...nothing but footprints

In April (2015) we drove out to the Yorkshire Dales with the intention of undertaking our first "serious" hill walking trip of the year.  Over the winter months our walks tend to be limited to the North York Moors and Yorkshire Wolds, so come the spring I'm usually itching to strike out a bit further afield.  This year, what with one thing or another, we'd left it a bit later than usual and I was longing to get out there and onto higher ground. Our base for the weekend was Hawes and my plan was to complete a circular walk to Hardraw, up Great Shunner Fell, across to Lovely Seat and then back into Hawes via Sedbusk.  But first, on our drive out to Hawes, we stopped at the little village of Bainbridge from where we completed a thoroughly enjoyable circular walk of just over nine miles. From our parking place by the village green we walked along a quiet road for a short distance as it climbed out of the village in the direction of  Countersett.  The morning was b...

"Do you think we'll ever do this?" I asked Tom, holding up a copy of a guide to the Yorkshire Three Peaks Challenge.  It was my birthday and we were midway round one of our favourite walks in the North York Moors National Park, visiting the popular Lordstones Cafe and shop on the edge of the Cleveland Hills.  "Just get it," Tom replied.  "We're sure to have a crack at it one day." Little did I know, as I added the book to my purchases of fudge and flapjack, that we would be undertaking our very own Yorkshire Three Peaks challenge (Y3P for short) within the month.  In that moment it seemed like an ambition for the distant future.  Something that really athletic, determined walkers would do.  I was nowhere near fit enough.  Was I?  That question was about to be answered sooner than I thought. The incentive to undertake the challenge came in the shape of our eleven year old nephew, Cameron.  We'd been promising to take him walking with us for...

Ordinarily, we don't like staying in guest houses.  Especially the kind that are clearly someone's home.  It's somewhat ironic, then, that we enjoyed the best night of all on the Dales Way in just such an establishment.  But then Lakeland Hills isn't just any old B&B.  Far from it.  Every single aspect of a stay in Tony and Caroline Hill's lovely home is tailored specifically for Dales Way walkers, right down to the information sheets provided for you to read over breakfast, detailing highlights and advice for what is, for most, the final day on the trail. I'd had a fantastic night's sleep and after we'd eaten our fill of Tony's amazing American style pancakes, we relaxed with a coffee whilst he talked us through some of the main points of interest for the day ahead.  He also suggested a couple of worthwhile diversions from the route.  One of his recommendations was a cafe in the nearby village of Staveley.  Wilf's Cafe, he told us, was a fa...