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Great Shunner Fell & Lovely Seat

Great Shunner Fell & Lovely Seat


Postby poppiesrara » Sat Oct 22, 2011 11:42 am

Hewitts included on this walk: Great Shunner Fell, Lovely Seat

Date walked: 19/10/2011

Time taken: 4.25

Distance: 22.5 km

Ascent: 800m

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A beautifully clear if very cold day, and a long but surprisingly easy-going route over the moors of the northern Yorkshire Dales.

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From Hardraw, the route to the summit of Great Shunner Fell follows the Pennine Way on a walled lane through fields and then a sympathetic path over the open moor, flagged or at least stepping-stoned over most of the worst parts of some extremely wet marshland. It’s a pretty long and steady climb, and the rounded hills to the sides don’t really fill the eye, but - if you can keep reminding yourself to turn around – the broad green plains of Wensleydale are a welcome contrast. Despite a smart summit shelter, there isn’t too much spectacular about this flat, gently-sloped hill and it’s hard to think of it as one of the highest peaks of the Dales (it certainly doesn’t seem more of a ‘mountain’ than Pen-y-Ghent, for instance), but it feels airy and remote and somehow quite an achievement to get there.
1 Pennine Way leaving Hardraw.jpg
Pennine Way leaving Hardraw

2 Dodd Fell & G Knoutberry Hill over upper Wensleydale.jpg
Dodd Fell & G Knoutberry Hill over upper Wensleydale

3 Pickersett Nab over Fossdale.jpg
Pickersett Nab over Fossdale

4 Down Pennine Way, Penhill in distance.jpg
Down Pennine Way, Penhill in distance

5 Lovely Seat.jpg
Lovely Seat

6 Wensleydale.jpg
Wensleydale

7 Great Shunner Fell in sunshine from flagged path.jpg
Great Shunner Fell in sunshine from flagged path

8 Great Shunner Fell summit shelter.jpg
Great Shunner Fell summit shelter

9 Hugh Seat & Wild Boar Fell from G Shunner Fell.jpg
Hugh Seat & Wild Boar Fell from Great Shunner Fell

The sight of the impassable-looking lands either side of the ascent route does rather fill you with dread at the prospect of the pathless three miles or so east to Lovely Seat, but luckily the going is much easier, even quite firm, on this side. A couple of short damp sections, notably at the start of the climb up from the road, but nothing too tricky, even after a wet week or so, and it’s quite a pleasant change to finally reach some steeper ground just before the summit. I can’t imagine the interestingly-shaped cairn here predates the naming of the hill, and so it shows quite a nice impishness that someone has built it this way…
10 Back to G Shunner Fell.jpg
Back to Great Shunner Fell

11 Descending to Buttertubs Pass.jpg
Descending to Buttertubs Pass

12 Lovely Seat western scarp.jpg
Lovely Seat western scarp

13 G Shunner Fell behind the 'lovely seat' on Lovely Seat.jpg
Great Shunner Fell behind the 'lovely seat' on Lovely Seat

14 SE over the moors from Lovely Seat.jpg
SE over the moors from Lovely Seat

15 Southern Dales from Lovely Seat.jpg
Southern Dales from Lovely Seat

The straight route south over Abbotside Common looks desperately bleak and challenging, but – eschewing that – it’s not far back down to the (wide-verged and unfenced) road that wends quite strikingly down the side of the hill above Fossdale Gill. Just before it steepens and becomes enclosed, a good stone-and-grass track heads off east above the limestone scarp of High Clint, and then in a very pleasant green-pathed loop back down through the hamlets in the valley to Hardraw.
16 Fossdale Gill.jpg
Fossdale Gill

