Climbing Ingleborough

Andy, Bruce and Lis ascending Ingleborough

Ingleborough is one of the three Yorkshire peaks. Its name refers to the hill fort that existed atop this peak since the iron age. Now there is just a visible outline of the fort walls around the huge summit plateau and the circular remains of stone huts. Here's a neat photo and article about the wall and hut circles.

Unfortunately we weren't able to see much when we climbed up, since a dense cap of fog sat on the top of the mountain and oozed down the sides, obliterating any view. What a shame, too, since from the top of this mountain there is supposed to be one of the best views of all the surrounding Yorkshire dales! It gives me a good reason to go back and climb it again.

Misty view of valley below


Nearby peak Pen-y-ghent with a cloud cap

Andy, his sister Lis and her friend Bruce and I set out for Clapham on Boxing Day. From the village there we set out up the trail that took us across moors and up through a rocky gorge to the limestone layer that is famous for its caves and sinkholes. Just around Ingleborough there must be twenty sinkholes--places where the flowing water finds a crack in the stone to enlarge over centuries and plummet downward ever deeper.

Gaping Gill is one of the best known of these, over 300 feet deep. Where the shaft leads is to a cavern of a size that would apparently hold the York Minster inside it. From the top, all you see is a little stream cascading over a rocky ledge into pitch blackness.
Rest and refreshment at Fell Beck

The weather we had in the valley was cool and clear, but as we made our way higher on the mountain the wind began whipping us sideways and the cold mist started to descend.


Once we reached the top, there was no longer anything to see but white fog in all directions and ghostly slate circles on the ground. These were the hut circles from thousands of years ago.


We tramped across them to the stone shelter that marks the proper summit (even though the whole top is pretty much flat) and ate a hurried picnic. Bruce's thermometer said 2°C but it must have been -10°C with wind chill.

What I loved about this hike was how many people we saw along the way. All these sturdy British types wrapped up in their windbreakers and wool hats, out to climb a mountain on Boxing Day in the fog and wind. It was fantastic!

Andy got really excited that we saw a snow bunting up on top, and I wished we had been able to see more of the Iron Age walls and huts. But we were freezing and ready to head down, so we had a very pleasant walk back to Clapham, tea in a lovely little cafe there, and then home.