Baugh Fell

[MunroMad]

Great Day for a walk. Left the station in Garsdale at 11, and took the road/track upto "Riggs" to climb the hill Baugh Fell. Once you arrive at the wall at Riggs you follow it all the way up to the top. Note though, stick to the RIGHT handside of the wall as opposed to the left, the path is very vague at first, but becomes a lot more apparent as you walk further, it is alot boggier the other side and has no distinct path, only tractor tracks, and they are not always there!! You also end up crossing the fence at some point which is a bit of a bother. Once following the wall on the right hand side you go up and over a mound before dipping into a sodden area of bog. This was only made easier for me due to the extensive -7 temperatures that night in the Dales which froze everything. Later on as I came down, the thawing had made it alot more trickier. Tip: Don't go walking on a boggy hill when there is extensive thawing happening!! Bogginess aside, you head up the hill, still following the wall. The contours become kinder at the 550m countour, you see Grisedale cairns (they really love their cairns around here!) on your right. Then you cross the vast bulk of the summit, it reminds you of cross fell, you just get an appreciation for how huge this hill is. After an hour and a half I was at the top. Views toward Scafell, Pennines, Great Shunner Fell, and the three peaks were amazing, not to forget the Howgills. Views toward the west would have been made better by continuing on to the Knoutberry Haw summit, but I was pressed for time, or so I thought, and didn't want to find myself running to meet the train again.

From the summit, the descent is the same. And only took an hour, another 20 mins and I was at the station with lots of time to spare. That will teach me. This hill can easily be done in 3 hours, at a nice leisurely pace though, with marvelous views and a stop for malt loaf at the top...who needs to rush!

MunroMad tip: Never follow someone elses footprints in the snow, especially when thawing is happening and there is extensively deep bog underneath. I will say no more on it!!

All in all a good day, Baugh Fell is a huge hill, a mound of bog that someone visits once and never again, but what a day!
Notes: ~ 420 m ascent. No facilities in Garsale (Toilet or Pub!)

[jonathan]

great report and pics. You get a real feeling of remoteness doing these two. Did them from the west last Jan in poor conditions. Had to wade through knee deep snow with little vis on the tops