Jeri’s Steps: 33,095
Miles walked: 12.7
Elevation: 2,214
Pints: 2
Churches: 1
Stiles: 8
Benches: 1

Quoting from Wainwright; “Malham is the threshold of the best part of the Pennine Way, the starting point of an exciting journey over limestone uplands of great geological interest.”

The limestone ‘pavement’ above Malham Cove will be familiar to Harry Potter fans as the location of one of Hermione’s campsites; a flat layer of limestone scored through with numerous crevices. It doesn’t actually look very convenient for siting a tent, but I suppose she magicked the footprint into shape as well. Unlike Hermione, we had to actually climb the 400 stone steps to the top. Teenage wizards don’t know how lucky they are.

The day started fairly clear and we only felt a few rain drops as we climbed and then descended Fountains Fell. The wind was strong and brisk though so we resorted to rain jackets until the trail took us lower down the grassy slopes. We saw a few cows early in the day but this is really sheep country. The trail was easy to follow and the large shake holes encourage you to stay on it!! After walking past hundreds of sheep today guess what we had for dinner?