Welcome to Blog two of a three Blog Series. The Yorkshire 3 Peaks, Part TWO – Whernside!
Personally, I found the descent from Pen-Y-Ghent much easier than the climb. My body was under less pressure and we’d had those precious few minutes to top up on water, food and regain natural beathing patterns and pulse rates! My nerves had eased and the pace had now settled. The pathways down consisted of small white, lose pebbles, easy to lose your footing and grip, especially at the steep slant. Being mindful, we chatted as we went, still taking in the beauty all around us. It was at this point that our guide casually mentioned that we now had a good 12 mile hike before reaching our second mountain, Whernside. I was actually happy about that, I can do flat and undulating walking for as long as required. I know that many people find this part of the route a real drag and a hard slog, but I was very comfortable just walking along, one foot in front of the other. The opportunity gave me one-to-one time, chatting with my niece, which was precious and valuable to me, something that in everyday, busy life, we just don’t get the opportunity to do.
We crossed many fields, through gates, over bridges, alongside tumbling streams whilst sheep and cows grazed, unperturbed by their hiking visitors. The sun continued to shine upon us, housed in its deep blue, cloudless sky. Any stresses or worries left far behind as we breathed in fresh, clean air, surrounded in only natural beauty. What better way to spend a morning? The land stretched out before us as far as the eye could see, no people, no roads and the only noise was the gentle natter of each other in light conversation. The morning mist had now cleared and the dew was drying out from the suns strength, but a gentle breeze kept us at perfect walking temperatures.
We stopped a couple of times along this route for our 5 min refresher breaks, a bite to eat and taking on more water, replacing what our bodies were using in order to stay well hydrated. Whernside was well in view by now and we could see the path we’d be taking all the way along the top, the mountain’s backbone, as we headed toward a picturesque Viaduct at its foot.
The climb began steadily on a well-structured pathway. Our guide informed us that Whernside was the longest climb. The gradient wasn’t as harsh as Pen-y-Ghent but was further and therefore the climb would take longer. The well-trodden pathway soon bled into stoney steps, flat and dry, luckily for us on that day and easy to walk on but as usual with steps up a mountain, they are not formed in consistent increments, like a staircase, some rocks require an extra pace before stepping up onto the next one, some do not. Sometimes a natural stride is too long or too short and needs to be adjusted, so concentration was still vital and the constant step-climbing action was taking its toll on thigh muscles. A steady pace was still key.
One foot in front of the other.
Our guide’s experienced words were ringing through my head. ‘Don’t think about how far there is to go, don’t think about how far you have come. Just steadily keep putting one foot in front of the other, keep moving forwards.’
I found Whernside a slower burn. The climb didn’t leave me fighting for my breathe as much as Pen-Y-Ghent had, but it was definitely hard work and completely exhausting to keep plodding onwards and upwards. As we climbed, we found ourselves amongst some light clouds, altering the temperature and reducing some visibility, but hot from climbing I did not need to layer up at this point. Personally, I also didn’t want to stop and fiddle around with removing my rucksack and finding my top. I had a good steady pace and tough as it was, I didn’t want to break it.
At certain points it seemed to get quite busy and due to the width of the pathway we were mostly walking in single file. Occasionally people ‘pulled over’ on a step for a breather to allow the person behind to overtake, before finding shortly onwards, the ‘overtaker’ had stepped aside to rest and the ‘overtaken’ reclaimed their place ahead. Eventually though, we were blessed with that familiar sight, through the misty cloud, of the summit of the mountain as the path flattened out and the grateful sight of the trig point came into view, just beyond walkers sitting, laying, resting and recuperating on the ground around us. Mountain number two, we’d made it!
The clouds had blown over and just a few wisps now hung below us in the void space in front of the mountain’s edge. The crystal blue sky and incredible views, again laid claim to the same ‘on top of the world’ feeling that had engulfed us on Pen-Y-Ghent. As we threw our rucksacks down to the soft, green grass the sense of achievement we felt was immense, mixed with the relief that we’d made it. Phew….two down, one to go!
We took a little longer than 5 minutes for this break as we waited, pretty exhausted, for other members of the group to reach us. Time to catch breathe, eat some food, adjust any plasters or supports and of course, capture some amazing photographs of the beauty before us. The viaduct now way down in the distance. Our guide advised us that many people find this the toughest point of the three peak challenge. Whernside is a long relentless climb after a 12.5 mile hike from the foot of Pen-Y-Ghent and it’s at this point that many people find that they don’t wish to go on to do the third peak, Ingleborough. He gave the group the option but it was still a firm yes from all except one chap who had very recently undergone heart surgery! He was more than forgiven by the group for calling it a day at that point! The rest of us felt that we’d come this far, we weren’t going to be beaten now. Just enough reserves left, fuelled by adrenaline, to feel that we could make it!
Whilst this chap took longer to rest at the top, before being guided back down with our leader, the rest of the group set off on the descent of Whernside taking the route in the direction of Ingleborough. Our instructions were to follow the pathway down the mountainside, then take the sharp corner off to the right and then just up to the café where we should wait to regroup. Sounded simple and easy enough, so we set off confidently.
Descending Whernside was quite tough on the, now tired, legs and required big steps and balance down the pathway of large rocks, some not at stable as they first looked. We followed that winding route all the way to the bottom, this time, no light conversations as concentration was required.
A longer and harder descent than Pen-Y-Ghent, but eventually we reached the gate that marked the bottom of the mountain and could take the right-hand turn onto the pathway towards the café. What we know now, is that after going round that corner, ‘just up to the cafe’ is actually another 8 mile trek away. However, we were told that this café had a toilet and walkers were currently allowed to use it (sometimes they are not), so for my niece and I, that was a great relief which served to speed up our pace and enthusiasm to reach it.
We rested at cafe for a while, topping up with water and some more snacks until our guide joined us again after a short time. With two mountains now successfully under our belts, we tried to question our guide on what to expect from Ingleborough. Buzzed up and feeling like we can take on anything having just achieved what we had, the whole group was firing questions; “Is Ingleborough tougher/easier/scrambling/steeper/sharp….” but all we could really get from him was his continued advice about pacing ourselves, keeping it consistent and as slow as we wanted as long as we keep moving. He relaxed us all with his confidence in our ability to achieve it and so our underlying weariness was pushed aside and sheer determination drove us as we still set confidently off on our way, feeling reassured and also that the successful completion of the challenge was now in sight!
…Look out for the concluding Blog to this series; The Yorkshire 3 Peaks, Part THREE – INGLEBOROUGH!
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