Ingleborough, Yorkshire Dales

The profile of Ingleborough is best observed from Chapel le Dale and the limestone pavements are worth a look in their own right as a separate walk. This view is a little out of sequence as I drove here after climbing the mountain.

I chose the ascent that seemed to have most variety from the sleepy village of Clapham. The walk started in what seemed to be a private estate for which their was a small entrance fee and headed towards Ingleborough cave. It did seem a bit unusual to buy a ticket for a walk from a car parking machine. There were a few good moments however with views occasionally through the trees to a lake.

The above picture is just to check if you are awake and the picture below made use of the light on the trees.

The walk continued to gain height on this forest trail until the exit of the paid area was reached at the top of the estate.

It was nice to get out to experience a variety of walking terrain over the next section past the cave, a short clamber up a short gorge....

.... and eventually out on to the open mountain. The main summit above is on the right hand side of the photograph.

When I reached the summit about 30 minutes later, i experimented with a few shots.......

.....before settling down for lunch.
(I don't often photograph myself so ..... you'll have to think a lot of it.)
How animated can one get ?!...startled by the noise of the mountain rescue helicopter to come and take me away !!.... or just mezzzzmorised that i've seen another hillwalker in the Yorkshire Dales. Anyway, i would give a good recommendation for a takeaway sandwich from Clapham post office/ general store.

The Ribblehead viaduct on the Carlisle to Settle railway line is seen to the north.

Time to retrace the steps for part of the journey as the temperature was quite cold. Amazingly, I came across a large party of walkers who seemed to have difficulty descending the other side of this hill.

My variation on the way back down was via the tedious and straight" Long lane" which was broken up with the occasional tree interest...

... and a few unusual architectural features !!

This seemed to take my mind of the scariest part of the whole week...

....which was the enticement or trap of looking down Gaping gill. There is a small fence around the top of the slopes surrounding it, but it is possible to explore further via steps and a path for a closer look without a safety fence. The temptation is here for a better photo of the water dropping into the cavern, but if you opt not to read the nearby notice board , you won't know that this cavern can accommodate the volume of .....York Minster !!