Christmas holiday saunter and the last walk of 2014

[martin.h]

Christmas! we all enjoy the day but regret the amount we eat and drink, if you're like me, all you have to do is look at a Christmas dinner and you'll put weight on, how do we counter this?, we go for a stroll up our local hills and, with a bit of luck, burn a few calories, get rid of a bit of the Christmas excesses ready for the forthcoming New Year excesses and hopefully not feel too bad about the holiday once life gets back into the good old work routine.
Our post Christmas day jaunt is Whernside and Ingleborough from Ribblehead, a nice walk taking in two of the Yorkshire Three Peaks, following part of the beaten track but then getting off it for our return to Ribblehead.
We had a bit of snow on Boxing Day night back in West Yorkshire so we were hoping for a bit on the tops in the Dales, we got that, nothing dramatic, but it added to the atmosphere on probably one of the best winter days we've had on the Yorkshire hills in the last couple of years.
We arrived at Ribblehead in glorious sunshine, a bit cool but the sky was clear of any cloud and the tops had snow on them, this would be our final day in the hills for 2014 so not a bad day to finish off with ( and, while I'm typing this, I've got a Speyside single malt with a tad of spring water in it for a bit of inspiration, thats not bad either).
I am always thankful we have these hills close at hand, it may not be the Highlands but they are a good excuse to get out and enjoy what our Islands have to offer.
I hope the photo's capture the day.
Denise and I would like to wish all Walkhighlands contributers and readers a Happy New Year and I hope you all stay safe while out in the mountains in 2015.
Have fun.
M.

Whernside from the Three peaks path.

I'm not sure if this tarn on the east side of Whernside has a name, does anybody know?, the O.S map suggests it dosen't but I've often thought about having lunch on it's banks during the summer watching all the folks on their way to the summit.

This is the path to the summit, its been improved over the last year or so to help keep erosion down, last year it was a muddy track, now its well built and capable of taking many boots.

Nameless tarn from higher up

Looking back down the path, there's a slight inversion in the distance.

On the way to the summit, sunshine all the way.

Shadows and views.

Blue skies and chrystal clear.

Looking towards Ingleborough from the summit of Whernside

Looking towards the Howgills, not much to see in the distance, clouds beginning to form in the cold air.

Whernside from the slopes of Ingleborough, suprising lack of snow on its S.E side

Ingleborough.

View from the slopes of Ingleborough towards Hawes.

Denise on the pull up From Humphrey Bottom, a little steep bit that is good fun when there's a lot more snow.

Near the top, it was a bit slippy in parts but its more or less a staircase and has been engineered to cope with the Three peakers.

He's got a good view but I bet its a bit nippy.

View into Humphrey Bottom from the top of the steep bit, from here its an easy pull onto the summit of Ingleborough, we didn't bother as time was getting on.

View towards Ingleton and a bit of Ingleborough from Souther Scales Fell.

Park Fell, right at the end of the broad ridge from Ingleborough just before we started the descent back to Ribblehead.

Pen-y-Ghent from Park Fell.

Towards Hawes and the Northern Dales.

Sun filtered by cloud over Park Fell

Ribblehead Viaduct bathed in sunlight.

The days mood changing, clouds coming in.

Red hillsides.
We hope to meet some WH members on the mountains next year, it would be nice to put usernames to faces.

[irishwasa]

That looks like a grand day out - and you got the best of the weather during the day - some great views

[Beaner001]

Looks a great day out,
All the best for 2015 Martin & Denise