Our longest stop here in the UK was the village of Sedbergh, inside the Yorkshire Dales national park. We stayed in a cozy 2-bedroom detached with a lovely conservatory, from which we could see a couple of those dales and hike to several from our back door. Exactly like Kanab, except completely opposite. The town is even smaller, but dominated by a 500 year old boarding school serving 6000 students, who fill the streets and cafes at 3pm.
The hill in the view is Winder Fell, which we walked on one of our first days, followed by ice cream from the creamery at its foot. Right behind it, the largest in this little region is “The Calf.” The view from there was expansive, but the real treat of that hike was the waterfall, the highest in England, called Cautley Sprout.
On another day, we walked by the highest single drop waterfall in England. Due to very low rainfall this year, it did seem like a single drop was all that was falling there. This hike wound through all kinds of bucolic scenery. It ended at another creamery, not for ice cream but Wensleydale Cheese, made famous by Wallace & Grommet.
The most dramatic Yorkshire Dales hike was definitely the limestone formations around Malham. Our walk here was mostly flat, except when it was extremely steep. This is the top Malham Cove, with its otherworldly limestone pavement, then descending into the valley below, for a full picture of its amphitheater. After lunch in the village, we passed by a small waterfall and finally we climbed back up Gordale Scar gorge.
Another fun one was a free guided hike organized by a group that starts and ends all their routes at train stations. It was fun getting to know some locals and learn about the area’s history and geology. We passed by two caves (didn’t pay to enter) one of which was big enough to hold London’s Saint Paul’s Cathedral! We had lunch on “the erratics,” a collection of boulders deposited from afar by glaciers in the ice age.
For manmade wonders, we took a day to tour past three castles in different states of ruin. One cathedral had on display a ‘Loki Stone’ which the Christians took as a devil, but which predates their arrival and was supposed to depict the Norse god Loki. We also took two trips to this viaduct, one as a cold, windy hike, and after noticing the nice even path, we returned for a run on a sunny day, ending at, you guessed it, a creamery!
They are big on dairy here. One day we went into the larger town of Kendal and found a farmers market, totally dominated by cheese and a little meat. We listened to a long presentation on cheese making from a lovely Lancaster accent, accompanied by even lovelier cheese.
We saw a few cows out on the trails, but I’ll mostly remember the sheep. The native Swaledale breed all have horns, even the ewes and older lambs. They’re black and white, and you could be forgiven for thinking some of them are cows at a distance. We also came across ads for working sheepdog demonstrations. We got to see that for free.
I initially wanted to stay in Sedbergh because of its proximity to the Lakes District. We did head back into that park a couple more times. One was just a long and pleasant walk in the woods, Grizedale Forest, where many artists started placing unofficial installations, not marked on a map, so it is like a scavenger hunt. We also got to swing by a few more lakes, of course.
The other was a challenging activity - a Via Ferrata course at a working slate mine. It involves climbing with a harness and lanyards along a fixed course of metal hoops and handles - basically rock climbing without having to know what you are doing. I got to try Via Ferrata in the alps with a friend, but Nathan had to sit it out due to injury. This one was a bit more extreme, and had to be done with a group and a guide. The views from the top were worth the sweat!
Even though I came here for the Lakes District, I really fell in love with the Yorkshire Dales. I thought two weeks might be too long, but there is no shortage of more fells to walk. The weather was unusually beautiful, the people friendly, the food cheesy and the scenery serene. I was actually a little sad to go, but excited to head to Wales!