Yarlside & Randygill Top

Rating: Hard

Mar 13

An unforgettable wet day

Summary

The Howgills is a range of fells that are sandwiched between the Lake District and the Yorkshire Dales. Although they are still classified as part of the Yorkshire Dales (Cumbrian Dales) and part of the Dales 30. Which is one of the main reasons why I visit. However, I also go for the lonely rolling hills which makes it an absolute delight to walk on. Sedbergh is the town that is the gateway to the fells and where many walks begin to access the fells. Although the Howgills are generally a great place to walk, the remoteness, the quietness, and the easy terrain are all that bring people here. However, if you are caught out on a day with none stop rain. It’s not quite the same. And for me and my friend – this was one of these days.

The Hike

From the moment we began, it didn’t stop raining. It was awful. The route was so challenging and wet, it made it far more difficult than it should have been. My thighs were screaming by the time we had finished. There were areas in which we had to be so careful descending due to the heavy rainfall especially when there wasn’t a visible path to follow – one of which was from the summit of Yarlside.

We had only just begun and already our kit was soaked through. By this point, we were getting cold, we didn’t stop to eat because we couldn’t find anywhere to shelter, and on top of that, we were hating every minute. The only thing we could do was try and laugh about the bad luck we were having. We had hoped for grand views of both the Lake District and the Dales while on the ridges. However, this wasn’t the case. All we saw were lots of thick dark black clouds. Teaches us not to check the weather properly. Although it did allow me to take a few good snaps. Atmospheric to say the least.

Meanwhile, as we descended from Yarlside it was looking promising that the weather may clear. I was clearly very wrong because from here onwards it only became worst. In particularly one moment that stuck in my mind was when we ascended to the trig point of Randygill Top. This is one of the Dale's 30 we purposely came to tick off and although the weather was becoming worse, it would have been stupid if we didn’t at least try to summit. And just as we started, the rain started to plummet down even harder. It was almost like someone had poured a big bucket of water over us. We were drenched. The rain was hitting us from all directions, then hail started to come down too. And to make matters worse, it was extremely steep too. We could have been anywhere in the Alps the weather was so severe, let alone a peak in the Cambrian Dales. While reaching the top, I remember barely being able to stand up or see. The hail was coming down with such force it was hurting my face. I arrived at the summit first, my friend was a little behind me, and I could just see the silhouette of him, and his dog emerges out of the cloud. (Poor dog). When he arrived, both of us stood there in disbelief, shaking our heads. This is bonkers, what are we doing? At least it was a day we wouldn’t forget.

Annoyed and frustrated, we descended from Randygill (the last and final fell) and began to carefully make our way back towards the car. Although it wasn’t over yet, we still had to navigate through bogs, across streams, and along a narrow path that was filled with slippery rock. We both didn’t care at this point. We barely talked. We just wanted this to be over, and to top it off we had to climb out of the valley we had just descended into with barely any food in us. The whole day has just gone to pieces. No wonder my legs were seizing up. I didn’t even bring a spare change of clothes with me and therefore had to sit there in the car with wet clothes all the way home.

This is one of those days that you’ll never forget and can defiantly learn from. Always check the weather before setting off.