Home > Pennine Way > 15: Dufton–Garrigill

Day 15: Dufton to Garrigill (15¾ miles)

28th May 2005

A big walk ahead of us, including the highest point on the whole Way; the day dawned nice enough and we had a pleasant stroll around the bottom of Dufton Pike, with close views of a Red Squirrel. The uphill drag to Knock Old Man took a while but was bearable.

It was rather windy on top of Knock Fell, and Cross Fell (which had been in view on the way up) was by now clouded over, and nasty-looking weather was headed our way from the west. The cloud descended around us as we reached the road on Great Dun Fell and we saw little of the radar station in thick mist. By the time we reached the ridge of Little Dun Fell we were in a howling gale that made it hard, particularly for Michelle, to walk in a straight line or even to remain upright. We cowered in the stone shelter on the top of Little Dun Fell for some time, where we were joined by some Brummies we'd met at Dufton hostel.

Eventually we decided to push on, although the weather hadn't really improved; this was probably a good move as as we clambered up towards the Cross Fell summit plateau there were signs of a break in the weather. Although I took a compass bearing to be sure (the first time I'd felt any need for the compass), by the time we reached the trig point things were definitely improving, the wind had dropped a little, and we even had a view to look at!

From the far edge of the Cross Fell plateau we cut a corner and followed a beeline to Greg's Hut where we rested, out of the wind, for a bit. Then followed a long but generally level trudge along the 'corpse road', where we picked up some fluorspar from the track (as suggested by Wainwright, we discovered later).

A bridleway shortcut over rough grass and heather proved a waste of time and effort (again as suggested by Wainwright, we discovered too late) and we were pretty footsore by the time we trudged into Garrigill (we certainly wouldn't have fancied carrying on as far as Alston, as most PWers do). An early dinner in the pub, followed by an early night, was the order of the day.

Weather: pleasant early and late on, but misty and extremely windy for the middle section Walk: 8/10 Mood: 7/10 Cumulative distance: 172¾ miles

Heading towards Dufton Pike