17 Head of Fossdale Gill below G Shunner Fell.jpg
Head of Fossdale Gill below G Shunner Fell

18 High Clint.jpg
High Clint

19 Drumaldrace & Dodd Fell on skyline.jpg
Drumaldrace & Dodd Fell on skyline

20 East down Wensleydale.jpg
East down Wensleydale

21 High Clint.jpg
High Clint

22 Dodd Fell & Widdale.jpg
Dodd Fell & Widdale

23 Wensleydale.jpg
Wensleydale
Last edited by poppiesrara on Thu Oct 18, 2012 10:32 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Great Shunner Fell & Lovely Seat

Postby colgregg » Sat Oct 22, 2011 1:47 pm

It's a decent day out and got some good pics there. . You also had better weather than me when I did it. I went the same route except from Lovely seat I did a bit of bogtrotting directly across the moor to the crags of High Clint. You certainly seem to be clocking up your Yorkshire Dales (my back yard) tally. Keep it up.
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Re: Great Shunner Fell & Lovely Seat

Postby poppiesrara » Sun Oct 23, 2011 10:54 am

Thanks, Colgregg. Was planning the same route - it would have taken a couple of miles off - but the moor south of Lovely Seat looked just a bit too grim! The road route worked out quite nicely.

I think most of the rest of the Dales might have to wait until it's a bit drier underfoot...
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Re: Great Shunner Fell & Lovely Seat

Postby colgregg » Sun Oct 23, 2011 12:12 pm

poppiesrara wrote:Thanks, Colgregg. Was planning the same route - it would have taken a couple of miles off - but the moor south of Lovely Seat looked just a bit too grim! The road route worked out quite nicely.

I think most of the rest of the Dales might have to wait until it's a bit drier underfoot...


It can be a bit of a slog having to zig zag your way through the mire. It can get very spongy on the tops with even a small amount of rain.
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Re: Great Shunner Fell & Lovely Seat

Postby Red Peak » Mon Oct 24, 2011 10:29 pm

poppiesrara wrote:but the moor south of Lovely Seat looked just a bit too grim!

I did these two last year and to be honest, the moor south of Lovely Seat was pretty straightforward in terms of 'bogginess'. Not a very inspiring part of the walk, certainly, but dry enough underfoot.

Enjoy the Dales, Poppiesrara. They're a delight compared to the north Pennines. Though having said that, I'm developing a fondness for the bleakness, solitude and bog-hopping that is part and parcel of most of the the north Pennine hills.

You sailed through the Welsh Hewitts. The English ones by the end of 2012, maybe? :D
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Re: Great Shunner Fell & Lovely Seat

Postby goth_angel » Wed Oct 26, 2011 4:51 pm

Nice to see what Great Shunner Fell looks like! Walked over it from Hardraw to Thwaite on Monday and saw absolutely nothing from about 500m up apart from the summit shelter. Very damp and boggy throughout. :( was very thankful for the paved bits.
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Re: Great Shunner Fell & Lovely Seat

Postby icemandan » Wed Oct 26, 2011 6:30 pm

Don't know if its on anyone's list but Addleborough is a nice little mini Pen-y-Ghent. Build it into a round of Semer Water from Bainbridge and it adds some interest to the gluepot of Yockenthwaite Fell. Finish off with Drumaldrace and it will all seem worth it.
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Re: Great Shunner Fell & Lovely Seat

Postby colgregg » Thu Oct 27, 2011 12:23 am

icemandan wrote:Don't know if its on anyone's list but Addleborough is a nice little mini Pen-y-Ghent. Build it into a round of Semer Water from Bainbridge and it adds some interest to the gluepot of Yockenthwaite Fell. Finish off with Drumaldrace and it will all seem worth it.

I did Addleborough one afternoon in January. http://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/Forum/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=9307
Pleasant stroll it is too. The walk from there to Yockenthwaite isn't too bad, a bit boggy once you're past South Grain Tarn.
Yockenthwaite to Drumaldacre! Wow thats one heck of a bog trot of nigh on 4 miles, Iceman. I've not done that bit myself so if you've done it let me know what it's like underfoot as I wouldn't mind a visit to Outershaw Tarn. Personally I think it could just be one of those times where half way across the moorland you would feel like losing the will to live :(
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