Yorkshire peaks

For the final day, I did the #3 hike up Ingleborough, 2372 feet, roughly 11 miles. Ingleborough is one of three Yorkshire peaks, misnamed because they are loaf mountains – like a bread loaf.

The weather smiled on us, finally. We headed up a wooded valley from Ingleborough Estate to the rock cairn below.

As we continued up, we crossed some limestone pavements that stretched on endlessly.

Above is myself at the top. You can't see it from this angle but there is a blue sea in the distance. I asked my travelling companions if it was the North Sea. No... it was the Irish Sea, on the other side of England. I was confused because I had walked along the North Sea in Whitby a few days prior. This underlines A) my poor sense of direction and B) how narrow England is at this point. I walk with a guide for a reason. You can possibly see it from this angle:

During the hike down we walked along a ridge at one point, with kestrals flying parallel to the ridge just below our feet. Stunning. Their feathers are gorgeous and their ability to hover in a stiff wind defies physics. We hiked down into the village of Clapham, where I bought an elderflower soda and ginger biscuits in a cute shop in yet another cute village straddling a burbling river.

As always with HF holidays, I met a lovely group of people, and exchanged details with a few of them. Below a last shot of the staircase windows (kestral in the center top window) and one of the lounges.

A person could sit here all day and read a book. If the countryside weren't so inviting.

11 July