free to be able to rate and comment on reports (as well as access 1:25000 mapping).
A pre holiday walk to get the legs stretched.
With the Dales being close a longer than usual walk over Ingleborough was enough to loosen us up.
The route started in Clapham and went up the nice wide track that runs higher up but parallel with the Ingleborough Cave track.
After a few km's it terminates at a gate and turns into a good path beyond heading over the open hillsides towards
Sulber Gate. About halfway along theres a path to the left which heads towards the three peaks path
DSC00867 by
Martin Hawer, on Flickr
Cloudy Pen-y-Ghent from the path.
DSC00868 by
Martin Hawer, on Flickr
Inglborough in cloud.
DSC00870 by
Martin Hawer, on Flickr
DSC00871 by
Martin Hawer, on Flickr
and joins it just below a ruined shooting hut. We turned left along this path up the hillside as far a ladder stile over a wall.
Here we turned right up the slopes of Simon Fell over soggy peaty ground to arrive at the summit a short time later.
From here we followed the wall into the saddle between Simon Fell and Park Fell,
DSC00873 by
Martin Hawer, on Flickr
DSC00874 by
Martin Hawer, on Flickr
Ingleborough from the saddle.
DSC00875 by
Martin Hawer, on Flickr
Looking back to Simon Fell.
where we left it and took a direct line up the slopes to the trig pillar on Park Fell. On arrival the sun was out so we had our lunch behind the wall a little way from the summit sheltering from the wind that had whipped up during the walk over, Pen-y-ghent was in full view looking rather grand.
DSC00877 by
Martin Hawer, on Flickr
Trig on Park Fell.
From Park Fell we headed back towards Ingleborough walking along the broad ridge with views to Whernside the Howgills and Lakeland.
DSC00878 by
Martin Hawer, on Flickr
Whernside.
DSC00879 by
Martin Hawer, on Flickr
Ingleborough from the path off Park Fell
We could see loads of people on Ingleborough and when we reached the main path up from Chapel-le-Dale we met a good few folk, some were three peaker's others were just up from Chapel-le-Dale these were the first people we'd seen up to this point it just goes to show you can escape the crowds in the Dales if you get off the beaten track.
From the summit of Ingleborough we headed towards the main path coming up from Clapham, joined it and headed over Little Ingleborough down to Gaping Ghyll where the caving club were doing their annual August Bank Holiday stint with the winch down the main shaft of the cave, I've been on it in the past and it's great fun.
We bypassed the crowds and walked above Trow Gill on the way back to Clapham only rejoining the main path a wee bit before Ingleborough Cave where we followed the Woodland Trail back to Clapham.
