|
On Saturday Lorraine and I had a walk up Whernside, Yorkshire's highest point. We set off from Ribblehead in the shadows of the towering viaduct, the weather was threatening rain - and it did. We followed the path alongside railway lines up Little Dale and crossed the railway next to the Little Dale aquaduct. It had been showery all the way so far, but bright. The path started to rise properly now and we passed the gushing torrent of Force Gill, sadly not enough time to get closer for a good explore. We had a cloudy top to aim for. Crossing the flagged path was easy going and we soon gained the ridge leading to the summit. The cloud was slowly lifting and we had good views in all directions with some lovely moody cloudscapes back toward Ribblehead. Although I'd been there before, the day was kind enough to let me see what I'd missed on that previous occasion. Views across the hillside into Dentdale and of the Artengill Viaduct. The top itself was still shrouded in cloud giving only glimpses of the surrounding area. It was also quite busy. Lots of three peakers rampaging around, touching the trig point and rambling on again towards Ingleborough. Sadly it was all downhill from here, literally, but at the least the cloud lifted entirely and gave splendid views in all directions. We were lucky enough to see a steam train coming up from Settle and crossing the viaduct. This explained the large groups of people lining the track near Blea Moor signal box. I'm reliably informed that the loco was the Princess Elizabeth. That information was given by our very own semi-anorak (his words, not mine) Richard Ratcliffe. Thanks Richard. We followed the excellent path back down to Broadrake and followed a path through the fields to Winterscales then back to the viaduct. The scenery along the way was great, lots of grand cloud formations making for nice photos. Back at the car we had a view back of nearly our entire walk. Even with the rain it was a wonderful medium distance walk, many thanks to Lorraine, it wouldn't be the same without you. There was one last thing to do before I left. I scattered my Grandad's ashes on the hillside above the road, a suitable place for a man who loved the outdoors. He can see the three peaks from his resting place. I'm sure he'd be happy with that.
A full album is available on Webshots at http://good-times.webshots.com/album/565059857gPxdei |
