Hill no 31 – 47 Malham Cove, Yorkshire Dales

We camped in a beautiful campsite and went to sleep in a lovely idyllic country scene

Well, after a less than peaceful night in the Spaceship (we parked under a tree that dripped on our roof like a clock amplified through a megaphone, it blew a gale, Em said I snored – I NEVER snore, so I blame the dog), we awoke to a much different landscape from that which we went to sleep in.

Basically it was grey and wild – the river at the bottom of the campsite which had been a babbling brook where children splashed happily the day before was now a raging torrent of brown “white water”.

Sounds like a perfect day for climbing hills! Certainly, once the kids on the campsite had lost the first of Hobbs’ balls by throwing it into the hedge and the second by, well, just swiping it, there was nothing to keep us at the campsite.

Malham Cove started in this cutesy little village – quite bustly with bank holidaymakers traipsing around – with a rather odd wicker ostrich in the middle.

The climb ramps up out of the village, past a little campsite that we were planning on staying at the previous night (it was full) and up the hill.

There were amazing views of the Dales and these incredible rock formations – it looked as though giants had carved through the rock leaving great slabs exposed. Always amusing to see the gradient signs blown down though!

The climb was flanked by dry stone walls all the way up and was though at around 20% in places, the wind had got up a bit too, but it wasn’t a horrible climb and the scenery was lovely.

Ended on a cattle grid too – bonus!

Youtube here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBX9LcGftms
Garmin Data here: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/90464322
Flickr to go here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/100hillsforgeorge/sets/72157627027474658/