It rained most of the night but it had stopped when I was packing away at 7am. I followed the minor path off the summit and headed down towards Attermire Scar. I turned right and joined the main path to Malham. I followed the path to the gate where the route joins the road to Stockdale Farm. Near the farm entrance the path leaves the road and follows a track up to the fell. There were a couple of good springs issuing by the track on the way. At the summit I passed though the gate and needed to find the point where the right branch left the main path. There was no marker but I soon found it. Ahead was an area of old mine workings and spoil heaps. The grassy path started the descent to Malham, gently at first but soon becoming quite steep.

Descent to Malham

Malham

Taking it carefully on the wet grass I descended below Pikedaw Hill then across fields to join a walled lane at Butterlands Barn. Just outside Malham village I came to a junction where I turned left to head for the Bunkhouse Barn shown on the map. There were several people outside it with rucksacks but before reaching them a small path to the right took me to Cove Road which I followed into the village centre. I wandered around for a while but couldn’t find a shop. I headed up Goredale Lane and took it steady as there was a long climb ahead. A brief descent took me down to the old and new Goredale Bridges. There were some people up the valley that seemed to be working on something by the river. I pressed on.

The map calls this stretch of road Hawethorns Lane but it then becomes the wonderfully named Smearbottoms Lane. You couldn’t make it up. Eventually the gradient eased and I was over the summit and walking on a gentle descent to Middle Laithe farm. There was a rather nice bungalow by the entrance then the track I followed had a wall to the right built of massive boulders. I followed the green lane across flat pasture then through a small valley and up through a gate and down to Bordley House Farm.

Boulder Wall at Middle Laithe Farm

Sheltering from the wind

I left by the main farm access track but soon turned right to follow an indistinct path across a sloping field. At the high boundary wall I climbed over using the built in steps and started steeply upwards. My planned camp was about a mile ahead but I had no idea what the water supply would be like. As I reached the high point on the path I came to a pair of cattle troughs with a plastic pipe coming from a spring. The water flow was clear and steady so I decided to use it to top up with water and camp nearby. I still had the 2 empty 2lt plastic bottles I bought in Booths yesterday so filled them, strapped to the top of my sack and headed up the small hill to my left. It was quite windy on the summit so I found some shelter in a dip on the north side. As I pitched the tent the rain started and there was quite a lot of rain over the rest of the day.