Little Stainforth to Horton

Thurs 15 July
Distance: 8.5 miles

We're thinking of rebranding ourselves: 'Fair Weather Walkers Am We'...

It was another wet and blustery night, but once again the rain obliged us by stopping shortly before we depitched, and just before 7am we were striding in the direction of Feizor.

Feizor boasts a tea room which is, apparently, open 7 days a week, but 7.30 was a bit early for it. That might have been quite upsetting had I not managed to wring just enough gas out of our failing canister to make 2 cups before we set out.

Onwards to Wharfe we went on obvious paths and tracks, and from the hamlet a nice walled track was picked up. Overgrown in places, it gave our legs a bit of a soaking, but it was so warm that the dampness was not uncomfortable.

A significant multi-faff (all mine) at Clapper Bridge (of which I should have taken a photo with my phone, but didn't think of it at the time), allowed us to cool down a bit before we started the next bit of ascent: over the limestone pavements to Ingleborough.

The rain started as we crossed those pavements, but even in the damp conditions we could appreciate the impressive geological features. It's definitely worth taking that route.

With rain still falling, and with the top of Ingleborough heavily clad in cloud, I gave Mick 2 options: 1) go up Ingleborough, as he's never been to the top; or 2) leave the top and the rest of the route for a better day and hot-foot it down to Horton for the 10.30 train.

Mick opted for the latter, even though we knew we were cutting it rather fine for the train.

The path was much trickier in the wet than it had been when I flew down it 3 weeks ago, and a pause was had for Mick to don waterproofs when the heavems really opened, but with some serious dedication to pace we made it to the station with a whole 2 minutes to spare (phew - it would have been a 3 hour wait for the next train).

And who, by coincidence, should we find on the platform, but Trentham Walker (who, you may recall, I bumped into in Malham when I passed through a month ago). I'm not sure if he's stalking me or the other way around!

So, our trip ended slightly prematurely (the intention had been to reach Dent on this outing), but as it goes we've split the entire route nicely. Another time we can return to Horton and spend another 3 days reaching the end of the route at Appleby.
Sent using BlackBerry® from Orange