GET OUTDOORS: INGLEBOROUGH

Let's start off with an adventure of my own. 

I've just returned from a long weekend on the Yorkshire Dales/Cumbrian border.We're really lucky that my boyfriend's parents have a holiday cottage in Kirkby Lonsdale- the perfect base for covering some of my favourite walking routes. Yesterday, we embraced the good weather and set off to conquer Ingleborough; the second highest Peak in the Dales. 

We set off from a pretty little village just off the A65 called Clapham. If you're in the area and don't fancy a walk, there's a cute little vintage shop up near the car park that's worth a browse. If you're there to walk, fight off the temptation to laden your rucksacks with brick-a-brack, walk past the vintage shop and cafe and cross the bridge over the stream. Turn right and follow the stream up towards the entrance to Ingleborough Estate Nature Trail. There's a small waterfall to admire just before you enter the estate. 

There's a small charge to walk up through Clapdale Wood, but it's worth it. The trail has a steady incline which is the perfect warm up for what's to come. You begin walking past a lake, before the path snakes upwards through the woods and past an ancient stone hut, before emerging beside a pleasant stream that's the perfect location for a tea break.

The path continues up past the entrance to Ingleborough Cave (tours leave hourly, if you fancy exploring underground. Not my cup of tea at all), and snakes through a pass between two hills, bending towards the left. After a while you reach the striking limestone gorge of Trow Gill - a fun scramble up the rock slide at the top of the path brings you out onto a well trodden path, which you follow until you reach a stile on your left hand side. 

At this point, two peaks can be seen in front of you: Ingleborough to the right of Little Ingleborough. Keep to the path as you head towards them - this area is riddled with dangerous pot holes. Just before the ascent, the path splits in two, with the right path leading towards a short detour to Gaping Gill. 

This infamous pothole is both spectacular and terrifying. The chamber it opens up into is reportedly big enough to house York Minster, and the drop down to it is twice as tall as Niagara Falls. The area surrounding the chasm is fenced off, but there's a stone path down to the stream that vanishes into the crevice - you can get as close as you like, but be wary! We hopped over the rocks and ate our picnic beside the stream, carefully avoiding the smaller potholes that apparently drop steeply and suddenly into the chasm below.

Back to the main path, we began our ascent of Little Ingleborough. I found this part of the hike the most challenging, and had to stop several times to catch my breathe as we scaled the steep stone staircase. Looking back over the moors, it was worth the muscle pain to soak in the views of the Yorkshire Dales.

Once you've reached the top of Little Ingleborough, you feel a sense of achievement and the sudden gust of wind. There's a small stone wall to shelter behind and catch your breathe before turning right and heading towards the summit, which still seems so far away. It actually takes less than half an hour to reach the top, and you've already done the hard bit. The climb is relatively steep in parts, and there are perilous drops to your right, but it isn't long before the path vanishes and you step up to your left to make the short walk to the cairn at the summit.

There's incredible 360 degree views over the Dales to soak in, a small shelter to rest and protect yourself from the elements inside - and a pile of rubble, which is the ruins of a tower which stood for one day only at the top of the peak. You have several options of how to descend,including simply turning around and heading back the way you came - but we like to live on the edge, and decided to find our way down what looked like the sheer face of a mountain, just as a dark cloud carrying a flurry of snow swept past.

Just to the left of the pile of rubble, we carefully descended down a rocky face, which was only apparent as a path due to the couple that we were following. Part way down, there was a plaque in the stone detailing the story behind the tower that had for one day only crowned the Peak. 

Heading down, there were dramatic views every way you looked - especially if you turned back to gaze at the Peak you had just conquered. We followed the path as it steadied out and soon became less steep, heading into a valley with Little Ingleborough to your left and White Scar to your right.

It all becomes a bit hazy here - as there was apparently a turning to the left that we completely missed that would have taken us back to Clapham. Instead, we passed a farm house and continuing along the path, which became a lane that veered off the right. This lane eventually led us into the village of Ingleton, which is delightful to look around - but unfortunately was a further four mile walk back to Clapham.

All photos, my own.