It was about time I put some mountain soil on my boots, so in April and May of 2025, I took two trips into the Yorkshire Dales with the aim of having a campervan break and completing one of the three peaks on each visit.

Pen Y Ghent via Plover Hill

On the first occasion, I stayed in Horton in Ribblehead with G n Dazza. On this occasion, I did Pen Y Ghent via Plover Hill. The nice aspect of this route is that it takes you off the standard three-peak route and up a relatively untrodden route. The approach is steep, and the path through the crag face towards Plover Hill is undefined. Once on the summit, it’s an easy “hand railing” route to Pen Y Ghent via the stone walls, with the odd peat bog to negotiate. Scoff on the top was a hiking rehydrated meal on a meths stove using the EBY255 Titanium Alcohol Stove DX Set (Ti DX Stand & Stove), the wind made the cooking fast, but I was constantly putting out little gorse fires as the wind whipped the flame of the stove..

The second part of this trip saw me n G doing a lazy walk around the Ribblehead Viaduct, where we had a great lunch at the Station Inn – https://www.thestationinnribblehead.com/

Ingelborough

The second trip in May saw me staying 10 minutes outside of Seattle, again with G n Dazza. I picked up the train to Horton In-Riiblesdale and did Ingelborough. The route starts at the station and is well defined and pretty easy tbh. Wind speeds on the summit were in excess of 35mph, so there was no hanging about on the summit. There were a lot of folk doing the SEWE UK charity event, and it was heart-warming to see 9-year-old children tackling a mountain as well as some people who were experiencing the mountains for the first time.

The cherry on the cake was bumping into an ex-work colleague who was doing a charity event with his daughter. Scoff was a meatball pasta boil in the bag, and I used the Primus Etna this time, and I must say, it’s impressive.

Here are some Van life pictures from the two trips as well;