Countryfile Ramble Weekend

Each year Countryfile and Children in Need host a weekend of rambling to raise money. October 10th & 11th was this weekend so we decided to organise and complete our own socially distanced ramble up in North Yorkshire by hiking two of the Yorkshire Three Peaks.

We decided on Whernside and Ingleborough and then searched for somewhere to stay. We had recently joined the Brit Stop ‘club’ and we found that the Station Inn at Ribblehead were in there. After a quick chat on the phone we established we could pitch there as long as we got there early enough. We managed to get a great spot at the far end of the car park with a great view out to the viaduct. We ordered food from the pub (which was delivered to our door) and got ourselves settled in.

The forecast for Saturday seemed ok – possibly showery in the morning but improving later. As it turned out, it was rather more than showery as we headed off up Whernside on the winding path around the back of the fell. It was however, great weather for me to test out my new ProvizSports jacket.

The ascent was easy and with very few people around. We reached the trig point in an hour or so.

The weather at the top was wet and misty so the views were poor but as we descended the rain eased and the views on Ingleborough opened up in front of us

We crossed the Ingleton to Hawes road at the bottom and then crossed into the fields beyond to pick up the path up Ingleborough. We noticed a number of cars parked by the field and we deduced there was some sort of event taking place on Ingleborough. As we headed up we found out what!! Many runners had already been up there and had really churned up an already wet and muddy path, coupled with a diversion from the normal route up (due to path repairs). Not the pleasantest of ascents, but we eventually hit the ridge just below Simon Fell.

From there we turned right and set off for the summit. The summit was crowded and there was a fiercely biting wind. We sat in the shelter and ate lunch before heading off back towards the viaduct and Herdy.

The route down took us over Simon Fell and Park Fell and back down to the road leading back towards the Ribblehead viaduct. The weather improved all the way back shedding a beautiful glow over the landscape.

We woke up on Sunday with wall to wall autumn sunshine ☀️ and so we decided it might be nice to head to Ingleton and a run round the waterfall trail. We arrived early (around 9) and the car park was almost empty. No problem parking up Herdy when we paid and headed off for the Trail. It’s all well organised – restricted numbers on the Trail and all one way so you aren’t passing close to too many people.