From Hartley Fell, the ground falls sharply over the lip of Dukerdale before rising again across the open moorland of Nateby Common. Beyond, High Pike Hill reaches 642m, its broad upland ridge filling the distant skyline. The deep cut of Dukerdale gives the view its drama, breaking the otherwise sweeping expanse of high Pennine moorland.

Nine Standards Rigg rises to 650m, where nine immense stone cairns stand in a line across the exposed Pennine skyline. Visible from miles around, their dark silhouettes give this otherwise open plateau an unmistakable landmark. The summit lies within the North Pennines National Landscape, with the boundary of the Yorkshire Dales National Park less than a kilometre to the east.

Near Grains was once one of the most difficult stretches of bog on the Coast to Coast, where the path crosses the wet peat below White Mossy Hill. Stone paving now carries walkers across the worst ground. It is also an important junction: the Blue Route turns east into Whitsundale, while the Red Route continues across the open moor towards Ney Gill and Ravenseat. Clear waymarking now makes the choice much easier to follow.

Across the fragile blanket bog beyond Nine Standards Rigg, the Coast to Coast divides into three seasonal routes designed to spread footfall and reduce erosion. From May to July walkers follow the Red Route towards Ney Gill and Ravenseat; from August to November the Blue Route crosses towards Whitsundale; and from December to April the Green Route takes lower ground towards the Keld road. The changing routes allow sections of this vulnerable peat landscape time to recover.

Somewhere across the open moor between Nine Standards Rigg and White Mossy Hill, the Coast to Coast crosses the historic county boundary from Cumbria into North Yorkshire. With little on the ground to announce the change, the walker continues across the high blanket bog towards White Mossy Hill, whose broad summit reaches 659m. Here the immense Pennine plateau seems to stretch almost without interruption towards Yorkshire.

At Lady Dike Head the blanket bog is torn by a deep, broad gully, creating one of the most awkward crossings on Birkdale Common. Even in dry weather the steep peat sides and broken ground demand care in finding a safe way across. In wetter conditions, this deeply eroded channel reveals just how difficult and unforgiving the high Pennine plateau can become.

A small stone cairn marks Coldbergh Edge, where the broad wet ground of Lady Dike Head begins to fall away. Water drains south-west through Crooked Sike, while to the south-east Long Gill, Great Cogill and Little Cogill cut into the moor before feeding Whitsundale Beck. From here, the apparently level plateau reveals itself as a landscape shaped everywhere by flowing water.

At Millstones the character of the ground changes abruptly. After the wet peat and deeply cut gullies of Lady Dike Head, firmer, better-drained Millstone Grit brings noticeably easier walking and a clearer path beneath the feet. A stone cairn marks the area and, visible from Lady Dike Head, provides a welcome landmark across the open moor.

Beyond Millstones, the Coast to Coast crosses Mould Gill and skirts the sodden ground of Mouldgill Mea. Mea is an old northern dialect word for meadow or pasture, often associated in the North Pennines with wet, boggy upland ground. Here the name could hardly be more appropriate, as the walker leaves the firmer Millstone Grit and once again encounters the waterlogged moor.

For almost half a mile, the Coast to Coast follows the upper reaches of Rowantree Gill, crossing and recrossing its shallow channel as it winds across the moor. Farther on, the gill turns west towards Birk Dale, cutting an increasingly deep and broad gully into the hillside. The path escapes the deepening ravine by a small wooden bridge before the channel opens out below.