Yorkshire Peak 2 Whernside.

So after our 1st peak (Pen-y-Ghent) back in May we got the message through that the "team" were planning to take on the next peak on the list which is Whernside and the only one of the Yorkshire 3 Peaks I hadn't climbed.

Our plan for Pen-y-Ghent had worked well and this one was supposed to be easier to climb so we decided to adopt the same approach. Arrive early and get a head start as we have the youngest child and the rest would catch us up on the climb.

Oh dear oh dear how naïve we were to think that this one would go like the last. Little legs was not a happy camper for the ENTIRE walk and proceeded to moan for pretty much every 100 metres or so while son no 1 decided that walking with his cousin would be sooooo much more fun and raced off ahead and refused the walkie talkie. Did I mention he had been explicitly told not to race off ahead? needless to say there was no cell phone signal for a while to get a message to him to stop where he was and WAIT!

One of the few pictures of the day where he didn't look offended Force Gill Waterfall in background

The slog up the path which runs along the railway line and then up the spine of Whernside isn't massively challenging but it is long and with not many geocaches along the route to make it more interesting for junior it made for hard going!

Jake and cousin miles ahead of us

The main group caught up with us as we were approaching the summit and we all made our way to the trig point to hunker down for lunch. Son no one had a sulk on at this point as I was pretty furious with him for walking ahead of us with no means of communication and his cousins and aunt had to make their way off the hill ahead of us as they had plans for later in the day.

Grumpy Children at Whernside Summit

Finally we started making our way off the summit for the descent and the path down is a killer! steep and rocky, and with some people ascending this way too it was busy. We were fortunate that it was not wet as I can imagine when raining this route is treacherous. Needless to say we had to help Bear with several of the "steps" as they were just too big for his little legs.

Much steeper descent

The way down was arduous with many rest stops for Mr Grumpy face Bear who sat down a lot and cried! Needless to say mummy needed a glass of wine when she got home.

He's smiling here but if you look carefully you can see its through tears!

 From being some of the first on the hill in the morning, we were also one of the last off it our descent had taken so long and there were few cars left at the parking spot when we got back to the car. One of the few positives was that the sun came out.

Glorious Whernside

Don't the Dales look glorious in the sunshine? Both boys finally started to cheer up when we got to Ribblehead Viaduct and they could see the car. They also started being nice to each other which gave them the motivation to get back to the car and a treat of chocolate! So all in all not as successful an escapade as our Pen-y-Ghent adventure but they did it. 2016 has to be the year for them both to conquer the final hill - Ingleborough, however that will have to wait for Jakes leg to heal. But that's another story! Till next time

The boys and Ribblehead Viaduct

Malham Cove In the Sunshine

Sorry the blog has been quiet for a while, we have been visiting Grandma and Grandad in South Africa and the internet is not quite what it is in the UK. Also I have a new PC with windows 10 and cannot for the life of get photos to upload with their internet browser so have had to switch again!

I will do some posts about some of the stuff we got up to while we were there over the next week or so but for now I wanted to write about the visit we took to Malham Cove as a last hurrah for the boys before they go back to school and because it was actually a change to go somewhere in the sunshine.

I have to say we are so lucky to live near such a beautiful area. I have many fond memories of the Yorkshire Dales and living in Leeds means we are less than an hour away from the traditional "Gateway to the Dales" Skipton.

So Sunday morning the sun shone and as we had a leisurely - if chaotic breakfast, we all packed our rucksacks with drinks and snacks and in Bears case an optimistic Frisbee. The GPS was loaded with maps of the area and geocaches and off we went.

An hour later we were pulling into the overspill parking field which was a more than reasonable £4 for the day and off we set towards the Cove.

No trip was complete for us without a moan by at least one of the boys and on this occasion it was the youngest who wanted to stop every 10 steps for a drink, a rest or a snack. Nearing the final gate for the cove Bear through his rucksack on the floor in disgust and sat down while Dad and Jake wandered further on pretending they didn't know him. As I hung around trying to cajole him the last 100 or so yards, a family with two young ones of their own took pity on me and their lovely daughter handed him a packet of sweets which made him recover immediately. In an uncommon fit of good manners Bear politely said thank you very much ( I do try to instill my children with good manners but my youngest seems to have a will of his own which can make him unpredictably contrary).

