Recently, I did something I never thought I would do. It includes three of Yorkshire’s highest peaks and it was walking the Yorkshire Three Peaks. I walked two of them but more on that later.
The Yorkshire Three Peaks is an iconic walk in the Yorkshire Dales National Park. The Yorkshire Three Peaks challenge set at completing the distance in under 12 hours. The Yorkshire Three Peaks full route is 24 miles up and down dale.
Watch the video from the day here.
Walking the Yorkshire Three Peaks
Taking part in the three peaks walks was me, Keil and some members of the Girl About blog squad which I am part of as a Girl About ambassador with my other Instagram account, Girl About West Yorkshire. We decided at the last minute we were going to take on Yorkshire’s biggest challenge the Three Peaks.
Through lockdown, I did start walking but I am still at the novice stages so it was a big challenge. When it was first mentioned, I thought “no way” but I knew Keil would love to do it so I decided to go for it.
The weather on the morning of the Yorkshire Three Peaks was red hot from the start. It was over 20 degrees and was the hottest day of the year at the time. As we were used to cold and rainy days it was a shock to the system.
Doing the common walking three peaks route meant we used the car park at Horton in Ribblesdale for our starting point. We then started by going up Pen-y-Ghent, which I felt was steep to start with and then at the end there was some scrambling, I was so glad I had borrowed some poles. There was a point which I thought was the summit but it wasn’t so don’t be fooled by the first scramble.
Moving onto Whernside
Then it was down the peak and over towards Whernside. I enjoyed this segment of the walk as it was more the terrain I am used to. It is a long section though.
Before starting Whernside, we stopped at one of two pubs on the route, The Station Inn. After a break and reapplication of suncream, we set off on the highest peak.
Whernside is lovely at the bottom with the iconic Ribblehead Viaduct welcoming you. It soon starts to go up and it’s a long way. I had a break halfway and then felt much better to make it to the summit.
At this point, I decided not to take on Ingleborough that day so Keil and Emma (aka Girl About Hertfordshire) set off on their own to finish all three peaks. They were amazing considering we set off late so they powered up and down that final climb!
It was time for the final descent for me, which was down Whernside. I was once again grateful to have the walking pole to use on the steps and uneven surfaces which seemed to go and on.
We wanted to stop at the pub at the bottom of Whernside before the route up Ingleborough which is the Old Mill Inn but it was closed. There was some kind of private gathering and there were quite rude to two weary walkers so I won’t rush to return.
We had fantastic support and we were able to get a lift back to the Station Inn to wait for the final walkers and enjoy some time in the beer garden at the back.
It was certainly an experience I won’t forget and I am so glad I attempted the Yorkshire Three Peaks. I will give Ingleborough a go at some point soon so I can complete the trio!
You can find out more about my previous big Yorkshire walk which didn’t include any peaks here.
[…] To watch my Day in the Life video from the Yorkshire Three Peaks click here. […]