Away Days
The Yorkshire Three Peaks Challenge
Pen-y-Ghent, Whernside, and Ingleborough by Béatrice Thérin
Well, what can I say, the views were simply breathtaking, the company was wonderful and would I do it again a resounding YES! This was my first weekend away with the LDWA and I had a fantastic time. Base camps for the walk were the Dub Cote Bunkhouse (where 11 of us stayed), and a variety of more luxurious establishments in Horton-in-Ribblesdale.
Like all walks, some pre-planning activities are better completed in the pub and this was no exception. On Friday night some walk planning took place, and the local pub food and drink was sampled, and enjoyed, by all. Given the large size of the group (nearly twenty) and the geographical location of the accommodation, we decided to split into two groups: one group leaving from Horton-in-Ribblesdale and the second leaving directly from the bunkhouse.
Traditionally, the Yorkshire Three peaks (24 miles and 4500ft of ascent) are completed in an anti-clockwise direction, with walkers aiming to complete the route in less than 12 hours, some of the runners complete the route in less than three hours.
We left the bunkhouse at 08:00, with the weather not looking very promising, drizzly, thin wet rain. Never mind, we were on a mission and off we went, very quickly arriving at our first summit Pen-y-Ghent (694m).
With some patches of bright sky appearing intermittently, we headed north and then east to cross Horton Moor, hoping to cross Hull Pot Beck across the stepping stones. At this point, rubber dinghies or thigh length waders would have been useful, so much for summer! Some of the group completed the river crossing by taking their shoes off and wading across, or completing athletic jumps, while the rest of us walked ten minutes downstream to the Hull Pot (this is where the river disappears underground to re-emerge at Horton-in-Ribblesdale). The sheer volume of water upstream meant that we were treated to what can only be described as a limestone geographical extravaganza, a 30m waterfall disappearing underground. How I wished I had my camera! For those of you keen to return after another another spell of prolonged rain, the map reference is OL 2 (SD823745).