Some Good Eggs. . .

I'm off on holiday shortly and the blog is taking a summer break too.  But I just thought I'd post some photos from a recent egg show that we stumbled on in the town hall of Skipton, the day after we did our Yorkshire Peak Challenge.  There were eggs from quite a number of different birds - geese, turkeys, ducks - and judged for colour, size, and consistency among other categories.

But you can't just judge an egg by its shell.  Crack 'em open and their contents are also up for a blue ribbon.

But the most interesting category had to be this one:

No, I've never seen a wrinkled egg either.   Only in Britain. . .

The Yorkshire Three Peak Challenge. . .

Last Saturday was the big day - our Yorkshire Three Peak Challenge ( 24 miles and 3 peaks in 12 hours).  Fortunately the weather was gorgeous - cool in the morning and hovering around 18 -20 degrees in the afternoon.  Fortified by a hearty breakfast at our B & B we made our way to Horton-in-Ribblesdale and clocked in at the Pen-y-ghent Cafe.  From all the cars we saw along the road and in the car parks, this is a popular challenge; there were easily more than a thousand people on the route.  We set off at 8:35am.  Like most people we were doing the hike anti-clockwise.  First peak was Pen-y-ghent which we ascended from the right side, up the "nose" and then to the top.

Part-way up, you can look to your left and see the third peak of Ingleborough in the distance. But we have a long way to go first. 

Still going up. . . 

And the view from the top.  It was quite steep, but our legs felt fresh and we reached the summit just over an hour into our challenge.

At the top was a stag-do of about ten guys, all decked out in cycling gear sporting fake Bradley Wiggins sideburns. The groom-to-be had balloons attached to his rucksack and when we came across them at the top of Pen-y-ghent they were doing a rendition of "I'm A Little Teapot" before running down the other side with a rugby ball.  Well, it makes a change from getting drunk in Dublin.  

Descending the first peak, you get a great glimpse of the many miles of countryside before the next one. 

Two hours into the walk and looking back, we can see how far we've come with Pen-y-ghent now in the distance behind us.

And here's more of the landscape before us.  With sheep cheering us on of course.

Several miles later and we reached the Ribblehead railway viaduct with the second peak, Whernside off to the right.  This is part of the famous Settle to Carlisle route.

Through the arches, you also get a glimpse of Ingleborough, the third peak in the challenge. 

But first we have to get up Whernside. This is the highest of the three peaks but with the most gentle and gradual ascent. By this point it was early afternoon and very hot. 

The view from the top of Whernside. 

And down again and towards Ingleborough. The viaduct can now been seen from the other side through a lovely field of buttercups.

Did I mention it was hot???   There was a cafe between Whernside and Ingleborough doing a brisk business selling pints of orange squash for a pound.  The sheep had the right idea for staying cool. 

At this point, my camera lens got a smear of sunscreen on it and blurred the photos I took of the very steep section of Ingleborough that consisted of near vertical zigzags - not fun for weary legs.  Fortunately it's a relatively short section and soon we were on the top, looking back at Whernside. 

From here, after a bit of a stony descent, it's a gradual downhill of dirt and limestone paths back to Horton.  We passed the future groom, balloons now burst, one sideburn lost and most of his mates nowhere to be seen.  But no time to chat - with the legs still feeling good, we decided to powerwalk the last two miles and clocked in at a very respectable 9 hours and 58 minutes! It was a long but rewarding day and we were quite chuffed to have finished in good time.  We celebrated with ice cream followed by a delicious dinner at an Indian restaurant in Gargrave.

Here are a couple of tips if you are contemplating doing this yourself.

1. Take lots of water!!!!  We carried nearly six litres between the two of us and drank almost all of it as it was so hot out.  The ambulance passed us at one point - it had been called out to rescue two men on Whernside who had suffered heat exhaustion.

2. Be prepared for the open.  There is very little cover on the entire walk so if it's sunny out, make sure you have plenty of sunscreen and a hat.  Alternatively, if it's raining, make sure you have all the waterproof gear.

3.  It's always good to have a proper ordinance map and compass with you, but if you are doing it in the summer and especially on the weekend, you won't have to worry about getting lost - just follow the crowd. The paths are quite visible and they've added some new ones over the worst of the boggy bits.  Erosion is an ongoing concern, so try to keep to the proper paths.

4.  Lots of people and open countryside equals very few places for private bodily functions.  Take them when you see them, particularly if you are female.  There are the odd bits of broken down walls that you can crouch behind but they are few and far between.   The cafe between Whernside and Ingleborough does have a public toilet which is free if you buy a drink from them, or you can pay them 50 pence.

