Yorkshire Three Peaks
Friday 22nd October 2010
Not happy with having completed the National Three Peaks, Matt, Teri and John decided to attempt the Yorkshire Three Peaks in October 2010. This challenge has a time limit of 12 hours and is approximately 25 miles long including the three highest peaks in Yorkshire, climbing over 1600m in total.
8.00am The start! We wanted to give ourselves as much daylight as possible because the time allocated for the trek was 12 hours, so we woke up early and drove to the start point at the car park in Horton-in-Ribblesdale, at the foot of the first peak. We put on our walking boots and armed ourselves with water, energy drinks, sandwiches, sweets and chocolate, as well as maps, blister plasters, first aid kits, layers of clothes and waterproofs. We started the walk at 8.00am, and headed for the first peak of Pen-y-ghent. The climb started nice and steady, on grassy tracks and footpaths and over stiles and walls. The weather was holding out, though it got very cold and windy the higher we went. We'd got our hopes up a bit early, as we hadn't noticed that hiding in the fog the final path up to the summit suddenly changed to being very steep and rocky, with the wind making it quite unstable! Once we'd managed that bit the trig point was in sight! 9.15am Summit of Pen-y-Ghent (694m)
We couldn't really see much at the top through the thick fog, but we were making really good time already so after a quick photo we set off on our way again. Coming down the hill was fairly easy going, but we knew it was a very long walk between this peak and the second one (at least 10 miles). After walking along a B road for a few miles we reached the Ribblehead Viaduct not long after midday, and so thought it was a good place to stop for a quick bite to eat. Although we knew we were nearly halfway round the route in distance, we still had the two highest and hardest peaks yet to climb. Just as we packed up our bags and started walking again, the weather decided to turn on us completely and the heavens opened! We knew we were pretty much walking next to Whernside, but we couldn't see it because of the amount of fog and hammering rain. All we could do was follow the footpaths and soggy maps we had in front of us. We decided to take the quicker, shorter route to the top of Whernside, which was probably not such a good idea on a day like today! The footpath seemed to be nearly vertical as we climbed the last 350m to the summit. Whernside was very grassy compared to the previous peak. The rain and slippery footing made it quite scary, but we managed it and all reached the top without too many problems. Thankfully we didn't have to go back down the same route, and a nice stoney footpath was awaiting us on the other side! |
Setting off from the car park
Walking up Pen-y-Ghent
Summit of Pen-y-Ghent
Lunch by Ribblehead Viaduct
Climbing up Whernside
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1.40pm Summit of Whernside (736m) The trig point was a welcome sight after the clamber up the side of the mountain. Once again it was only a brief stop for a photo and some sugar and drink before carrying on. We were soaked through and our legs were tired as we'd been walking for over five and a half hours now, but we still had one last peak to climb and around 10 miles left to go. We were still on target for completing the challenge within 12 hours but we knew we would be getting slower as the day went on. The path stretched out in front of us towards the final peak, which was only a few miles away from where we were. The rain had stopped but we were still very wet, and as we got closer to Ingleborough we could see that we had yet another incredibly steep incline to climb. The terrain wasn't quite so slippy and the rain held off for this one, but the path seemed to go on and on and we had no idea how much further it was to the trig point. Our muscles were really aching, and because we knew we must be near the end we seemed to be walking forever! At last, the landscape completely changed and became very rocky and flat along the top of the mountain, and we could see the trig point in the distance up ahead. |
Summit of Whernside
Walking up Ingleborough
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4.25pm Summit of Ingleborough (723m)
Finally, we had reached the top of the last peak. It was a great feeling and we presumed it would just be a quick stroll from here back down the mountain to the car park. Little did we know at the time that we still had another five or so miles to go, and the majority of that would involve very uneven natural limestone pavements. We had thought the climb up the last peak had been never-ending, but this was something else! With the lights of Horton-in-Ribblesdale village glowing in the distance, we walked at some pace to try and complete the challenge before it got really dark. 6.20pm YORKSHIRE THREE PEAKS COMPLETE! After 10 hours and 20 minutes, Teri, Matt and John completed the Yorkshire Three Peaks, very tired and very sore, but very chuffed! |
Summit of Ingleborough
Back at the car park
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