I was planning on climbing Buckden Pike yesterday (Sunday 19th March) but the weather forecast didn't look too promising so I chose to do it the day before as the weather was set to be much better, sun and partly cloudy. I checked the forecast Saturday morning prior to setting off and (as is often the case) it had changed. It was now forecasting heavy rain, although that wasn't due to hit until 1pm so that would give us plenty of time to get up and back down.
Setting off from the car park in Buckden we set off up the long climb to the open fell. This was to be the first major walk for my 6yr old, and her first mountain. Standing at 702m (2303ft), Buckden Pike is the 7th highest mountain in the Yorkshire Dales National Park, and another one on my Dales 30 challenge. The weather was good, Autumn was looking forward to the challenge ahead, and having her sandwich at the summit.
As soon as we hit the open fell the weather changed, for the worse. The rain that was forecast to arrive 4 hours from now was early... Still, coats on, hoods up, and we plodded on. Autumn was doing really well with the ground conditions which, as usual for early spring, were not the best underfoot.
At probably a mile or so into the walk I looked round to see Autumn laying on her back as she'd slipped over in the mud. She was just laying there, laughing. I went back to help her up and we continued.
The further we went, the worse the weather was getting. Autumn wasn't sure she'd make it to the top but, like the true Tyke she is, gritted her teeth, put her head into the wind, and kept hammering.
We past several groups of walkers who were making their way down from the summit, all of them stopping to offer nothing but praise and admiration to Autumn for what she was doing. She seemed to find a new resurgence with all their wonderful comments and was now more determined to make it to the summit. Just prior to reaching the summit we looked back at the path we'd taken, she couldn't believe she'd made it so far.
We eventually arrived at the summit, I let Autumn go first (like the good dad I am, haha!) and reach the summit before me. She was (and rightly so) very proud of her achievement, as was I. Needless to say, we didn't eat our sandwiches at the summit.
Setting off from the car park in Buckden we set off up the long climb to the open fell. This was to be the first major walk for my 6yr old, and her first mountain. Standing at 702m (2303ft), Buckden Pike is the 7th highest mountain in the Yorkshire Dales National Park, and another one on my Dales 30 challenge. The weather was good, Autumn was looking forward to the challenge ahead, and having her sandwich at the summit.
As soon as we hit the open fell the weather changed, for the worse. The rain that was forecast to arrive 4 hours from now was early... Still, coats on, hoods up, and we plodded on. Autumn was doing really well with the ground conditions which, as usual for early spring, were not the best underfoot.
At probably a mile or so into the walk I looked round to see Autumn laying on her back as she'd slipped over in the mud. She was just laying there, laughing. I went back to help her up and we continued.
The further we went, the worse the weather was getting. Autumn wasn't sure she'd make it to the top but, like the true Tyke she is, gritted her teeth, put her head into the wind, and kept hammering.
We past several groups of walkers who were making their way down from the summit, all of them stopping to offer nothing but praise and admiration to Autumn for what she was doing. She seemed to find a new resurgence with all their wonderful comments and was now more determined to make it to the summit. Just prior to reaching the summit we looked back at the path we'd taken, she couldn't believe she'd made it so far.
We eventually arrived at the summit, I let Autumn go first (like the good dad I am, haha!) and reach the summit before me. She was (and rightly so) very proud of her achievement, as was I. Needless to say, we didn't eat our sandwiches at the summit.
Here's the video of the walk. You can see she's knackered at the end but she made it.
Awesome. Well done to Autumn, great effort. My 8 year old daughter is badgering me to take her up Snowdon. I think I'll start her on some of the more gentle hills down here in the south. I guess the trick is to push them so they feel they have achieved something but not so much that you put them off coming out again.
Yeah, I think you're right. The week after we did Buckden Pike we climbed Whernside which was tough but Autumn loved it, her 11yr old sister not so... She really struggled the last couple of miles as it was her first time out with us but she, with a bit of pushing, a lot of encouragement and praise, made it. I think we did around 10 miles that day...
Here's a video of the Whernside climb.
