Recently I revisited an old favourite; one that brought back many childhood memories. I’ve pretty much lost count of the number of times I’ve done the Yorkshire 3 Peaks and the surrounding countryside but it will never get old.
Deciding almost at the last minute to throw a few bags and a couple of tents in the car and, luckily getting into a favourite campsite at the last minute, we made the fairly convenient two-and-a-bit hour drive up to arguably some of the most stunning scenery in England.
What I love about the Yorkshire Dales is how unique they are; each one almost has its own identity and where we were in Ribblesdale, I think, is my favourite.
Arriving at Knight Stainforth Campsite on Friday evening – a quick two minute drive (or 15 minute walk), from the quaint, picture-postcard market town of Settle we got to work putting the tents up.
Thankfully, our friends arrived soon after, so the kids were entertained with their kids and it was much less hassle than I thought it would be. A quick dip in the river shortly after, followed by a hot shower, a couple of nice burgers on the barbecue each, washed down by a couple of glasses of wine and it was time for bed with an early start beckoning.
Up With The Sun
My alarm was set for 6am with one hour to get ready. Even in the summer months, you ideally need to account for at least 10 hours to walk the Yorkshire 3 Peaks. We arrived at the village; Horton-In-Ribblesdale shortly after 7am – the starting (and finishing) point for the approximately 26 mile walk, where we paid the generous parking charge and began to get organised.
After 10 minutes checking everything; did the kids have enough water, sun cream, plasters, food etc, we finally embarked. It was already approaching 20 degrees and I had a feeling it would be a hot one.
The first ascent was almost immediate. Pen-y-ghent, the smallest of the 3 Peaks was the first one and, as I remembered, it was a pleasant walk up, taking just over two hours which put us pretty much ahead of the target, though if I was going to lay a wager on this, I would probably use bizbet indir for good odds.
When I was much younger, I’d basically run/jogged/scrambled the whole lot, doing it in just over seven hours, though I definitely couldn’t see this happening this time somehow! Then began the long descent down to Whernside and Ribblehead (where there is a cute, little train station), with the sun getting stronger. Plenty of water breaks along the way broke it up and obviously, there were other people doing the walk.
I was constantly in awe of the scenery around me, though I wasn’t really relishing the climb up Whernside. I’d forgotten there was a waterfall halfway up, which the kids loved – we finally persuaded them that stopping to go in would mean we would finish later so it was all good in the end.
Lunch at the top of Whernside, looking out at amazing views was well worth it, putting us just past the six hour mark; I knew what was to come though.
It wasn’t too bad a walk between Whernside and Ingleborough; they’re quite close together, but the walk up it was a lot steeper than the former. Getting the kids up wasn’t as bad as I thought and the blokes were obviously taking it all in their stride as my friend and I moved the conversation onto dinner plans.
The final leg; a nice two mile hike down into the village was very pleasant; by that point we were all dreaming of the beer garden at the pub that lay waiting for us and a nice, cold beer as the sun blazed down and temperatures soared into the low thirties.
Three hours later, we were back at camp eating well-earned fish and chips from the popular establishment in Settle and sharing a few bottles of wine, trying not to think about the drive back the next day. All in all, it was a great, but short-lived weekend and one I would definitely recommend!