Little Monster loves the troll Bridge

Glorious Day at Malham Cove

After the impromptu sweet stop we continued the walk to the head of the cove and sat down for our snack. At this point my husband began to regret his lack or preparation and tried to cadge a drink and snack from the boys who were reluctant to share with him on the principle that he was disorganised.

The walking boots purchased at the beginning of the year from Mountain Warehouse are still going strong and having just had both sets of feet measured for school shoes I'm pretty sure they will both get use out of their current boots till the end of the year.

Rest stop

With the pit stop finished and they boys recharged it was time to tackle the steps up the side of the cove and head up to the top towards the first geocache of the day. The boys thought it was great fun jumping off the rock formations and enjoyed the informal lesson on geological rock formations and ice ages.

Son no 2 

Son no 1

After some jumping about, throwing a frisbee that Bear had brought with him, among other things and hunting down the geocache without been spotted we plotted the route back round to the car and opted for the much quieter walk through Dry Valley up towards the tarn and then back down towards the cove and approaching the village via the road.

The gorgeous Dry Valley

This curious herd of cows/bulls approached us 

So after a perfect day in the sunshine and a few miles on the pedometer, we made it back to the village for a well deserved ice cream and an hours drive back home. The kids had a perfect day and managed to burn off some energy before they head back to school on Tuesday.

Thanks for reading.

The joy of walking boots and what is on your doorstep?

Keeping your little ones entertained is hard work.

If mine could, they would spend hours playing minecraft, watching videos of minecraft on youtube or watching Phineas & Ferb on TV. As the worst mum in the universe - a title I have earned because I limit the usage and access to electronic devices. I have to find other ways to keep my little darlings busy, that doesn't involve the house resembling a war zone or bomb site. See examples below.

The books didn't want to be on the shelf

Apparently the Dinosaurs had an adventure

So off we go for another outdoor adventure. The weather wasn't fabulous so we stayed close to home, but it gets us out of the house and doing something a little more physical. This is where planning also comes in. I've found through experience that when walking with kids its worth the money to invest in a pair of walking boots for them.

When its muddy or wet you can guarantee their feet are going to get wet if they are wearing shoes or trainers. Puddles in case you didn't know, have a magnetic attraction for little feet and wellies while fine for splashing around in puddles and mud, I have found that they aren't very comfortable for little feet when walking over any distance they tend to slop on the feet and rub leading to very unhappy kids. (I learnt this the hard way with my eldest) As soon as i invested in a pair of walking boots the level of moan dropped considerably and  he could walk a lot further than I expected.

Walking boots for kids don't have to be expensive. Lets be honest you don't want to be paying a fortune for a pair of boots that won't fit them for long. I've also found that you can get away with up to a size bigger with a decent pair of thick socks. Mountain Warehouse do a great range for small feet with the added bonus that for really small feet they fasten with velcro so you don't have to worry about constantly unfastened boot laces. The youngest's boots cost me £14.99 and the eldest's were £19.99  for this pair if memory serves.

See? Another reason why our geocaching name is Muddy Monsters.

So what did we get up to to get the boots muddy? We didn't have to go far. We jumped into the car (now also muddy) and  headed into the nearby town of Guiseley. We hunted for clues in and around the town centre and came across an area we didn't even know was here, Guiseley Wells. Apparently the spring is the reason people settles in the area and it is mentioned as being a settlement area since Saxon times and is mentioned in the Doomsday book.

Typically of the 100's of pictures I got not one
has both boys with eyes open. 

We then headed out into the countryside to find tranquil fields right on our doorstep. A deserted pond and friendly muggle horses which followed us across the field. On this occasion it didn't result in the youngest having a melt down. He was clearly in a better frame of mind today. There are tons of footpaths right on our doorstep, which provide endless opportunities for fun with the kids. Many of the urban ones run near train lines (safely fenced off) and what young kid doesn't like to see a train race past? as well as seeing wildlife and finding treasure. We enjoyed our day our treasure hunting despite the lack of sunshine but in the words of my wise friend "There is no such thing as bad weather only bad clothing"

The walking boots were purchased by myself and I have received no incentive for my comment's or review of them.

Till next time x