For pure pleasure and as it’s always been on my bucket list, we took on the Yorkshire 3 Peaks challenge. We followed and mapped to the official route that allows you to start in 3 places and can be completed in a clockwise and anticlockwise direction.
As we stayed in Ingelton the night before, we decided to start in Chapel le Dale, as it was a 7minute drive away. We parked in a little lay-by opposite the church for free! There is limited parking in this area so be mindful if completing the challenge in the summer time when typically busy. Also if doing this on a Sunday you cannot park in the church car park between 1pm and 4pm.
We started off at 7am to make the most of daylight (you will need it!) fresh and ready to go. We completed the route in an anticlockwise direction first heading towards the largest of three peaks- Whernside!
The start of the route is nice and easy as it’s flat so good for getting warmed up. We quickly approached towards Whernside. The incline is fairly gentle at first until you meet a short very steep part that certainly gets the heart going. However, it is over very quickly
As we reached the top of our incline the winds really picked up and it was very cold. It’s amazing how different the weather is on the top of the mountains compared to the lower ground. At the top we continued along to the find the Trigg point. We were passed by several fell runners along the way- another breed of human!
We had a quick biscuit at the top and quickly started our decent along the more gentle side and tracked along to near the viaduct
We then crossed and had a period of road walking with Ingleborough on our right side as we tracked towards Pen-y-gent. This was the longest part of the walk between mountains. It is fairly easy, relatively flat and lots of picturesque views. Make the most of ease here!
We then started our incline up Pen-y-Ghent which was fairly easy going at first until the steps! These even got Hagrid who was coming back ensuring I gave him treats to get through- but we made it and got our second peak! This was much busier but we stopped here for a rest and refuel. Highly recommend biscuits for every Trigg on this walk!
We made our decline down the scramble which whilst quite hard is short and well routed! We were then on our way and tracking towards Horton in Ribblesdale. Good spot for using the toilets here in the car park if you need too.
We continued further up towards the train station crossing the tracks to start our approach to the final mountain, Ingleborough.
As you cross the tracks it’s about 3.5miles to the summit. The incline starts very gently before becoming steeper.
Along the way the tiredness was kicking in and so we cracked out the Fruit Pastilles to get us through. I can highly recommend these for short bursts of energy. We finally reached the top and the feeling was wonderful! We had our final celebration biscuit and Hagrid got on his Trigg
We declined down the steps, which we quite hard given our tired legs and then tracked along back to Chapel le Dale to find the car where we had a celebratory cupcake. Hagrid was still sprinting and I can say it is evident the dog is impossible to tire and wonder if a 6 peak challenge maybe more suited for him.
Overall a great challenge, lots of fun! Definitely more challenging than expected. But well worth it and something I would do again!
We followed this route on os maps
Breathless Hikers 
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