level? Have you noticed bouts of confusion and talking complete rubbish since then? Any more than normal that is :grin: .
Last edited by RIP on Fri Jul 15, 2022 10:41 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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whitestone
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Re: Yorkshire Dales Bikepacking

Post by whitestone »

The Penyghent cafe has been shut for a few years as the guy has Altzheimers/dementia and the family won't sell as it's the one of the few things that he's got as a prop.

The plane with the tilting rotors is a Bell-Boeing Osprey - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell_Boeing_V-22_Osprey they fly over my brother's quite regularly.
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fatbikephil
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Re: Yorkshire Dales Bikepacking

Post by fatbikephil »

Tah for the info on the cafe - it's on the web as well, if only I'd checked....
whitestone wrote: Fri Jul 15, 2022 10:40 pm
The plane with the tilting rotors is a Bell-Boeing Osprey - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell_Boeing_V-22_Osprey they fly over my brother's quite regularly.
I read the article as it rang a bell that it's development had been a bit of a fiasco - my Dad (ex aero engineer) mentioned it one time as he'd seen a pre-production one at Farnborough
RIP wrote: Fri Jul 15, 2022 10:39 pm Water from a lead mine level? Have you noticed bouts of confusion and talking complete rubbish since then? Any more than normal that is :grin: .
I used it on last years YD300 and I'm absolutely fine a year later (I think). I reckoned all the lead ore would have been long since taken out so it would be fine.... Cue onset of alzymers...
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Re: Yorkshire Dales Bikepacking

Post by sean_iow »

Chinooks can do over 300 km/hr but that's a bit anti-social at low level, and as ground to air missiles can catch targets at Mach 10+ speed's not much of a defense. The was a V22 over the Island a few years back, one of the TA regiments has them and they were training at the camp here.

Cracking weather you had! I saw the ultra low pitch tarp before I'd read the text and thought that's a touch low, even Ralph would have that rubbing on his head :lol:
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fatbikephil
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Re: Yorkshire Dales Bikepacking

Post by fatbikephil »

sean_iow wrote: Mon Jul 18, 2022 2:25 pm Cracking weather you had! I saw the ultra low pitch tarp before I'd read the text and thought that's a touch low, even Ralph would have that rubbing on his head :lol:
Funnily enough, I'd set it up, waited a bit to re-assure myself it was going to be much quieter and then thought "how am I going to get into it?"
Much wriggling ensued. Ralph would be right at home!
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Re: Yorkshire Dales Bikepacking

Post by boxelder »

I used it on last years YD300 and I'm absolutely fine a year later (I think). I reckoned all the lead ore would have been long since taken out so it would be fine.... Cue onset of alzymers...
Nah, it just recharges your 'pencil'.........
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Re: Yorkshire Dales Bikepacking

Post by fatbikephil »

boxelder wrote: Wed Jul 20, 2022 12:22 pm
I used it on last years YD300 and I'm absolutely fine a year later (I think). I reckoned all the lead ore would have been long since taken out so it would be fine.... Cue onset of alzymers...
Nah, it just recharges your 'pencil'.........
Not at my age...
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