Blogs from Yorkshire Dales, North Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom, Europe - page 4

Off to the dales to attempt the 3 peaks. Traditionally the 3 peaks are tackled in one day within 12 hours and in fact there is also a yearly race where some athletic dudes cover this 26 mile route over hills/cross country in about 4 hours. We decided to do it in two days, take it easy and enjoy the scenery. Camped at the starting point and as we would not complete the whole route in one day, we pre-positioned cars at the half way point to take us back to the camp site. The first hill, Pen-y-ghent - actually welsh, for something like the winding hill, was quite steep on one side which we climbed and it was so steep it was making me a bit giddy, but manageable. We had super weather the first ... read more

Leanne joined me on a 10 mile round walk starting at Square corner car park. As you can see from the photos snow was falling and the moors were covered in mist when we set off. We scrambled straight up the side of Black Hambleton not knowing about a path further down the trail. Thick heather covered in snow made life difficult and we stumbled upon the trig in thick mist. After a quick refreshment provided my new toy Jetboil we set off back on the route. The weather today was varied and included, thick mist, snow, rain, sun, wind and hail. Highlights of the walk include the snowy start, Black Hambleton Hill (400m), finding a remote church, views form Thimbleby Bank of Teeside and post walk refreshments at Chequers. Well done to Leanne, she did ... read more

Geo: 53.9577, -1.08229At breakfast I met Giuseppe, the other guy staying at the B&B. He's a Ph. D student originally from Milan, but is now living in Southern Italy. He doesn't like Milan, either - I don't think anybody does! He's back in Durham for graduation. I started with some canned grapefruit, mandarins, and mango, all topped by a single maraschino cherry - a pretty filling start! Next was eggs Benedict - the hollandaise sauce was a little tart, but OK. The yolk wasn't runny enough. I finished off with some multi-grain toast, served in the quirky little English toast racks. Some OJ, tea, and then I was off to take some pictures of Durham. It was a VERY filling breakfast. I walked along the river until the library opened up - free internet, baby! The ... read more

Going back to planning the South China Seas Trip, I decided to sell my 23-year old Honda VF750 Motorbike to fund some of my spending money for the trip, but first I had to get it through its MOT test. So off I went up to the local bike shop for the test and that’s when it happened. The bike sailed through its test because basically it hadn’t done any mileage since its last test because it wasn’t reliable to take anywhere. Steve, the guy carrying out the test told me about a 11-year old Honda VFR that he had in the showroom and having rode one of these about 12-years earlier, I decided to buy it and so open up another opportunity for travel although initially I only intended to ride it occasionally but it ... read more

Geo: 53.9043, -1.04183Qvernight Stop in York... read more