The Three Peaks of Yorkshire

This walk makes boys out of men! – Mark Carson, 2015

Where are you?

What are you doing?

Are you warm and dry?

Good, let’s get to work on changing all that!

This September I plan on tackling the long, hard slog which is the Three Peaks of Yorkshire. I’ve done it before – in 2015 and so know what is in store for me:

And just for a change, I’ll be starting with the heighest peak – Whernside!

Folks, this is a maverick hill, it’s all contradictions. 

• It’s the heighest point of modern day North yorkshire, but its ordnance survey point is in Cumbria
• It’s the easiest of the three mountains on the day even thought it’s the tallest one
• It’s far easier going up than coming down
• Coming down it will make you swear – lots!

Yes, Whernside has been classed as boring ridge, not by me I hasten to add. Each and every time I’ve been up here from the two main routes – Chapel le Dale and Ribblehead (the one I’ll be doing in September), has been markedly different. The weather at the ordnance survey point is always completely different than what you experience in the valley below, the tiny gateway to the summit trig point seems to act like a portal to an extremely cold and windy world, nobody hangs around here for long! On the way off the mountain you may very well encounter three season’s worth of weather – sleet, rain and sunshine, oh and watch your feet too as the path can be slippery in the extreme.

The reward for mountain 1 is the view of mountain 2 – Ingleborough, it’s as bad as it looks and has a certain forebording atmosphere the closer that you get to it. 

 

There are no two ways about it, this is one tough little…mountain! At 2,278 feet, Pen-y-Ghent may not be large, but let me tell you, it’s certainly steep, and not just in the final stages, when you’re near the top – no sir! You’ll know just how tough this Yorkshire Dales icon is within fifteen minutes of setting off, as your carbs disolve and leave a lovely, empty sensation where your fuel reserves used to be! In addition there are two sets of what could only be described as ‘hands-on-scrambling’