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Hewitts: Drumaldrace.
Date: 11/05/2019.
Distance: 0.5 km.
Ascent: 20m.
Time: 5 minutes.
Weather: Warm, sunny.
An extremely short walk during an exhaustingly hilly 85 mile cycle round the Dales, with another 32 miles the following day.
The 3rd annual cycling weekend with some guys from work, and after Torridon and Snowdonia, we were in the Yorkshire Dales this time. David had come up with a rather ludicrous 80 miler for Saturday, seemingly taking in every big hill that the area had to offer, while George had a gentler 40 mile circuit in the Eden Valley for Sunday - gentle if you ignored the fact that there was an 8 mile out-and-back ascent of Great Dun Fell!
Jackie was along for the weekend too, and after looking unsuccessfully for a shorter, less hilly version of Saturday's ride that her injury could cope with, she decided to go off and walk up some hills instead.. We drove down on Friday afternoon with Steve and met everyone else at the bunkhouse in Keld - a lovely spot. Some of the others had cycled up to the Tan Hill Inn for a pint but we couldn't be bothered.
Waterfalls at the bunkhouse On Saturday, the weather looked fine and we were on the road sharpish. A short descent (with bits of uphill in it
) led us to the first big climb of the day - the Butter Tubs pass. Although steep in places, this wasn't too bad, and set the scene for the day (we would either be going steeply up or steeply down!)
Day 1 map 
North from Butter Tubs 
Butter Tubs ascent - first of many A short hoof up to Lovely Seat beckoned, but I decided to stick with the pack - it was too early to be getting left behind. A swift downhill (including a brake malfunction and a puncture for two members of the group) led us to Hawes, followed shortly by the second big climb of the day.
Descent to Hawes 
Head of Wensleydale 
Final descent into Wensleydale 
Gayle Beck, Sleddale Fleet Moss was the highest point of the cycle....for everyone else at least! After the brutal final climb onto the plateau, I was ahead of most people, and turned left onto an unsurfaced track. I was determined to get to at least one summit today, and conveniently I was cycling past possibly the easiest 2000ft hill in the country.
Steep bit up onto Fleet Moss A mile or so along the rough track brought me to a gate. I dumped the bike, and was on the summit of Drumaldrace approximately 6 minutes later
. Not an overly inspiring hill, but it was dry (unlike it's more northern Pennine counterparts) and there were pleasant views across Wensleydale and Semer Water. The strangely shaped summit of Addlebrough to the east looked interesting.
Semer Water and Addlebrough 
Start of the walk to Drumaldrace 
Addlebrough from Drumaldrace 
Drumaldrace summit Another 3 minutes took me back to the bike, from where the Roman Road/bridleway gave a short, boneshaking descent to the road again. Dodd Fell Hill on the other side of the road was another possible grab, but I decided to leave it be as I was now a good 20 minutes behind everyone else.
The roman road back to Fleet Moss 
Roman road 
Descending Langstrothdale An exhilarating descent caught me up with Steve after not too long, who had completely lost confidence in his brakes and was walking down the steepest bits. The rest of the descent of Langstrothdale was beautiful, but I was on my own, finally catching up with the rest of the group outside a closed tearoom in Buckden. Once Steve caught up, it was a leisurely roll down to Kettlewell where we found an open tearoom. Scones were the order of the day, before enjoying a flatter section of the ride round into Littondale.
Langstrothdale 
A scone or two.... The nice flat cycling didn't last for too long, before another steep pull up past Pen-y-Ghent. A swift descent led into the Ribble Valley and the pub in Helwith Bridge, just as it began to bucket down with rain. Jackie appeared here for lunch, having been up Pen-y-Ghent in the morning.
Pen-y-Ghent 
Ribblehead here we come! After a good lunch of sausage and mash, plus a couple of pints, Jackie cycled with us up to Ribblehead before heading up Whernside. The rest of us swung a right and dropped steeply into Dentdale. Fortunately the entire rainfall of the day had taken place over lunch when we were inside.
Ribblehead viaduct 
Looking back to Ingleborough 
Dent Dale Dentdale was lovely. We all knew that the climb up to Dent Station was probably going to be the worst thing on the round, but what we hadn't factored in was the equal amount of climb (almost as steep) beyond the station! Still, the high point of the road had some of the best views of the day, including glimpses over to the Northern Pennines and the Lake District.
Dent Station 
Lakes in the distance across Garsdale 
Summit of the Dent road - bugger of a climb 
Across Wild Boar Fell to the Northern Pennines Another fun descent led to some unexpected uphill, then a drop into the upper Eden that had just enough of a headwind to make it a chore. We knew what awaited us next, so stopped at the Black Bull in Nateby for a couple of pints to prepare for the final assult....
The upper Eden 
Cross Fell and the Eden The climb back over to Swaledale would be painful. We knew it as we had already covered over 70 miles, and we had driven this road the night before. We all pretty much separated and went at our own pace here - me just content to stay on the bike, however slowly I went.
Wild Boar Fell from the Swaledale road 
Second bit of the bloody hill 
Wild Boar Fell Still, it was well worth still being out at this time of the evening, as there was a spectacular sunset over the Lake District, followed by a leisurely descent (still with annoying bits of uphill) back to Keld.
Sunset over the Lakes 
Do we? 
Sunset 
Last light I was absolutely dead at this point, and didn't manage to stay up much beyond dinner and a couple of beers
.
______________________________________________
The following day, I decided (along with Jackie and another couple of folk) to do the Eden Valley circuit from Kirkby Stephen, but leaving out the big climb onto Great Dun Fell. I rather liked the look of High Cup Nick as a future walking ascent, and besides, my knees said no! So we bumbled round a much less hilly circuit than yesterday in lovely sunshine, stopping at Long Marton for a pub lunch. Although not as pretty as the Lake District itself, this corner of Cumbria was very pleasant, with great views over to the Lakes as well as the adjacent Pennines. A nice end to a great weekend (and possibly the shortest walk I've ever logged
)
Day 2 map
Mickle Fell 
Blencathra and the northern Lakes Blencathra and the northern Lakes 
Short stop near Dufton 
High Cup Nick from below 
Dufton Pike and Great Dun Fell 
Great Dun Fell 
Murton Pike 
Heading home from Appleby