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Kirkby Malham to Horton

Malham Cove
Malham Cove

At last! This is where the Pennine Way stops being a bloody miserable plod through bogs and moors and turns into a much more enjoyable walk. I'm glad; I was getting close to thinking it was nothing but a walk for masochistic idiots.

On the Trail

Malham Beck
Malham Beck

On the way from Kirkby Malham to Malham I ended up hacking round a field for ages, trying to work out where the trail had gone cold. I couldn't understand it; there was Malham, just a few hundred metres away, but could I find the path? Could I hell, and I spent a good half an hour trying to work out where I was supposed to go before I gave up, jumped a couple of locked gates and came into town from the opposite direction. I wondered whether I'd accidentally been given the staff breakfast instead of mine, but Malham Cove soon blew the cobwebs from my head.

Malham from Malham Cove
Malham from Malham Cove
The limestone pavement at Malham Cove
The limestone pavement on the plateau above Malham Cove

Malham Tarn

Malham Tarn
Malham Tarn

I finally reached Malham Tarn after a happy combination of ignoring the little green line on the map and following my compass. It's very unusual to find lakes in limestone country as limestone is porous and can't hold water, but Malham Tarn is above an ancient layer of impervious rock so it sits on top of the local limestone like a saucer of water sitting on a sponge.

Fountains Fell
Heading into Fountains Fell

Into Horton

The cairn on top of Fountains Fell
The cairn on top of Fountains Fell

This area of the world is famous for its three peaks. Pen-y-Ghent, Ingleborough and Whernside dominate the landscape, their distinctive humpback shapes being the result of weathering on their limestone and sandstone layers. Every year there's a charity event where people 'do the Three Peaks', a 26-mile walk that takes in each of the three summits. The Pennine Way isn't quite that insane but it does go right over the top of Pen-y-Ghent, the nearest peak to Horton-in-Ribblesdale.

Pen-y-Ghent from Fountains Fell
Pen-y-Ghent from Fountains Fell
Pen-y-Ghent
Approaching the flanks of Pen-y-Ghent
Horton-in-Ribblesdale
Horton-in-Ribblesdale with a cloudy Pen-y-Ghent in the background