Yorkshire Dales- Malham Cove

No rain today so off to an early start. There is an area north of where we are staying called Malham which has some amazing limestone formations, caves and cliffs. Although we had the map, there were quite a few people and it was easy to navigate by following the steady stream heading along the path. First stop was Janet's Foss, a water fall which has carved out amphitheatre in the rock. Nice but small (the nature snob).

Then headed up to the Gadale scar, following a small river through a camp site and open pastures. Suddenly as you rounded a corner the the steep hill was carved open exposing a gigantic cliffs on both sides. You follow the river up between these cliffs, the temperature drops and sunlight disappears. Overhead hundreds of birds are darting in and out of the cliff face. Then further in to the gorge the water falls appear. For the brave the path continues up the waterfalls up above the gorge. For the mortals (or those with parents) we re-trace our steps down the gorge and over the paddocks.

These fields are filled with highland cows which are enjoying posing for the tourists. Bridgette has a quiet giggle as a photographer with an expensive camera almost meets his doom as he sinks to his knees in the mud.

The next feature of the walk was Malham cove a 80m amphitheatre with tessellated limestone pavement on top. We approach this from the top, crossing the pavement with panoramic views of the county side. The pavement is huge, with large pedestals of rock closely grouped together. In the gaps between the rocks are deep crevices which harbour beautiful ferns and mosses. There is a steep decent to bottom of the cliff where a small river emerges from the base of the cliff. Plenty of people are out to enjoy the area including some rock climbers, slight pang of jealousy. The RPS bird watching group are out monitoring some bay Peregrine Falcons. Unfortunately no sightings today but we did get to see a beautiful tawny owl.

Jumped back into the car in the nick of time, down came the rain. We took mum and dad on a driving tour of the hills behind Settle then headed home.