The moderate hike.

This is a local hike we did on September 10th, the weekend after we went to Spain. It was only a 45 minute drive to the location in the Yorkshire Dales and is known to be "one of the best day-walks in England, leading though dramatic limestone cliffs and gorges as well as flat moorland." Although, I got that quote off their website so I doubt they'd say it was one of the worst day-walks in England. :)

The hike was about 8 miles and is categorized as "moderate" in difficulty. It took us 3-4 hours to complete and we climbed an elevation of 350 meters which is 1,148.29 feet or .22 miles. For those that prefer to know the measurement in every other possible form, it was precisely 382.76 yards or 13,779.53 inches. This hike was nothing in difficulty compared to the hike we did in Scotland last weekend... which I'm glad I'm even alive to tell you about. ;) I am greatly anticipating blogging it next week and sharing our wild adventures with you.

Okay, back to our Sept. 10th hike. The first waterfall you'll see in the pictures is called Janet's Foss. Foss is the old Scandinavian word for waterfall. According to legend, Janet was the Queen of the local fairies, and lived in a cave behind the waterfall. The cave was formed by limestone bedrock being eroded by the water and re-deposited on mosses growing on the lip of the fall. That's where the name came from... if you were wondering.

In the pictures, you'll see what I call the "climax" of the hike. It was the hardest part of the day and is described as: "a scramble which is difficult in places and should not be attempted unless you are a fit and experienced walker." In England, they call hikers, "walkers." It definitely doesn't sound as impressive or athletic! But anyway, you'll have to look at the pictures below to see if we made it through the scramble or not. For those that were unwilling or unable to get through the scramble there was an alternative, easier route.

It was a fun day and we were lucky enough to have fantastic weather.

If you're interested, you can go to this website and see the exact breakdown of our hike:
http://www.daleswalks.co.uk/walks/walk37/index.html