One Yorkshire peak

[keeley24]

Some of you may remember from my previous posts I go to a brain injury group each week and I’ve got my mind set on walking the 3 Yorkshire peaks with the man who set the group up. This has been on going for like 2 year. He’s done them 3 times but doesn’t think I’d manage them.

Long story short we was going to work up to the 3 Yorkshire peaks did a 5 and 10 mile hill walk in 2018 but I struggled on the 10 mile my own stupid fault for not eating before so felt dizzy. Luckily after eating I was ok and completed the walk.

The man then decided that was the end of any long hill walks so 2019 went by with me keep mentioning walks and hills I’d walked my plans to do the Yorkshire peaks somehow. The man got other members of staff to back him up that we wasn’t going to do any hill walks. Tho we did a 4 and half mile in Brantingham which went well. Then totally unexpectedly the man said next year (this year 2020) we would do one peak. So that’s where we are now next week we will be talking about when we will do one peak and see if he’s decided which peak and who’s going. He’s not planning on taking many probably to make things easier for him as he’s got to be responsible for everyone there will be at most 3 staff and one of them isn’t that keen and other one hasn’t done any walks like this with us before. I’m going to mention it would be nice if the mans mate came with us which would mean one less person he was responsible for.

Any ideas of which peak would be best I’ve heard penyghent is hardest even tho it’s smallest and whernside is easiest but biggest and Ingleborough is middle in difficulty and size. I’m thinking I might like Ingleborough cos I want a challenge that involves scrambling (never done it before) and want it to take longer. Honestly never even been to the peaks so will love whichever we do.

What happens afterwards. This is something we are not going to agree on right now if ever. I’m wanting to do all 3 eventually or even 2 peaks next but the man says that’s it after we done one and keeps pointing out he doesn’t have to do one so until we have done one he can keep me quiet.

I am planning to do this as a sponsor to raise money for the charity as a thank you to him for putting up with me mentioning it a lot and taking risk to let me do this walk. I’m going to keep this quiet from him until we have completed the walk then tell him as a surprise.

[RogerCMerriman]

How experienced a hill walker are you? 24miles on loose ground takes it out of people and even with out a brain injury it when people get tired make mistakes. And even in summer at height the weather can close in.

In particular scree can be dangerous as it shifts underfoot.

It’s way beyond me now I’ve only got 2 out of 3 balance systems working, while I grew up on such land so in many way find it easier than towns, I have no cognitive duration so while I am still a mountain goat though a older one now! High hills unless very short duration are unwise.

But do go for it, but do make sure your going in eyes open, hill walking is quite different to low land stuff.

[keeley24 in reply to RogerCMerriman]

Thanks for your honest reply. How much hill walking experience do I have? Honestly not much. The walk at Hope Valley took me by surprise being much thought than I’d expected which from reading on internet isn’t classed as too challenging. We walked up mam tor which was 9 mile so one peak is going to be a bit shorter and more hills so yea I will find it hard which is exactly why the man is being cautious.

I’m actually seeing this doing one peak as a test to see if it’s realistic to want to do all 3 in a day and I was planning on going myself this year to test myself on one peak to see how I got on so him agreeing to do one has just made it easier for me as I have no idea the way there or round the peaks and I would be recording the walk on an app and doing videos to show the man how I got on. So at least now I can just concentrate on actually getting up and down the peak and enjoy it.

It’s funny how all this started. The man who set me off wanting to do this has a brain injury himself so the only noticeable thing with him is he struggles splitting his attention on 2 things. So when he’s talking to someone he doesn’t notice what’s going on round him. But on this occasion like over 2 years back he did. He was talking to someone about him recently completing the 3 Yorkshire peaks and he noticed me listening. I didn’t even say anything but he straight away said I wouldn’t manage them. Now I have always done a lot of walking and never had any problems and at this time he didn’t really know much about what I would or wouldn’t manage which I later proved by managing far more physical things than he thought I would which just made me more determined about the Yorkshire peaks.

I am trying to practice hills at a local place near me tho no high hills it is challenging to keep to a set pace so will help a bit.

So yea I know one peak will be tough but see how I get on cos I think if I can manage one well he will agree to more.

[sealiphone]

I've done all three and your rating of each is correct, as far as I can recall Whernside has no hazardous sections. It's like walking up a very slow incline on boggy ground, so not the most inspiring walk.

Even if the weather is fine you need waterproofs, as you can find rain clouds can close in when you're up there, also take food and drink and make sure you snack and drink fluid along the way and most importantly don't push yourself too hard.

Unless you find you're a born walker don't even consider doing the 'Three Peaks' in one day.

[keeley24]

Update as my last post here was about us planning a day to do one peak and sorting out which one and so on. Well with the date of that post being March I think you can guess what actually happened next. Not fun lockdown. So one peak delayed the group had to close so had 5 month break from training. I was told by another member of staff the man had said the peak would still go ahead but next year now.

Well my idea is still the same manage 1 best I can and show I can manage more. So as lockdown eased I started doing a few longer and hillier walks to back up that I could do more. When the group reopened only small groups can go all socially distanced but I took the chance to point out I’d been doing a lot of walking and kind of joked to the man the new agreement should now be 2 peaks. He just laughed I’d expected him to insisted it would still only be 1. So left it at that. The following week he asked if I’d been practicing hills so we had a good talk about it and I pointed out there was still time for 1 peak this year, but as a compromise I’d accept doing it next year if he’d agree to do more if I showed I could manage one and still be able to do more. He agreed. So finally after years of us disagreeing on how much we will do I have got my chance to show him and also test myself.

I’ve had 3 peaks in my head for so long now I need to see if I can manage them all. Honestly I’m not so sure. I’ve done 8 mile to local place with hills so like 2 mile hills and 6 mile flat and by time I got back I was ready for a rest. So 24 mile will be tough. But got months to practice and will get to do 1 peak then practice more so got chance of doing more. I would go for all 3 just to get it done see what it’s like but doing 1, 2 then 3 means I’ll know what to expect. At the minute I’m sure I’ll manage 1 so then do 2 which is where I’ll probably struggle a bit.