Horton-in-Ribblesdale to Ribblehead

Day 6 of my Dales High Way walk started at Horton-in-Ribblesdale in April 2013. The path to Ingleborough crosses the railway at this crossing and heads up behind the fence.

Just as I was about to leave a coal train from Scotland came down the hill - very quietly and without the driver using his warning horn. Care is needed at this station when crossing the line..

Looking across to Pen-y-ghent and the village of Horton.

The path heads gently uphill across grass...

...before falling to a farm lane and then starting to climb again

A footpath sign points the way forward ....

....towards Sulber Nick.

Looking across Ribblesdale there is clearly plenty of snow left on Pen-y-ghent.

The path leads straight ahead towards the footpath crossroads at Sulber

At Sulber the Pennine Bridleway is crossed.

Beyond the path follows walls with Sulber Pot(hole) somewhere over to the right.

Just beyond the walled section the main Dales High Way route (that avoids Horton) comes in from the south and the path to Ingleborough becomes noticeably better.

The path passes a ruin of an old shooting hut and...

.....starts to climb across the slopes of Simon Fell.

Eventually Ingleborough comes into view with the path making for the col between it and Simon Fell.

Higher up the path becomes a bit rougher..

.....and snow patches appear. I've been watching other walkers (actually a very large D of E group on an expedition) cautiously descending the ridge from the summit.

And this is the reason for the caution. The ridge is covered with snow and ice. At first I wondered whether it was worth going up given How many times I've climbed Ingleborough but, in the end, I couldn't resist.

The summit plateau was largely clear of snow..

.....and after visiting the shelter...

.....and the trig point..

.....I decided that I didn't fancy the rather slippery and quite exposed uphill path on the way down so I clambered down through the rocks away from any danger.

The way ahead to Ribblehead stretches away around the northern side of Simon Fell. The Dales High Way actually drops down steeply to Chapel-le-Dale but, as the inn there had refused to accommodate me for one night, I'd had to book in at the Ribblehead Station Inn.

The path along Simon Fell was covered with snow and walking on it was very slow going so I kept on the hillside above it.

The view back towards Ingleborough shows how much snow remained. Two weeks before snow had closed all the local roads and the Settle to Carlisle railway.

Across the valley is Whernside.

The path to Ribblehead gradually descends....

.....with evidence of snowdrifts here and.....

.....against walls.

At a junction of some walls the way to Ribblehead turns left...

...and begins to drop more steeply.....

......down to the lowlands.

The way forward cuts diagonally cross the fields towards the trees in the middle of the photo.

A clear path heads......

.....straight to a new stile..

.....and across a limestone pavement...

.....to reach a lane that goes..

....through the old quarry with guide posts...

.....to make sure you don't stray into dangerous areas.

Once beyond the quarry a road leads down to the main Ingleton to Hawes road...

.....and the Station Inn.