Pen-y-Ghent

Living in Yorkshire, this was a nice easy Friday night ramble. The amazing thing about the Y3P is how accessible they are. The Settle to Carlisle railway has been an absolute saviour for non-drivers like me.

This little patch of Yorkshire is soon to become the stage for the next phase in my Macmillan training plan! Lots of excellent long-distance walks with the aid of the train stations!

For this wild camp, I chose to go up the route most people come down from. It avoids all the scrambly parts of Pen-y-Ghent and offers a nice gravel path all the way up. This is quite a long, steady steep walk. Climbing a total of 1,500ft / 457m, its more than both of my recent camps in the Lakes.

The downside of wild camping here is that you don’t get the same dramatic landscapes as the Lakes, Wales or Scotland. But you do get stunning views across Ingleborough and the Howgills on a clear day. There is also a choice of nice grassy spots to pitch up a couple of tents!

What this camp offered was an incredible night sky! It was a crystal clear, sub-zero night. Frost started to develop on the tents, and I was wearing about 12 layers, including a RAB down jacket and an insulated Acrytex jacket (really is no hope for me).

I find seeing such clear night skies a luxury in the UK, so I will happily freeze to death for the privilege. I have found certain areas of the Dales to be great dark sky spots where you can literally see thousands upon thousands of stars. With much vodka to wbedürftig me up, I embraced the cold night for an early walk down, however not quite early enough to avoid all the Y3P walkers!