30 Days Wild: The Yorkshire Three Peaks

I've wanted to walk the Yorkshire Three Peaks for quite a few years, but it was an idle shower thought a few days before I did so, that spurred me on. I was thinking back to the time I was winched down Gaping Gill, which reminded me of Ingleborough and thus the three peaks walks, then I recalled those six months when I had a random illness and struggled to walk for several months in 2016 which led me conclude that I really should just get out and do the walk!

With a trip to Lancashire already pencilled in for the weekend, it was an obvious opportunity to simply turn a day trip to an overnight stay, then head a little further north to Horton in Ribblesdale - the starting point for the walk - the next morning, and so I finally ticked 'walk the Yorkshire Three Peaks' off my list on easter Sunday.

It's a long walk, just over 24 miles, therefore this is a long post - well, there are lots of photos, but I'll keep the words to a minimum.

From Horton in Ribblesdale, I followed the paths towards the first of the three peaks, Pen Y Ghent, which stands at 694 metres, or 2277 feet.

That's Pen Y Ghent above, and the path goes up the right hand side of the outline above.

I'm pretty good at steep and rocky ascents, I like this kind of walking, so achieved this first summit 55 minutes after setting off!

With the great weather over the easter weekend, it was very busy, even at 9am when I reached the top, so there was no chance of a people-free trig point shot.

Time to descend and start heading for peak two, Whernside, on the horizon below.

Whernside on the right, in the distance, with Ingleborough to the left.

Getting closer! That's Ingleborough again below (the third peak to climb, much later)

and there's Whernside in the distant centre...

The route goes right past the Ribblehead Viaduct.

Then ascends towards Blea Moor

In the walking routes and Yorkshire three peaks web pages, the walk up Whernside is described as the easiest peak, but that wasn't the case for me. We were walking ascending Whernside in the heat of the midday sun and whilst the ascent is gentle compared to that of the other two peaks, it's a very long and very slow ascent. Mile after monotonous mile. I hated it! Such a long and boring stretch of path and as I'm not good at all with hot weather, I found the section really hard going - not so much physically, but mentally.... feeling like we were never going to reach the top!

You can just see the curve of the Ribblehead Viaduct above, just left of the centre of the image.

I did, of course, make it to the top eventually! Whernside is the biggest of these three peaks at 734 metres, or 2418 feet.

After a quick trig point snap and a short break for water and a snack, I began the steep and rocky descent. This bit was also slow going in places due to the loose stone and uneven terrain.

Ingleborough lay ahead, but was still a few miles away yet.

There's the viaduct again, seen from the other side.

Ingleborough getting closer...

There is lots of limestone pavement around Ingleborough.

Looking back towards Whernside

This is the view from a little way up Ingleborough, another steep ascent, which pleased me.

That's me heading up, with a scarf over my head and my backpack on my front - it would have pulled me over backwards if I tried to climb Ingleborough with it on my back!