WILD BOAR FELL

Wild Boar Fell is the fifth highest mountain in the Yorkshire Dales. A few places above Penyghent at 708 metres but much more off the beaten track and pretty quiet. 

Worth a few words, perhaps, since we've had rather a dearth of mountain reports in our mountaineering club after a poor winter and dismal summer. 

As the start point is at 275 metres (near the summit of the railway) the mountain is very easy to get up. An ascent made even nicer by a solid and even-graded bridleway followed by easy-angled smooth short grass. Without much in the way of strenuous work, Angela and I ambled up to the top in around 1.25 hours. 

The summit is an extensive plateau, with a cairn set back about 300 metres from the Mallerstang escarpment. 

But the good bit, really, is to stroll long the edge overlooking the Mallerstang valley spread out dramatically below. 

From the northern point, of The Nab, the edge leads southwards above some steep ground, to a remarkable collection of cairns. Purpose unknown...... although similar ones at Nine Standards Rigg were suggested to have been dummy “look-outs” to deter Scots marauders. 

We were not in need of protection, though, as we saw only 3 people all day long.

The views were extensive in every direction. All Three Peaks, Cautley Spout, Morecambe Bay, Blencathra, and Cross Fell.

From the Cairns, a fence and a small path lead west to a shallow col, and the adjoining hill of Swarth Fell. 

From here, it is an easy descent to Ais Gill Cottages, and all on comfortable grassy terrain. The circuit was completed on bridleways just east of the main road, taking in Hell Gill Force waterfall.

About 5 hours altogether. Not exactly a big mountain day, but a good place to be on a busy Bank Holiday. It's almost 9 years since my last visit in the snow, and I'd forgotten quite what an amenable circuit it is. We even got a big freight train, making the valley rattle with its effort. 

ANDREW