Yorkshire Dales Walks
Moughton & Norber
Date: 15th October 2005
Distance: 8.5 miles
Ascent: 1391 feet
Time: 3 hours 50 mins
With: Matt
Start Grid Ref: SD769686
Walk Summary:
An excellent walk from Austwick exploring the limestone delights of Moughton, Norber and Crummackdale.
Route Summary: Austwick - Wharfe - Studrigg Scar - Moughton - Moughton Scars - Sulber Gate - Norber - Norber Boulders - Austwick
Pictures:
1. Looking across Crummackdale towards Norber
2. Looking up towards Studrigg Scar
3. Matt by the trig point on Moughton
4. Looking south towards Smearsett Scar
5. Juniper
6. Matt on the limestone encrusted flank of Moughton
7. Crummackdale and Norber from Moughton Scars
8. Looking along Moughton Scars
Walk Detail: This is the second of two walks in autumn 2005 that I did not make any notes of at the time so I've had to rely on my memory for the summary below.
We'd both been up on to Norber in poor weather the year before and wanted to visit it again. To extend the walk we decided to include Moughton thus forming what is in effect a horseshoe walk around Crummackdale. To start it was a fairly overcast day with patches of low cloud floating about. While the initial stretch from Austwick to Wharfe was okay it was not until we turned off the bridleway for Studrigg Scar that the walk got really interesting.
The short climb up the scar, next to an old dry waterfall, was an enjoyable one but unfortunately a patch of low cloud enveloped us and so we had to make our way carefully towards the top of Moughton as there are not any paths on the ground to follow.
Having missed out on much in the way of a view from Moughton we descended towards Moughton Scars. Nearly all this section entailed walking on extensive limestone pavements. One delightful area also featured a miniature forest of junipers.
The limestone landscape from Moughton Scars to Sulber Gate was like nothing I'd ever encountered before, it seemed quite otherworldly and was a real highlight of the walk.
After walking along the broad crest of Norber visiting all the competing cairns we dropped down to investigate the famous Norber erratics in much better conditions than on our previous visit. By this point the weather had also improved a lot from earlier on in the walk and we had a good time scrambling about on numerous boulders.
Due to a fault with my camera memory card I lost all my photos after Moughton Scars which is a real shame. Despite this, and the initial murky weather we both really enjoyed this walk. Certainly for me the Crummackdale area is one of my favourites in the Dales.
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