Hike # 7 : Climbing Pen-y-ghent

No, this is not a mountain in Wales though the name would indicate so. I am now on a mission to climb all Three Peaks before I start work in September and normality is resumed in my life.

Pen-y-ghent or Penyghent is a fell in the Yorkshire Dales, England. It is the smallest of the Yorkshire Three Peaks at 2,277 feet (694 m);the other two being Ingleborough and Whernside. It lies 1.9 miles (3 km) east of Horton in Ribblesdale.

So this was the baby of the peaks but you really would not think so with what you will see. I was waiting for a nice sunny day to do the climb. After the heat-wave we have had in England, the weather had turned quite normal so we took our chance when today is was sunny with little chance of rain.

The view from the car park was of a distant mountain. Pen-y-ghent has a very distinctive look about it. Winding up through a country lane, the ascent began past this jungle-like river scene.

We were on to moorland quickly and found a few more walkers were attempting to scale the peak. Even on weekdays these ‘Three Peaks’ really draw the crowds, some of them foreigners.

I took some time for frequent stops to admire the views I was already seeing. It really was a lovely day and made for scenic eye candy.

The ominous form of ‘Pen-y-ghent’ got ever closer; dark and unfriendly looking when the sun was not shining. This one reminds me of a castle with those rocky looking ‘turrets’.

Most of these mountain ‘hikes’ compromise of walking on moorland and slabs that have been placed down to make it a little easier. I have no idea how they get these ‘slabs’ into such remote areas, unless it was a helicopter drop.

I suggested to @bingbabe that we scale the barbed wire and go directly up the rocky part, but she declined.

As this point the walk started to get a little hairy. It was getting steep with big drops off to the right. I was trying to stay left to suppress my vertigo.

Walking became scrambling; something I had yet to experience. There was a family with a little boy on this section. The boy was crying and didn’t want to carry on, obviously scared out of his wits witnessing the big drop he was seeing in front of his eyes.

Sometimes it’s best not to look down, but if you don’t then you can’t put it across to others just how bloody scary this is for the inexperienced. My legs were getting jellied by this point but I needed to take these snaps to get my point across.

The scrambling levelled off to walking again and I was asking @bingbabe, ‘Is that the worst part over’. No she replied.

Another section awaited me, steep but quite doable. The tiredness was setting in more than the fear; my legs were getting even more jellied by this point.

At this section, in which I had to mount an almost 2 feet high rock, I had to stop. I was breathing heavily and the wind was starting to blow. This is a picture of the big rock and is the only way up.

We noticed a few people taking dogs; this is a terrible idea in hindsight. How is a dog going to scale this?

I took another snap looking down from this vantage point. My finger is on the top of my phone probably because I was getting quite terrified. You can see other families climbing leisurely up as though it’s a jaunt down the street. Is it just me?

I tell you its not! One slip and you will get some pretty serious injuries. After the big rock hop there was a little more scrambling and we had reached a plateau.

Another few hundred yards and we had reached the summit where @bingbabe did her trademark pose.

We were not alone and there were plenty of others taking a breather and eating their sandwiches (people) and grass (sheep) it seemed.

We were not going to descend the way we came; that was out of the question! The way down was a much more serene affair and much longer than the ascent.

More great views on the way down and you can see the winding path that looks like the road to nowhere.

That’s TWO down now; I have one peak to conquer which may be next week if the weather is good!

All photographs were taken by myself.