Peaceful Gordale

Saturday 5 September 2015

We slept well last night, no doubt due to the inky darkness and quietness.  Cathy went off to walk up to the end of the gorge to take some photos, while I put the kettle on.  We tried a new trick for breakfast - making toast in a dry frying pan on the gas ring.  This worked out fine so if we want toast in the future when not on EHU, we have the option.

We left for our walk at about 1000, turning left out of the campsite and up a steep road - got the blood flowing!  At the top we crossed the hillside, passing the site of a Roman marching camp, although there was nothing remaining to see.  We eventually met the road we walked on yesterday, not far from Malham Tarn, this time taking a slightly different route than yesterday to bypass Malham Cove. We stopped on the way for lunch, sat on the limestone pavement.  We reached the road and walked down into Malham village, which was busy with walkers and others eating and drinking outside the two pubs.  This morning we did the equivalent of searching down the back of the sofa and cobbled together about £12 in change - this meant we could do some shopping, not that Malham has much!  But we found a bottle of Italian red in the gift shop cum café, so bought this plus a packet of crisps each - last of the big spenders!  We followed the road back to Gordale Scar and the campsite.

It was much busier on the campsite, but mainly with what appeared to be day trippers in their cars - bit strange for a campsite. El Nido was closely surrounded by about 6 cars - a large group of Middle Eastern people - men sat on a rug making tea on an open fire and the women separately, behind a windbreak, with lots of children running about, clearly enjoying the freedom and adventure of the countryside.  We sat outside with a brew, but these families were very noisy, also playing loud music, making it hard to enjoy the peace and quiet of the campsite and the surroundings, so we sat in the van to read and try and get some quiet time.  The clearly enjoyed their BBQs and it was good to see families out enjoying themselves, but a little more respect for those around them would have been nice.

Dinner tonight was vegetable fried rice, cooked outside but eaten inside due to the cold, although clear evening.  Once we'd washed up and it was getting dark, we took a walk to the end of the gorge to see and hear the waterfall in the fading light.   Our noisy neighbours left at about 2230 and we stepped out into the cold and very dark night to look at the stars - amazing with no light pollution.

No better bath than a Radox bath in the sunshine!

*snigger....*