The Three Peaks Challenge – Mike Grimes

A first for Tears of a Clown then as my good friend, Mike Grimes guests on the site to describe his recent walk on the famed ‘Three Peaks’ of The Yorkshire Dales, Pen-Y-Ghent. Wherneside and Ingleborough.

Follow Mike’s travels ‘alone upon the fells of stone’ and feel the agony and ecstasy of tackling the challenge of a day confronted by twenty-five miles of hard walking over 5000ft of altitude in total with a heavy backpack for company…

The Yorkshire Three Peaks Challenge 22^nd April 2008 -

by Mike Grimes aged 54 & 364/365th’s

So there I was on a four night and I might add well deserved break, in the Yorkshire Dales, pondering about

the many and beautiful walks that were available to me.

Which of the varied and splendid Yorkshire dales, would I lace up my boots for, to embark on my first walk of the week? My favourite, Dentdale perhaps, as it’s the least accessible of all the dales and consequently not so prone to the effects of tourism, that some of the others are. No huge caravan sites here thankfully and a couple of cracking pubs, both owned by the same family and with their own brewery as well, heaven! What about one of the larger dales such as Wensleydale, Wharfedale, Nidderdale or Swaledale, all great walking country? Or perhaps one of the many smaller dales such as Arkengarthdale, Malhamdale, Airedale, Barbondale, Bishopdale, Clapdale, Coverdale, Deepdale, Garsdale, Kingsdale, Littondale, Langstrothdale, Raydale, Ribblesdale, Teesdale, Waldendale or Widdale. Even a visit to the Howgills was a possibility.

But no, as far as I was concerned there was only one choice, the mighty Ribblesdale and the Yorkshire Three Peaks Challenge. A total of 25 miles in distance, as well as 5,000 feet of climbing Pen-y-ghent, Whernside and Ingleborough, all to be achieved in a target time of 12 hours. Phew, was I capable of such a feat, bearing in mind that the previous longest walk I had undertaken was a mere 15.5 miles? At least that walk last summer had given me some experience, as it was two of the three peaks, in Ingleborough and Whernside, but doing them the “wrong way around” to the normal Three Peaks route. I can remember the aches having completed that on a warm summer’s day. Yes, believe it or not, but there were a few of them last year!

The weather forecast was duly checked, as it is not a walk that I wanted to undertake, in anything less than reasonable and dry conditions. Tuesday 22^nd April was due for a sunny and dry day with a slight breeze, so it was all systems go.

What food to take? What was the best for an energy boost, how much fluids would I need, crikey I was going to be lugging some weight around in my rucksack! Three butties, Mars Bars, cereal bars, nuts, bananas, apples, Clementine’s, mints, three litres of water, oh and a flask of coffee were duly prepared and packed, along with a torch, binoculars, RSPB Book (it lives in it permanently), suntan lotion (I did need it) and a few medical supplies, just in case. It was with a cry of “bloody hell, that’s heavy”, that I then loaded the car up and left my holiday cottage at 7.00am for the 15 minute drive to Horton in Ribblesdale and the start of the walk.

The first challenge – Pen-Y-Ghent

On entering the deserted car park, I then went through the usual dilemma when spoilt for choice, of which parking bay to actually use. Having driven around three times, I eventually managed to pick one and park! I paid for the required ticket, with a wry smile on my face, as I was certainly going to be taking full advantage of the “all day parking fee”, rather than the up “to two hours one”. The car was duly unloaded and It was then with a certain amount of nerves and anticipation that I put my boots on, in preparation for the task ahead. At this point I must also admit to some amount of trepidation, as never having been up Pen-Y-Ghent and also suffering from a level of vertigo (I’m no Striding Edge man!), I was wondering what lay ahead. Especially so, because as I set off at 7.35am, Pen-Y-Ghent was completely hidden in cloud!

My fears were unfounded, as apart from some scrambling up a rocky section, it was a fairly easy ascent. It was just a shame that having reached the summit, that due to the cloud having not lifted, the view was completely obscured. Most annoyingly, just after I had started the descent, the cloud lifted!

I met three fellow Three Peak walkers on the summit and our paths crossed again on the descent, when having warmed up considerably, it was time to stop and remove some layers of clothing, to get in tune with the improved conditions lower down. I was completely confused and wondered if they knew something that I didn’t, when my temporary companions turned left onto the Pennine Way. Oh well, as I watched them disappear into the distance, I’m going the way that the route indicates.

I then set off for the eleven -mile yomp to the top of the next peak of Whernside. This section of the walk seemed to drag on and on and on, which with the distance involved, was not surprising. There were some very picturesque parts to it including “God’s Bridge” and the fairly recently rerouted segment, over the new footbridge. I bet the farmer and his family used to love some 500 walkers in a day going through their farmyard, on one of the charity fund raising walks, before this bridge was built! Mind you I imagine that a small refreshment stall would have been very profitable. I then came across a group of pot holer’s, just about to embark on a visit into Birkwith cave.

After a reduction in layers down to a t-shirt, as it was by now a really pleasant day, it was onto the famous Ribbleshead Viaduct and my planned lunch stop.

Along the way I got chatting to a guy who had caught the train up to Ribbleshead and was doing a walk around Blea Moor. He pointed out to me the old Three Peaks route which went straight up the face of Whernside, rather than the current route up the flank. I was going to say that I’m glad it was changed, but if you read on further you will see why perhaps the old route was the better of the two! Anyway, having bade our farewells, a suitable rock was selected for lunch.

