The Bothy Bonanza.

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After coming back to the house from my  last overnighter I was eager to get back out. That night while looking through the ‘Pennine Way’ guide book I noticed there is a bothy 20km away from where I rest my head. I decided to go north on the trail to the bothy then yoyo back the same way, so I put a quick post up on the works facebook group to see if anyone would like to join me. Pretty quickly Matt who started at ‘robinwood’ the same time as me and Rich my old housemate wanted to join in the fun. The plan was to meet at mine at 11am and head on out. Rich turned up first armed with a bottle of ‘Jura Origins’ (a mighty fine choice) and 3 cuban cigars, closely followed by Matt who was dressed ready for some fun in the sun.

 

We started off by heading down the canal towards ‘Hebden Bridge’ then left the canal and headed up on the road to ‘Blackshaw head’ where we picked up the trail. It started of through farmland but pretty soon we dropped down to a beautiful little valley and crossed Colden water and headed up towards the open access land.

Rich and Matt at the start of the moorland section.

Once we got ont’moors or as Rich described it ‘Yorkshires Desert’. After about an hour for some reason Matt and Rich started singing Jungle book songs, which helped pass the time. We also chatted about past adventures and experiences and it came to light that this was Riches first time going to a bothy and his first time ‘wild camping’. So we all hoped that the weather would hold out and the clouds would bugger off to give us a good sunset. Before long we made it to ‘Gorple Lower Reservoir’ where we took a break to soak up the scenery and sun.

Me and Matt heading down to Gorple Lower Reservoir.

After a refreshing break and deciding not to go for a swim, we headed up towards ‘Middle Walshaw Reservoir’ which was pretty empty. The bottom and top one had a fair amount of water in which seemed strange. We just assumed they must have let it run dry to do maintenance work.

Hard to swim when theres no water.

Rhododeneron in flower are beautiful, but they do not belong here.

About half way along the Reservoir the trail headed up towards Withins Heights which was a well benched trail and a steady climb up through the moorlands. We saw plenty of upland birds and got screeched at by a pheasant who was guarding her young which scattered in all directions struggling to fly. Once we made it over the saddle the bothy came into view. Its attached to a ruined farm house which is supposedly the sight which inspired Emily Bronte to write the novel Wuthering Heights. The bothy is pretty basic with one bench which could sleep two and a slanted coble floor, but it seems pretty water tight. We stopped and cooked a quick feed and toasted with a wee dram.

Rich and Matt hiking up ‘Withens Height’

The bothy.

We finished our food and started playing with our tarps, trying to figure out the best set ups for different situations. Pretty soon the sun started descending behind the hill and it started getting quite cold. So I took a run up Top Withins which on the map is marked as bog land but up there was a awesome stone with a good view to the horizon. So a bloody good spot to camp, and watch the sun set I ran back told the guys and we packed up and relocated to the rocks. Matt and Rich decided to ‘cowboy camp’ on the rock and I set up my tarp then chilled on the Rock with some tunes waiting for the main event. We bust out the cigars, had some drams and put on ‘Hayling – Fc Kahuna’ It was a very spiritual affair. Once the sun was down it got pretty cold so we wrapped up in our bags and waited for the stars to come out before calling it a night.

Rock shot..

Rockshot with the main event.

I woke up at 5am and did some condensation management on my tarp, then fell back to sleep before waking up again about 7ish. Got a brew on and chilled in my bag for a while before getting up. Matt was the second to wake closely followed by Rich, also Matt had brought us all a pre made muffins stuffed with bacon which really hit the spot. We packed down and had a look at the map, We decided instead of ‘YOYOing’ we would detour to Hebden bridge through Hardcastle crags which is a well maintained forest. On our way back the trail went next too what looked like another Bothy and guess what. It bloody well was, real nice too. Then we followed a 4×4 track down into the woods where there was some lovely wee trails and stepping stone river crossings. I need to explore this area more. Unfortunately before we knew it we had dropped down on to the road which lead down into the town centre. Where we decided to go to ‘The Milk Bar’ to score a milkshake from the beautiful girl who works in there. then we caught the train back to Tod.

The sleeping arrangements.

Rich walking out of the second bothy.

Hardcastle crag woodland trail.

The End.

Thank you to Rich and Matt for letting me use there photos and coming along on the adventure.

