Sunday, 22 January 2012

Wolfhole Crag, Forest of Bowland Fell Run

Pete suggested a run up to one of the Forest of Bowland’s highest points, and it was high time for me to test my knee out and see if the recurring pain I have been getting on the road was still there.

We parked up at the isolated hamlet of Tarnbrook, and from here followed the Wyre Way across increasingly rough fields, until climbing over a stile and gaining the fell proper.  Following a wall boundary across White Moor, I had quickened my pace and caught up with the ever fitter Pete.  However I was stopped in my tracks, and in fact thrown to the ground by a rabbit snare in the grass!  Dusting myself down, we continued and I kept an eye open for more loops of wire.  Soon we found the path we were looking for, which branched off from the wall and made towards the outline of Brennand Great Hill.

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Looking back over Marshaw and Hawthornthwaite Fell

My pace had slowed, in part due to the strong, cold wind that was blowing across our path, but mainly due to my lack of running over the past few months.

Brennand Great Hill has a few gritstone boulders on top.  If it was not for the isolated location, and the wetness of the ground, they would be great for some short boulder problems.  Maybe I will go up there in the summer and see if they ever dry out (I doubt it, this is the Trough!).

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The Boulders

Shortly afterwards our destination came into view, and soon we had gained the dry stone wall which follows this long ridge, dividing the River Lune and Wyre catchments.

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Pete heads for the Trig

The cold wind meant we only stopped so I could retie my shoe laces, and then we turned back on ourselves, into the wind, heading for the shooter’s track.

The wind slowed us considerably, and it was with a little relief that we reached the substantial shooter’s track.  It is a real eyesore, and an intrusion into an otherwise fairly wild landscape.  However it did allow us to stretch out and make it back down to the car in good time.

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Pete picks up the pace on the way down

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