Walk to Ingleborough
My plan was to train from York to Clapham, in the Yorkshire Dales, then walk to the top of Ingleborough, the second-highest of the well-known three-peaks of Yorkshire. The forecast called for cool temperatures plus lots of rain and strong breezes.
At about quarter to eight in the morning I was on the train to Leeds, where I switched to the Clapham train. Two hours later I was at the Clapham station and walked the 1 and a quarter miles to the town. The weather looked better than expected--the sun was almost breaking through the light and and intermittent rain.
Bleating greeting on the way to Clapham
Clapham had several cafes and inns, which I noted for later. The National Park center was closed, so I put off browsing around for after the walk and started along a nature trail that skirts a man-made lake then rises to follow Clapham Beck. The going was gently uphill, and the company was a noisy class of high-school aged kids. After a mile of so they stopped at Ingleborough Cave, the source of Clapham Beck and one over several limestone caves in the are that you can explore with a guide. I continued uphill into a narrow, high-walled chute called Trow Gill. There was a jumble of rocks at the end that provided steps to the top of the Gill.
Climb out of Trow Gill
At the top, the path continued uphill through a gully, past the entrance to a chamber or cave--I didn't investigate--complete with a metal ladder.
Entrance to underground