Pennine Way- Edale to Todmorden (shakedown)

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I Had three consecutive days off from work, and decided it was time to begin my training for the PCT. I made a pile of gear and food checked it over and chucked it in my pack. I then caught the train to a small Village called Edale in Derbyshire’s Peak District, I arrived at the trail head for 1300 which was later then I would have liked but sunday trains are a pain in the arse.

The trail left the village and slowly climbed through farmed land before reaching ‘Jacobs Ladder’ which was the biggest climb of the trip it was only 250m and bombed up it with out breaking a sweat which was nice. at the top there was a nice cairn.

Looking back to Edale after Jacob’s Ladder.

Once I was on the tops the trail stayed pretty level and traversed around Kinder Scout before descending down through some beautiful moorland. Luckily I was blessed with the weather for most of the day so made the exposed moors quite pleasurable so decided to take a break and cook up a feed. On the Menu was rice and tuna which really hit the spot. i then carried on to the river which I followed down into Crowdon. On route down I ran dry of water and was constantly assessing every source I passed but nearly all would have to be treated as they had dead animals in or nearby and plenty of poop on the banks. after a while i found an ok source traced it up stream abit and it looked fine so headed back to the trail and filled up although it was very peaty it tasted ok.

Good Quality H2O.

View from where i picked up the water looking down towards Crowden.

Pretty soon after filling up the wind picked up and my barometer had taken a sudden dive so knew before long I was going to get wet. So while heading down I was on the look out for somewhere to ‘pitch and ditch’ to avoid the incoming weather, and sure thing the heavens opened but luckily I found a spot. I could pitch my tarp and sit it out as I could see the blue sky wasn’t far behind. So i jumped in and kicked back with some tunes, after about 40mins of heavy rain it disappeared and the sun came back out. Stuffed my tarp away and cracked on down to Crowden which followed a very nice upgraded bridle way then climbed through farmers fields back into open access land.

Torside Reservoir, Crowden.

 

By this point it hit my 8pm ‘stick or twist’ camp spot hunt but luckily by 8.30 I had found the perfect spot, level grass just the right size for my tarp. So i dropped everything got a brew on and waited to see if anyone else was going to be walking passed because your not really meant to wild camp, for some stupid reason. No one hiked passed but while chilling I got raped by midges. this is where I regret not bringing any trousers or repellent. the lesson has now been learnt. So I pitched my tarp and dived in, the mesh kept all the wee buggers at bay and I started getting settled for the night.

Home.

I got up at 530am just as the sun was poping over the hill which was nice. But it took me 25mins to pack down on get back on trail which is crazy considering on ‘Te araroa’ It only took a maximum of 15. Anyway I got back on the trail and started climbing back up and on to the tops, again it was a beautiful day but the pressure was dropping. This section felt nice and remote and after about 2 hours the hunger pangs kicked in so took a break to feast on Muesli with milk powder and trail mix and washed down with a large coffee. This also got the bowls moving so found a good spot dug a ‘cat hole’ dropped the package and tried out my Azblaster which was a gift from ‘Meander’. Definitely one of the best inventions going and saves having to take shit tickets into the wild.

By this point the sun was blazing down which was beautiful, The trail was very well benched and most of it was on flag stones through the boggy land. There was even a few small river crossings which seemed pretty low and managed to just rock hop over them, so still got dry kicks.the trail crossed the road and dropped down towards a reservoir where there was a frame with the words ‘Framing the landscape-Many people look, but only a few see.’ etched into it.

Shortly after entering this section the heavens opened and it got real cold, so I chucked on my jacket, rain skirt and headphones to help push on to the pike. after about 30mins of heavy rain the thunder and lightning started. I was all ready high and exposed so just kept on trucking lucky for me though it didn’t come directly over so just added to the dramatics of the moors. then the trail dropped down to a foot bridge over the M62, which i decided to skip over. Then the trail made its way down to a pub where I got some cocky remarks about my skirt which is amazing. I dont think i will ever go back to waterproof pants. Then i climbed back up onto the tops and flowed the trail round to the pike touched it and headed back down to Todmorden to grab a beer some burgers and kick back at house.

Mission accomplished…

Section stats

I was on trail for 26 hours, covered 70km, 1750m assent and averaged a 3.78kmph pace.