As the weather was good on Bank Holiday Monday we decided to go up to Malham in order to complete the walk I had chosen for the Wainwright Society's "Best of the Rest" Challenge for 2010 (see
http://www.wainwright.org.uk/events/2010/best_of_the_rest.html) which is walk 32 in
Wainwright's Walks in Limestone Country.
This was up past Pikedaw Hill to Nappa Cross, then to Langscar Gate and back to Malham. However, when we stopped (briefly for a toilet break) at Malham the Car Park was full so instead we decided to go and park at Langscar Gate and then do the walk in a clockwise direction from there.
The first two shots are of Malham and the Cove on the approach road from Airton.
We parked at Langscar Gate and then walked across the fields and down towards Malham.
View back up to Langscar.
View of the Cove.
The top of the ascent up past Pikedaw where we turned right to Nappa Cross.
Some students we met from Essex who were walking over to Settle as part of their Duke of Edinburgh Silver Award. They still had 3 miles to walk to Settle and were being helped along by the promise of a Big Mac at McDonalds when they arrived there!
Nappa Cross (the ancient cross is embedded in the wall) with the signpost down to Langscar.
View back to the summit.
The green lane heading down to Langscar.
View across to Pikedaw.
Typical limestone country.
Our first sighting of Malham Tarn on the descent to Langscar.
The track continuing to Langscar.
A Pied Wagtail on the path.
Limestone clints by the side of the path.
The gate by the turning to Langcliffe.
More limestone scenery.
Refulling with a banana during a short rest.
A mountain biker who passed us whilst we were taking our rest break.
Crags as we approached Langscar.
Another view over to Malham Tarn.
The final downhill section.
Langscar Gate - our final destination.
View across to "Water Sinks".
Fianl view back to Malham as we departed for home. You can see how many cars were parked in and around the village.
