Catrigg Force

I'd actually walked up this first section of today's walk on my last outing in the Dales (see Settle And Stainforth's Waterfalls And Caves ). After about 15 minutes walk from Stainforth, there was an opportunity to do a short out-and-back diversion to see Catrigg Force. I'd not planned to see it today since it'd only been a couple of weeks since my las visit. During my drive to Stainforth I'd caught sight of the River Ribble at Langcliffe, and I could see there was a lot more water coming down compared to a fortnight ago. I therefore decided to have another gander at the waterfall. As I dropped down to it, I could see a white mist appearing from its top like white smoke. This was caused by the wind blowing the spray from the waterfall back up the ravine. I descended to the beck and got the full view of the waterfall. There was certainly a lot more water coming down it today compared to last time. It was definitely worth doing the short out-and-back. 

Returning to my footpath from Stainforth, I noticed that I could see Knowe Fell to the north and the distinctive lump of Penyghent further over to the west. Both of them had been masked by mist the last time I was here. 

Knowe Fell

I followed a single track road over to Knowe Fell. The wind was so strong that it blew my hat off. I had to put my anorak's hood up to keep it on and this remained up for the rest of the day. Looking across to Penyghent I could see a smattering of snow on its eastern flank. It's certainly a fine looking fell; probably the finest looking one in the Dales in my view. 

I left the road and started making my way up Knowe Fell's flank. My original intention was to follow a stone wall up to its summit trig, but I found that there were plenty of ATV tracks across the fell and so I decided to use these and take a more direct route. The grass was a bit tufty here and there but it wasn't too bad and I managed to find ATV tracks that took me in the direction that I wanted. There were plenty of sink holes around and the tracks weaved between them. I finally met up with the wall to the summit and I followed it for the last few hundred metres. 

There was a fine view from the summit. Over to the west I could see the Yorkshire Three Peaks: Penyghent, Whernside and Ingleborough. Over to the east I could see an epic view down to Malham Tarn. And to the north, I could see the ridge leading to the distant Fountains Fell's summit. I headed off in that direction. 

Fountains Fell

The route over to Fountains Fell's summit followed a broken stone wall and wire fence. It was pretty much trackless. Occasionally I could make use of an ATV track, but a lot of the time I was forging my own way. It was particularly boggy too. Despite wearing gaiters, my feet became soaked. I got the feeling that not many people actually frequented this route. 

Just below Fountains Fell's summit plateau I came across Fountains Fell Tarn. It seemed bigger than I was expecting. Some mini-dams had been created around the area to retain the water on the top of the fell and they seemed to be working pretty well.

As I climbed up to the summit plateau I came across some wooden posts as guides to the summit. These led me on to a more obvious track to the summit. A largish cairn crowned the 668 metre high top. I continued along the track and came across some fenced off areas. These enclosed the old mining shafts that had not been capped off. I could only see 3 or 4 metres down each shaft without getting inside the fence. I wondered about the life of the miners that worked up here. They must have been knackered from the commute even before they started a shift. I wandered over to the Pennine Way path and it brought back previous memories of passing this way. 

Churn Milk Hole

I started dropping down the west flank of Fountains Fell along the Pennine Way. 'You've got the same idea as me.' I nearly jumped out of my skin. I'd stopped to take a photo of Penyghent and a female fell runner had approached me from behind and had also stopped to take a picture. After not seeing anybody for three and half hours, and enclosed in my own hooded world, I thought I'd had the Dales to myself. 'Sorry didn't mean to make you jump' she said and then bounded off down the track. I looked around to see if there was anybody else lurking and then I started following her down at a slower pace. The Pennine Way follows the single track Silverdale road for a while. I could have actually followed this road right back to Stainforth, but I branched off it along the Pennine Way and made my way up to Churn Milk Hole. This is an enormous sink hole. It is the mother of all sink holes. 

Return

Once I'd reached the ridge from Penyghent I started following the footpath southwards, back towards Stainforth. This footpath was quite soggy too. At least the sun was out and I got good views over Ribblesdale, towards Ingleborough. The footpath wasn't the best, but it was all downhill and I made good time. After crossing Moor Head Lane I joined a footpath that was labelled as the Ribble Way and Pennine Journey on my OS map. Given that these are well known routes I was surprised that the footpath wasn't more definitive. There weren't any signs, but the stiles at the walls gave reasonable hints as to where you should be going. A couple who were ahead of me went wrong at one point and then ended up correcting themselves and following me. There were some cracking views over Ribblesdale over to the west, and southwards towards Settle, as I descended through the last fields into Stainforth. 

In the village I came across a small walled area that was just about large enough to hold a bench. An information board said that it was known as a pinfold and had been used in the past to pen in stray sheep, until the farmer could collect them. It then goes on to cast doubt on this assertion by saying its the wrong shape for a pinfold. Their second theory is that it was part of a building that was probably a piggery to a nearby farm. Whatever it was then, it is now a rather small, but secluded spot to sit down and contemplate pinfolds and piggeries. 

It was nice to spend a day in the Dales with reasonably good weather. It had been very windy, but at least it was clear of mist and I got good views. It was soggy too. Definitely gaiter country.