The Whernside Challenge

5th. July 2018.                Whernside Challenge 


Little did we know what lay waiting for us as we stepped off the train at Ribblehead station today.












For we have set ourselves a challenge to climb one of the three peaks, that of Whernside. It is the highest hill or so called mountain in our county of Yorkshire, standing at an elevation of 2415 feet.








As usual our journey starts at Leeds Railway Station, we are to board the 9:19 train heading for
Carlisle, today our group will consist of Malcolm, John, Eddie, Colin and Dave, the other two
contenders namely Keith and Derek have played their jokers and decided to give this challenge a
miss, very wise decision on their part!
Anyhow a smooth one hour plus rail journey to Ribblehead gave us time to catch up on previous events . We arrived at our destination a few minutes before 11:00 am. along with a few other intrepid hill walkers all geared up for their own challenges. It was a steady pace at first as we admired the wonderful surroundings here at Ribblehead, from the grand stature of the Viaduct set in this valley to the spender of the surrounding hills and beyond.






















Soon into our adventure we pass the high and lonely signal box at Blea Moor then a little further on we cross over the railway near a stone constructed aqueduct, from here on it’s a steady climb onwards and upwards with the distant ridge line of Whernside coming into view. From this point it was to take us a  further 2 hours of hard slog to finally reach the summit with several rest periods on our way up there.










At this point it was obvious our lunch time arrangements had gone out of the window, we would now be hard pressed to make the 17: 45 train back to Leeds .
A brief respite at the summit to take in the magnificent views, then it was on to the serious job of the descent from this vantage point. It soon became apparent that this would be a difficult task. It was steady as you go lads one slip could prove disastrous.








The return journey would consume as much time as did the accent. We eventually reached the safety of the valley some two hours after leaving the summit.






45 minutes later we enjoyed a brief drink in the Station Inn before a quick dash to catch the homeward bound train. Once aboard time now to reflect upon our conquering experience.
Well done Lads.


Comments

  1. Colin Hendrick Ward8 July 2018 at 21:34

    I was there! It was hard work but on reflection I won’t be doing it again.

    ReplyDelete

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