Setting off again after lunch I found my way baa’ ed!

…Sorry, but I couldn’t resist that one.

So to continue, now having previously walked down from Whernside on the same route that I was now taking up it, I recalled how long it seemed to drag on and on. Add on the already long haul over from Pen-Y-Ghent, and this climb up onto Whernside rapidly became more of a chore than a pleasure, but at last the summit was eventually reached. There was even a small amount of snow left in the lee of the wall and it was very breezy up there as well, so much so, that layers had to go back on, to combat the wind chill factor.

The view over to the final challenge of Ingleborough, at least showed that there was a much shorter journey between the second and third peaks.

The second Peak – Whernside

The descent of Whernside went without a hitch and then it was layers of clothing back off again as the wind eased back at the foot. It was then a very pleasant stroll down onto the B6255 Ingleton to Hawes road and the Old Hill Inn public house. Now at this point, I must admit that what drove me up onto Whernside, was the thought of a lovely cold pint of bitter shandy at this establishment. Unfortunately when I arrived at the front door it was closed, so much for that great idea!

Over the road and onwards to Ingleborough, passing Southerscales Scars and then via the strangely named Humphrey Bottom, before entering the Ingleborough Nature Reserve, passing some very impressive limestone pavements on the way.

At this point my mind was unable to get away from the thought of the final climb of the day up onto Ingleborough. Why so you may ask? Well, having made the ascent and descent of it the other way round last year, I couldn’t stop thinking about the very steep climb that lay ahead, up a very rough and ready stone staircase. It became a fixation in my mind, but there was no way back now, despite my energy levels having fallen quite low. At this point, had anyone been in the vicinity, they would have witnessed me debating with myself, exactly how long after eating a Mars Bar, would it take to experience the subsequent energy rush? I decided just to eat one there and then anyway.

Anyway along and up the paved path I went until I reached the foot of the steep climb, with nineteen miles completed and the only way now was straight up. The map case, camera and water bottle were all packed back into my rucksack, as I didn’t want anything flapping around in the increasing breeze as I started the ascent. Thoughts of Tenzing and Hillary spurred me on, until I completed the climb and then it was on and up onto the final moonscape summit of Ingleborough, where a massive cheer and shout went up, from me. I’d managed the third and final climb, so it was all down hill from there on back to the car in Horton in Ribblesdale.

The final Peak – Ingleborough

As I relaxed in the summit shelter out of the breeze and soaking up the sun, whilst enjoying my final and by now tepid cup of coffee and an apple, I heard voices approaching. Imagine my surprise when I realised it was two of the three fellow Three Peak walkers who I had last seen disappearing in the wrong direction.

They admitted that a huge error in map reading, resulted in them in fact heading south, when they thought that they were heading north. Now that is one heck of a mistake. Apparently it was also some time before they realised what they had done and then corrected their course, which resulted in them adding some distance on and over the official distance! One of their team also dropped out at the previously mentioned Old Hill Inn, saying that he was going to stop their and wait until the pub opened!

So off from the summit we went on the final leg of the route. At this point I was pretty sure that the path back down would be fairly easy, but I’d forgotten quite how stony some of the paths were and how much rocky limestone had still to be walked over. The finger posts indicating the mileage back, passed. Firstly the 2.75 mile one and then the 1.5 mile one, after which this final distance seemed to take an eternity. It was at this point that I couldn’t stop thinking about pints of cold lager ( it was a bit like in the film Ice Cold in Alex) and a plate of hot and carbohydrate laced food. The thoughts drove me on around what seemed corner after corner and hill after hill, albeit that they were only small hills!

Finally I passed through a stile and there in front of me was Horton in Ribblesdale Railway Station, Oh how my spirits soared, as I was now virtually in touching distance of the finish. I walked down to the gate, and taking extra care to check that there wasn’t a train coming, I crossed the track. Now wouldn’t that have been a tragedy, to have been hit by a train at this stage. I would not have been pleased, if not a touch dead as well!

So it was onto the road, over the foot bridge and back to my car, when I startled a couple just getting back to their car, by leaping into the air and shouting yes!, yes!, yes!. On seeing their bemused faces I then took the time to explain to them the reason for my outburst, for which they then offered me their congratulations!

How did I feel? Absolutely elated, proud and amazed at what I had just achieved, as I had never attempted anything so challenging in my life before. It was back down to reality though when I took my boots and socks off. The bottom of my feet were all white and wrinkly, just like when you’ve been in a bath too long, and boy did they ache. So much so, that I could only put on some walking sandals for the brief stroll down the road to The Crown Inn. Two pints of lager (no crisps) and a steak and mushroom pie, with chips and peas were ordered and readily despatched. I then discovered another symptom of the walk, in that I couldn’t stop telling anyone who was prepared to listen, as to what I had just accomplished. Three guys on a stopover from the Pennine Way being the main recipients!

Looking back, it wasn’t the distance that was the toughest part, or the final climb up Ingleborough, although it was hard going. It was the pounding that my feet took over so many hard and rough surfaces that was the

killer. The walk, at least to me, seemed to be mainly over limestone, rock strewn paths, paved paths or road, with the nice soft grassy bits being to a minimum. Still the memory of that soon diminishes, as the only real memory now is that I complete the Yorkshire 3 Peaks Challenge.

If any reader is interested in the challenge then please click on this link

Written by Mike Grimes