Mickle Fell loop from Swindale Beck

Mickle Fell loop from Swindale Beck — North Pennines AONB

Mickle Fell is the highest peak in Yorkshire, depending on which list you look at. It is an imposing bulk of a mountain and difficult to get to as a large chunk of it is in the Warcop military training range and access is limited. Normally, 10–12 weekends are set aside annually by the military to allow hikers to walk one of two routes to its summit. There are two routes: the Northern Route and the Southern Route, and both require permits. I did the Southern Route, which is a linear route following a fence for most of the way, but I did add a bit of a loop onto it. The middle section of this route is difficult and boggy. For further information, scheduled hiking days, and contact numbers, see the links below. 

Access Days — https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/warcop-access-times
General Information — https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a79714ce5274a2acd18cdf4/dte_info_leaflet_northwest.pdf
Application procedure — https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/66339f8e4d8bb7378fb6c172/WTA_Mickle_Fell_Access_Permit_Request_Procedures.pdf

Parking: A small roadside car park for 3–4 vehicles at the start point.
Route Description: You follow the obvious fence for most of the first half to the top of Mickle Fell. There is even a pretty decent path for the first kilometre. The middle section of this first half, however, gets boggy due to numerous small streams. You can try to get around these if you want to. I did, but a wider berth would be better still. There is a steep pull for the last kilometre up to the summit. There is a cairn at Mickel Fell itself, and two kilometres east along the plateaued top, you will find the trig point for Mickel Fell East Top. From here, you follow a path down south; this soon turns into a good, wide gravel track. I would follow the GPX trail from here on in, at least where it crosses the next two rivers, in order to hit the bridges at the right place. After the first bridge, you are off piste again and start to follow indistinct quad trails and white poles. It is not too bad, however, and after a couple of kilometres, you end up back at the original fence you followed up. Another 20–30 minutes brings you back to the start point. This is a very remote and hard-to-access area of the North Pennines. Very barren moorland views overall, would be much nicer on a sky blue day, but no such luck on my outing.
Route Statistics: 14 kilometres with 512 metres of height gain done in 4 hours and 11 minutes.