Horton to Malham – Getting Closer to Edale 

The route today is fifteen miles, climbing up Pen y Ghent and dropping down to climb up Fountains Fell and on to Malham to meet my sister Debs at a campsite. 

Pen y Ghent stands over Horton in Ribblesdale like a sleeping giant.

It’s a dog of a climb up and there were plenty of people trying it. Perfect for a family who want to be challenged, first part of the Yorkshire Three Peaks and the summit is crossed by the Pennine Way. The view from the top is great.

The south side drops steeply down and the Way traverses a couple of miles of moorland before pitching up the side of Fountains Fell. From this angle you can see Pen y Ghent and, to the left in the far distance, Ingleborough.

A good day for walking. Bright and breezy. Heading southeast the view goes over towards the far distant North Yorkshire Moors beyond York, just to the right of centre on the far horizon.

Dropping down over the back of Fountains Fell the track runs five miles to Malham Tarn, an oasis in the dry limestone valleys. 

The Way curves 180 degrees round the Tarn, giving lovely perspectives.

And then drops down a dry valley towards Malham Cove.

Eventually leading out onto the top of Malham Cove, an amazing crescent shaped cliff over which a stream fell for the first time in living memory during heavy rains earlier this year.

It looks good from below too.

Debs had just put up the tent when I arrived in Malham village. She was up here with her dog. This is Debs (not the dog – haha).

We nipped down to the local for a couple of beers and went back to the tent for barbecued steak, salad and potatoes. A bottle of wine and Deb and her dog retired to her sleep-in van and I got to bed in the tent. A big tent, with a mattress and a blanket over my sleeping bag. Heavenly.

Night night.