8 Trig Circular

Trig 1 - Deerstones

 This route started as the LDWA Six trigs challenge. I've tried that route a couple of times, and there are sections of it that are really grim. When I started looking at ways to avoid the worst sections I found that I could drop onto the Pennine Bridleway and avoid Birkin Clough (probably the nastiest section), and take in an additional trig (Delf Hill). I'd already decided to add in Standing Stone Hill as it's pretty easy to include (or so I thought...).

I had a crack at my modified route anticlockwise last weekend. The weather was awful, it was really windy, and I set off far too late. In the end I completed 7 out of the 8 trigs before bailing out at Bridestones.

This week the forecast was much nicer, so I decided to get the thing out of the way. I opted for clockwise, mainly to get the unknown navigation done immediately.

Starting from Deerstones trig at about 9.45 (having left home at 9.15 and climbed slowly up the hill), I immediately had to stop and put on a waterproof, as a band of rain came over the top of Crimsworth Dean.

A steady run down to Hardcastle Crags, which was rapidly filling up with visitors, and then I climbed up to Heptonstall Moor from the back of Gibson Mill and on to Standing Stone Hill.

Trig 2 - Standing Stone Hill

Trig 3 - Bridestones

According to the map, there's a fairly direct route from Standing Stone Hill across the beck at the top of Colden Clough and up to Dukes Cut. It turns out to be a crappy route. An elderly lady from the farm there was bemused that I was even trying, it doesn't seem to be used much, and the path is unmarked. I'm pretty sure I took the right line on the east side of the beck, and ended up ignoring a 'no pedestrians' sign and hopping over a wall. I recommend against this route.

On the other side it's still unclear where the path is, but I was able to climb straight up the next two fields and join the track leading up to Dukes Cut. From there it's a steady run on to Bridestones.

Because it was a nice day, it was busy up here. Lots of mountain bikers. One well spoken middle aged couple gave me a cheery 'hello' as they close passed without slowing, splashing me with mud up to my face. Thanks for that.

The sedge tussocks and boggy delights of Hoofstones,

I paused at Bridestones to take a photo and chatted to a lady with a sight hound about cats. Then on to Hoofstones. Weirdly this section was probably the busiest all day. Along the walled track below Bridestones I encountered 2 largish groups (although probably only two households per group thinking about the composition), then on Hoofstones, one of the boggiest hills in the area, I saw two separate couples out walking.

Trig 4 - Hoofstones Heights

From Hoofstones trig my original plan was to follow the boundary down to Sheddon Clough to skip the section to the Gorple track, but I tried that last weekend and it was pretty rough. I don't think I've ever seen tussocks as big as the sheep before. So this time I hopped over the stile and followed the path towards Gorple. It was less grim than last time I was up here, although there were some very wet sections.

Gorple res, near the end of the first boggiest

Down the Gorple track to join the Pennine Bridleway west of the plateau meant losing a lot of height, but Birkin Clough is worth avoiding, and this diversion makes it possible to pick up Delf Hill. The best way up Delf from this side is to cross the wall on the south side of the hill, climb up with the motorbike scrambles to your left, pick up the trig then carry on to the far right corner of the field. There's a little gate there that gets you through the wall which you can handrail back to the bridleway (although it's boggy and tussocky).

Trig 5 - Delf Hill

Belties on Delf Hill

Another massive loss of height, then back up on the Pennine Bridleway, soon joining the Pendle Way before turning off for the slog up Lad Law. The path up Lad Law goes off to the right at the information board next to the path, and I stopped here to put away my map, dig out the GPS and refill my front pockets with food.

It was starting to get a little late in the day as I reached the top of Lad Law and I was keen to get across the plateau in daylight. As it turned out I had plenty of time, leaving the trig at 1510, I was at Haworth Moor trig half an hour later, having wallowed and zig zagged all over the place. It's really difficult to find the parish boundary path from the Lad Law side, but I did eventually find it after falling up to my thighs and elbows in a cold bog pool. I always find a GPS trace helpful on this section, although the limit of accuracy of the GPS combined with the featureless terrain still make it tough going. For future reference I think I need to err off to the right/downhill then climb to find the boundary path.

Trig 6 - Lad Law

The rain came in as I dropped behind Top Withins farmhouse, and I was already freezing cold with sore feet. I put a buff around my neck to keep the heat in, which was surprisingly effective, and as I set off across the Waste the rain eased off and eventually stopped.

Trig 7 - Haworth Moor

I finally lost the light at the top of Stairs Lane, which I was OK with as it left a few miles of very familiar ground to cover in the dark. My experimental food (peanut butter/instant mash 50/50 mix) had been very effective and I still had plenty of energy. I was warming up again after my accidental bath and enjoying the last few miles. I crossed Keighley Road and climbed up onto the top, and High Brown Knoll was the first trig I reached in darkness (and the 2nd to last trig of the day).

Trig 8 - High Brown Knoll

I took the most direct route I knew across Midgely Moor and got back to Deerstones trig 2 minutes inside 8 hours. Not exactly fast for 50km, but not far from what I'd expected given the terrain, loafing around admiring the view and taking photos.

Trig 1 again, Deerstones. My camera must have got wet.