Readers of this blog will probably realise that hills are not my natural environment, never mind mountains! At 723 metres, Ingleborough is definitely a mountain and one of the three highest in Yorkshire. Together with nearby Whernside and Pen-y-ghent , they are known collectively as The Yorkshire Three Peaks. Some people set themselves the challenge of walking up all three in one day. Mad or what! On a camping trip last year , I managed to talk some friends out of dragging me up Ingleborough ( we walked the less daunting Ingleton Falls Trail instead), such is my horror of heading up into the clouds.
The day would come however ( and that day was a glorious Bank Holiday Monday), that I would reach the top of my first mountain…
We set off from The Old Hill Inn , just above the village of Ingleton, 4 adults, 2 children, 2 bedlington terriers and 1 black labrador. The weather was warm, but fortunately a cooling breeze helped us on our way. This route is the shortest one you can attempt apparently. A 2.5 mile walk up to the summit.
Ingleborough.
The scenery as you walk towards Ingleborough is varied. Plenty to look at including limestone kilns, limestone pavements and wild flowers such as Cotton grass and Early purple orchids.
So why do I not relish climbing hills? Well despite the fact that I enjoy walking, walking up hill always makes me feel like my heart is going to shoot out of my chest. 😕 I know getting your heart pumping is meant to be a good thing, but I tend to convince myself that my death is imminent. I also hate it if anyone is behind me ( incase I am holding them up) and tend to stop to let them pass. I therefore find myself way behind everyone else in no time, stopping for breath every couple of minutes. Happily I don’t really feel any aching leg pains on the way up, because I am to busy hyperventilating. 🤣
But hey I did make it!! And that has to be one of the best feelings in the world. I made it to the summit of Ingleborough. 😁
After eating our packed lunches we tentatively retraced our steps back down the mountain. As you can see , it would be handy to be a mountain goat on both the ascent and descent.
Our afternoon was topped off with a celebratory drink in the Old Hill Inn beer garden, with views towards the mountain we had just conquered. 😊
And would I walk up another mountain? We are already planning on Whernside in a couple of weeks, so watch this space…….
Cotton grass! Thank you! We walked up Kinder Scout yesterday and had to call it rabbit tail because we didn’t know the name.
What a beautiful walk.
Well rabbit tail is as good a name as any. They definitely look like fluffy bunny tails. 🙂 Hope you enjoyed your walk up Kinder Scout. I love that name. 😁
There’s no stopping you now! Well done on your hike! The Bleaberry Tarn walk was steep steps all the way up too. It’s very tiring! I am always behind everyone too! Little legs don’t help LOL. Keep going you’re doing great! xx
Looking forward to your Bleaberry tarn post if you do one. I hadn’t heard of that one. Thank you! X
Blog is in the pipeline. David has done a fab video of the day 😀
The flat top of the hill viewed from a distance reminds me of a mini Table Mountain – at least it was level when you got up there 🙂 I love the photo of the dogs in the pond, I think I would have been inclined to join them as it really was hot that day 🙂
It does look like a mini Table mountain. 😁
It was a hot day but luckily we did have a good breeze which made it quite pleasant. Think the bow wows appreciated their dip! X
For a birthday ‘gift ‘a few years ago, my husband made me do the the peaks in its entirety. … For my efforts I got sun burnt the back of my legs however on the plus side, I beat him (by about 5 minures) and he got blisters! Well done, it was worth it, I love looking down a hill at where we were and then once back down, looking up at where we had been!
Nice hubby. Haha! Well done for beating him. I don’t think I could manage all three in one day. Impressed! X
Lovely post and gorgeous views.. also the dogs are all gorgeous- just love bedlington terriers!
Thank you. Yes the Bedlingtons are very cute and both have totally different characters. Bel is as good as gold and Becksley is definitely a baddie! 😁😁x
Well done! I wish I could still do things like that but arthritis joints put an end to such challenging ascents some years ago. I climbed Scafell in my youth and loved the experience – the descent seemed harder, somehow. Lovely photos as usual!
Thank you. I definitely have sore legs still. Well done on climbing Scafell Pike. That is something!
Seems like a lifetime ago. Over 30 years in the past. Now, I can just about manage hike up to Clitheroe Castle! 😁
I find Its quite steep up there too. 😉 x
Well done! Lovely pics. Sure the pub stop at the finale rounded off the day perfectly too. x
Thank you. Yes a celebratory drink is a must I think. X
Like you I always stop to let people passing especially when going down as I am very slow.
I much prefer walking down then walking up, but I am slow at both. Oh well! X
Well done you ! 👏 👏 👏
We’ll make a mountaineer out of you yet! And don’t worry about stopping. Nobody will bother (unless they’re a miserable so and so).
Everybody was very kind. I did have a 77 year old man pass me and various mountain goat like children, but not to worry. 😁
Lovely photos, and well done – you definitely earned a celebratory drink. 😊
Thank you. It felt good to celebrate. 😁😁
Oh, lovely Shazza & although I’ve viewed Ingleborough from afar (think that is the one you can see from Ribblehead Viaduct), we’ve never enough time in our holidays to do all we want. Maybe next time (hoping), when we are over I’ll get in some more walks I’d like to do. It all looks lovely & make my heart race just seeing the wonderful photos of Yorkshire. Thanks & take care.
Whernside is the closest to Ribblehead but you can probably see Ingleborough too. Thanks Susan. Glad you enjoyed the pictures. Xx
This could be the start of a new you, not afraid to tackle those hills! Well done – worth a walk to the top for those views. I walked part way up Ingleborough a few years ago when I was winched down Gaping Gill, but didn’t walk right to the top as it was a cold, wet and foggy day!
So pleased that your experience of walking up mountains is exactly like mine!!
Haha Yeh its not the best. But worth it in the end. Xx