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Day 49: Malham to Horton (15 miles)

I left this beautiful spot at 8:05 having let the tent dry out more - the groundsheet was sodden. I woke at 5am feeling cold despite the bivvy bag. Frustrating. I’ve no idea what the temperature dropped to but with forecasts in local towns down to zero over next few days I’m worried about continuing to camp for the foreseeable future. Something to chat through with Martin tonight. 

A sandpiper took off as I followed the stream to exit. A wheatear who had bombarded me last night was accompanied by others this morning and I saw it fly into its nest in a crevis in the rock above the stream. It was a good feeling leaving there with no trace. Although the cows certainly don’t!

The tarn was calm today with hardly a ripple and 2 fishermen out in a boat set off a peaceful scene. I was glad of any distraction as my glute was playing up again. A couple of ibuprofen and deep heat and I hoped it would settle in a couple of hours.

I realised I had walked across one of the key fault lines causing the limestone up above the millstone grit. I became more aware of the geology as I walked through the karst scenery and looked forward to the gritstone of Fountains Fell. I was aware that there had been extensive mining up there with deep mine shafts to beware of.  The Pennine Way follows an old haulage track for some of the ascent.

Last night I found I had left my planned supper somewhere - possibly in the shop itself, so was on emergency supplies. I hadn’t really got the calories in I should so at 9:45 I went for Mars bar time!

I was fascinated by the rather incongruous sight of a farmer on his quad bike with his sheepdog and shepherd hook. He was checking out for newborn lambs and numbering them with his spray paint! A lapwing was disturbed and was calling over head - it’s wings making a drumming sound as it weaved and dived.

Taking it steadily I gradually walked up to the cairns of Fountains Fell, and at mid-day stopped again for food - I was ravenous. The view across to Pen-y-Ghent was stunning. When Martin and I had walked this stretch in 2020 it was pouring with rain and the mist was down, clearing every so often to give us tantalising glimpses of the mountain. It couldn’t have been more different today - the gill that we had to wade through last time was dry today.

There’s a fair stretch of road to cover before arriving at the ascent to Pen-y-Ghent and I stopped shortly after for some more food. I was pleased to see the couple I had met at Old Silent Inn pass by and wished them luck for the rest of their walk.

I enjoyed the walk up to the top. It’s quite a scramble and I should really have put my walking poles away. I spotted Martin arriving high up above me and sitting down on the lip of the rock face. It was a good motivation to keep moving.

I remembered the walk down from the mountain as being a bit of a drag and herd on the knees and feet. It lived up to my memory. We were able to spot Hull Pot where I had intended to camp, but I was glad to be heading for some home comforts - I’m definitely getting soft. I’d booked Martin an Airbnb near Askrigg for 3 nights so I was now joining him for the last 2. I’m lucky he’s around for a bit to taxi me back and forth.













Location: Horton, Skipton BD23 3JT, UK

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