5. There are pros and cons for doing it in each direction.  If you did it clockwise, you'd get two peaks out of the way fairly early and you'd be going against the crowd.  However, it would be fairly daunting to see the huge distance between Whernside and Pen-y-ghent at the end of your walk. Also, the ascent to Whernside going clockwise is very, very steep.

6.  Be extra careful if it's wet out.  Quite a bit of the ascents and descents are over limestone which can get quite slippery in the rain.  To be honest, I don't think I'd have wanted to do this walk in bad weather.

And that's another tick off the list. . .

All's Well That Ends in Bakewell. . .

Our latest walk began and ended in the small market town of Bakewell, in the Peak District National Park in Derbyshire.  The weather could not have been better - just a gorgeous English summer day.  The route began with a very beautiful walk in the woods where I finally got to see some bluebells.

This wasn't the most taxing of walks as there were no big hills, but just a lovely ramble through the English countryside which was just fine by me.  And no soggy sandwiches!

The sheep were a little pooped though.

There was a purpose to our walk though, and here was the first glimpse.

This is Chatsworth House.  Remember this scene?

Mmmm. Yes, thought you did.

There was no time to explore the house or the gardens (will definitely have to come back one day) but there was a farmer's market outside and we did stop for freshly made ice cream from a local farm.  As you can imagine the grounds are quite extensive and there were hundreds of people milling around, picnicking and enjoying the day.

As a result the sheep are quite tame.  As are the deer.

But back to important matters - at the end of the walk, most of the group headed for the pub.  I headed for this bakery.

Bakewell tarts are quite ubiquitous around the country. They feature jam, sponge and an almond paste in a shortcrust pastry, with or without icing.  But only in Bakewell can you get the Bakewell Pudding - similar flavours but in puff pastry.  Trust me, it tasted much better than it looks (sorry for the blurry photo, plus this was taken after it was squished in my rucksack for two hours).  I also couldn't resist buying a traditional tart for later (it was all gone by the next day).  If only all walks finished so well.

Yarn on the Move. . .

First there was the Wool Boat, now check out The Yarnover Truck.  Only in California, alas, but what a great idea. The owners modelled themselves on mobile food trucks and they travel around the state going to farmers' markets and craft fairs as well as hosting knitting parties.  What a great idea.

A Walk On the Whernside. . .

With our Yorkshire Three Peaks challenge looming, the Liverpud and I decided we needed to practice with a hike that took in at least one of the peaks.  And then the latest issue of Country Walking popped through our mail slot and lo and behold, it contained the perfect walk that led up Whernside, the highest of the three we're going to shortly be tackling (Walk 18 in the June 2013 issue)

This 12.5 mile Yorkshire Dales route began in the lovely little town of Dent with one of the nicest views that I've ever seen from a public car park. 

Dent is full of whitewashed cottages and cobblestones.

We followed a lovely path beside the River Dee for a few miles.

And then began a rather gradual ascent up Whernside with views of the Dent Valley behind us and the Settle-Carlisle railway line ahead.

About halfway along, we came to a lovely tarn.  You can just see the summit of Whernside in the distance.  I love coming across these tiny bodies of water nestled unexpectedly in the hills; they are so pretty and peaceful.

Despite the gorgeous weather on Sunday when we did this walk, we didn't encounter another hiker up to this point. What I liked about this walk was that it took a completely different route up Whernside than the one that the Three Peak challengers do which was perfect as I really didn't want to replicate too much of what's to come.  However, fairly close to the summit, we crossed over a stile and on the other side of the wall was the regular Three Peak Route. And all we could see was a queue of walkers stretching all the way down to the bottom.  We joined the line for the brief walk up to the top.

And the here's the view.  It was quite hazy out, but on a clearer day, you can probably see the other two peaks that make up the challenge.  Whernside is the highest (2415 feet) and the second climb of the usual Three Peaks route.

We quickly got off the main trail, taking a sharp right for our descent.  This next photo is near the bottom looking back at the summit.  It looks steep, but the path is quite grassy and it wasn't too bad on the knees.

The rest of the walk was along an easy bridleway back to Dent with the Dales landscape all around us.  It may not have the majesty of the Lake District but there's something very soothing and beautiful about the miles of empty space in every direction and it truly was a glorious day to be out in the fresh air.

Having tackled the highest peak now, I feel quite confident that we can do the challenge in the twelve hours - if we have good weather.  Though we only did half the mileage, the legs felt good and I could have kept going.  It was also great to test drive one of Country Walking's printed walks as we have a subscription and lots of back issues. As with any hike, I'd never go without also carrying an ordinance map and compass, but the directions for this walk were clear and the descriptions of the terrain were very useful.  Now we just have to cross our fingers and hope for as good a day for our challenge.