Saturday at Chop Gate (pronounced Chop Yat?) was one of those North Yorkshire summer days! Quite warm and humid at times with frequent rain interruptions, light cloud, menacing dark cloud - and then towards the end of the day bright sunshine and blue skies - perhaps for the benefit of the village green cricket match that we looked down upon on our final descent.  So it was jacket on, jacket off, jacket on - you know what I mean pretty much all day.  Not to mention the ferns and bracken - of which more later!

Our route was clockwise and broadly circular with the Chop Gate start occupying the “12 noon” spot. The broadly southerly part of the day was spent climbing and traversing the various moors east of Bilsdale before crossing Bilsdale itself and the River Seph close to Helm House Wood.  Our northerly return journey was up and over Bilsdale West Moor, then Hawnby Moor and then onto Snilesworth Moor close to Arnsgill Ridge - finally dropping down quite steeply back into the Chop Gate village hall car park.

Our morning coffee stop was spent under the helpful dry shelter of a large tree just after crossing Bonfield Gill close.  Lunch was taken in sunnier dry conditions just before our crossing of the River Seph - and shortly after our exhilarating ferns encounter.

So about those ferns (or is it bracken?).  Our paths and tracks throughout the day were generally good.  However on our descent from Laskill Pasture Moor through Birch Wood and on to Laverock Hall Farm we encountered some extra tall ferns/bracken completely obscuring the path (and sometimes us) - despite our GPS’s telling us we were bang on track.  Suffice it to say the next 40 minutes (and about two thirds of a mile) turned us all into budding Dr Livingstone’s.  The pictures below say it all.

A tough but great day out.  Good company, plenty of banter and unmerciful ribbing of our leader who (as usual) expertly guided us around.  Thoroughly enjoyed by all.