Arncliffe; Saturday 21 March 15


Arncliffe; Saturday 21st. March 2015

There was nasty cold breeze sweeping down the valley as our group of nine members assembled at the bottom of Brootes Lane in Arncliffe at the start of the walk. Apart from the breeze, it was fine and mainly sunny, with the prospect of a good day to look forward to, with reasonably dry conditions underfoot.

The walk itself was a simple affair, which could be broken down into four legs. The first along the valley floor of Littondale, as far as Halton Gill. The second steeply uphill from Halton Gill to Horse Head Gate. The third along the crest of the ridge, between Wharfedale and Littondale, as far as the path linking Kettlewell and Arncliffe over Middlesmoor Pasture, And the final leg was from Middlesmoor Pasture back down to our cars in Arncliffe.

As promised, we had long spells of sunshine and the going underfoot was excellent, apart from the third leg along the moor, where for the greater part the path followed a wall. Unfortunately the wall still had the remains of a snowdrift behind it covering the path. This meant we had either to plough through the rough on one side or squeeze our way between the wall and the drift. Nevertheless we had good clear views of Whernside, Pen-y-ghent and Fountains Fell to our right and Middle Tongue and Buckden Pike to our left. In the distance we could hear curlews calling reminding us Spring was now with us.

Back at our cars the ones with GPS's told us we had walked almost 15 miles. Thanks to those that came along.

Stan.