Yarlside and The Calf

Monday 6 April

Outstanding! That’s what today’s walk was, although we didn’t initially appreciate that, as we set out from the Cross Keys at Cautley in fog. It took us a while to rise above it, and when we did get to see our surroundings it was with an ‘oooh’. I hadn’t expected Cautley Spout to be such a tall waterfall – and at that point I could only see the top half, as the bottom still lay below the cloud.

Yarlside is a pleasant, steep-sided, grassy lump, from the top of which we enjoyed 360 degree views, and took the opportunity to work out which of the surrounding lumps was our next objective and how we were going to get there.

Back down to the pass we went, before pulling up the slope opposite to join the motorway of a public footpath which leads up to The Calf.

Whilst moving it was a hot one today, but sitting in the lee of the trig atop The Calf, we soon cooled down in the breeze. Even so, the pause had given us long enough to despatch some cake and make a decision about our onward route. On our way up to The Calf we had seen a chap walking across the top of Cautley Crag, which suggested to us that there was a way down via the top of the falls. It looked a fine walk via Bram Rigg Top and Calders, but the finest bit was across the top of the crag (Cautley Crag isn’t a feature I would describe as a crag – it’s a very steep scree slop, not a rocky outcrop; I use the term crag only as that’s what it’s called on the map). What stunning surroundings! It was something of a treat to have not been able to see them on the way up, making them a surprise on the way back.

The path down the side of the waterfall is not just steep, but also eroded, so we opted not to use it instead walking two sides of a triangle to get back down into the valley, from where the retracing of our steps saw us back to Colin, parked in a now-busy layby.

The stats for this fantastic outing: 8.2 miles; 2600’.