Three Peak Week

It all started because I wanted to see Hull Pot in spate. Hull Pot is on the side of Pen y Ghent, and after heavy rain, a spectacular waterfall goes over the rim. So on Christmas Eve, following three days of the said heavy rain, I set off  along with two friends Brian and Hester and their dog Harry, to have a look. We were in luck; the waterfall was spectacular  . Now Brian and Hester are in training for the Lakeland 100 so they wanted a longer run, which meant Plover Hill before Pen y Ghent. Getting up Plover Hill was fine, but the traverse along the top made Spitler's Edge seem like a desert. After P y G, it was back to their house for tea and mince pies, and then they mention Ingleborough!

As it turned out, I didn't join them for Ingleborough as the comings and goings of various visitors made their date, the 27th impossible. Which turned out to be a stroke of luck as the 28th was bright, sunny and cold, with snow above 1000'. I went up from Cold Cotes, which is a fairly easy 3 mile run up to the summit. The views on the way up and at the summit were superb, and the run down easy after the initial rather icy bit off the summit plateau.

Two down, one to go. The original plan was to go for New Years Eve, but the weather forecast suggested the 30th would be better. It was right but about two hours late. I set off along the route we had followed in October when EtU, YJ, TF and TM had come up here. All was fine until about 2000'. There is a particularly boggy bit on a plateau and the National Park authority have laid paving slabs over it (as on Spitler's). The snag was that the slabs were iced up and very dangerous which meant running through snow covered tussocks instead. The summit was cold and bleak so I didn't linger but dropped straight off the side at the first gate as I didn't fancy the rocks on the traditional descent. It was a very easy and quick way down and I was back to my car just in time for the promised sun to come out.


24 miles and over 4500 feet of climbing  was a good way to end 2014. The plan is to do two at time in the spring and then all three in early summer; any takers?