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Roger Clough threw down the gauntlet after the AGM in Hope.
“Who will join me on my annual Yorkshire 3 peaks walk?”
To walk 25 miles and 3 peaks in under 12 hours.
After a few days pondering, I thought I could do with a new challenge so I accepted along with Adrian Sumption and Anton Woolford; where were the rest if you, I wonder!
Thus started my training campaign ably assisted by Nick who was suddenly enthused to plan all sorts of walks for me to tackle. I worried that I wouldn’t keep up with the men, who are all keen hikers, so Nick just added more miles and hills!
We all met on Tuesday evening, at Chapel-le-dale in the Old Hill Inn campsite pub for Roger to explain the route and
decide which day would be the best, the weather forecast was pretty miserable. We eventually opted for Thursday, allowing us a day to fit in a 9 mile walk from Ingleton to Ribbleshead as an additional training bout. Nick met us at lunchtime in the station pub, he was full of doom and gloom, being unable to purchase a daily paper he had found a copy of the local mountain rescue magazine and cheerfully informed us of the various calamities that had occurred on the peaks! He was happy to do the 3 pubs rather than the 3 peaks…
Thursday saw us all up at 6 am to pack our rucksacks and ready to leave base camp at 7 am, thick mist swirled around us as we followed Roger up hundreds of slippery limestone steps in search of our first summit, Ingleborough. We made it in our target time of 64 minutes; the view was marvellous…swirling mist and the vague outlines of my intrepid hikers. After a hazy photo shoot and drinks, we headed onwards joyously as the mist slowly began to disperse and our spirits rose as the views opened up, albeit with the next peak of Pen-y-ghent in full view, phew, it looked steep! The meadows were a delight, early purple orchids, primroses, cotton and violets were in full bloom and we marvelled at the limestone pavements and shakeholes.
false summit of Pen-y- ghent…the top was hiding around the corner!
We rendezvoused with Nick in Horton in Ribblesdale, again meeting Roger’s planned timing; more fuel was taken on board before heading for the second summit.The men set a cracking speed, the final ascent was more of a scramble than a ramble, I ended up on my hands and knees and clinging on to the rocks; I didn’t look down as there was no time for me to have a vertiginous wobbly! More photo shoots and snacks at the trig point before beginning the long long descent to Ribblehead.
The miles seemed never ending; we were glad to see Nick waiting in Murvi with more water for us, and discovered that he had followed us up to the summit of Pen-y- ghent and then went back to Horton, we were amazed!
After a quick break, we marched onwards towards Whernside. It was a gradual stepped slope all the way up; unfortunately the weather forecast was correct and at 3 pm the rain started and the wind whistled, so we had another stop to don over trousers etc. We were rather joyous when we touched the third trig point, then time for more photos to prove we hadn’t taken any short cuts…now I wonder who would have suggested we might do that!
Our elation was short lived; once we started the descent I understood why one internet blogger had said ‘only fools tackle the peaks in this order’. It was steep, slippery and very uneven. Great concentration was required to ensure no tumbles, especially as our legs were getting tired. I think it was actually the hardest part of the walk. Once we met level ground Adrian informed us we had been out on the peaks for 9 hours. Roger was delighted and thought we could get back to base in the next half hour and beat his previous best time. So we all had a spring in our step as we marched up the final hill to be greeted by our partners who were all waving from the campsite gate. They were amazed we were back so quickly. Adrian switched off the sat nav and reported we had completed our challenge in 9 hrs 17 minutes 33 seconds, with an average speed of 2.93 mph, excluding our snack breaks, and a total ascent of a mile, so we were ecstatic and had grins from ear to ear.
We just had time for showers before the celebrations, when a few bottles of bubbles were consumed before heading to the pub for a well earned meal. It was a fun evening with us all in high spirits
We were nearly ready to head home when two men, in their forties, staggered exhausted into the pub asking for a meal. They said they had just completed the walk, it had taken them nearly 15 hours, they had done the walk several times before and had never managed to do it in the 12 hour challenge window! Well that made us feel even more triumphant …more grins. I think Roger is probably still grinning now.
Our joint age was 272 years, but I must point out that I was the baby of the group. I only hope I am as physically capable in the future as these men! They are inspirational.
We all say a big thank you to Roger for setting us the challenge, and I wonder if we will repeat it next year?
What challenges have other Murvi- ers set for themselves this year? I would love to hear about them.
Thursday 19th May 2016 by Yvonne Mawby