Dales Way - Day 3 - Hubberholme to Dent

Thursday 3rd September 2020

Day 3 Hubberholme to Dent

This was quite a tough one. The first 5 miles from Hubberholme to Beckermonds through Langstrothdale, was possibly the best stretch of river walking I have ever done, it was idyllic, remote and so peaceful – if only the rest of the day was on the same level.

After leaving the River Wharfe it was uphill to Oughtershaw and a very soggy walk uphill to Cam Houses where the Pennine Way was briefly joined.

Although the weather was pretty grim up there, the impressive Ribblehead Viaduct could still be seen in the distance as we neared Yorkshire 3 Peaks territory. Wind and rain persisted as we made our way into Dentdale before easing towards the end of the day. We actually reached Dent with the sun out to end this 22 mile walk.

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Distance: 21.7 miles

Duration: 8:15 hours

Ascent: 2346 ft

Difficulty: Hard

Accompanied By: Davy

Weather: Wet & Windy

3D outline of route

Parking

A gloomy morning as we leave Hubberholme.

Not really !!

The 12th century St Michael and All Angels church at Hubberholme

Walking alongside the Wharfe in Langstrothdale.

Such a gentle start to the day

Nearing Beckermonds

Beckermonds. This is where the Whafe commences as Oughtershaw and Green Field becks join. We head away from the river and start a bit of road walking and its time to don the waterproofs.

Walking through Oughtershaw - but not too far past here we visited Nethergill Farm and its Eco field centre c/w tea/coffee facilities (honesty boxes) and an interesting selection of dales wildlife information. Time to dry off and take a breather and list our wildlife observations on the board.

Squelch squelch, over the boggy terrain - heads down in the head-on wind and rain - still chatting, we managed a little unplanned detour as we missed a right turn signpost - not the day to add on extra !

Back on the right path it was a gradual uphill in heavy going conditions

A look back down into the soggy dale

Totally exposed on the top, we join the Roman Road which is part of the Pennine Way. I hope we get good weather when we do the Pennine Way in the future, as a week of this would be hard going at these exposed locations - not much shelter around here.

After a lunch stop in the rain - and 30 metres away from a large bull at our chosen seating place (and both in red waterproof tops I may add) - there wasn't many places that could afford a little protection from the rain, so we went for it. The bull didn't seem to mind. A bit further on was the Dent Head Viaduct.

As we entered Dentdale the rain eased and we started a long stretch of country lane walking - which wasn't too bad actually, especially after all that boggy & energy sapping last section.