by The Bearded Warrior
To mark Wild Night Out, my 11 year old and I decided to have a wild camp on the summit (702m – 2303ft) of Buckden Pike. We’d be joined at some point in the evening by my brother who was working but until he arrived, it would just be Jasmine and me.
Everything was packed into our rucksacks that we wanted to take and it was in the back of the truck. We told ‘the boss’ where we were going and when we expected to return, then headed off. We stopped off on route just above the village of Cray, in Wharfedale to have a quick look at the waterfalls that make this area a great spot to visit.
After taking in the splendour and beauty of the scenery, we continued on our journey to the village of Buckden. Here we’d park up in the National Park’s car park and head to the summit for our wild camp.
We parked up, got our packs on, and after a last minute check, set off up through Rakes Wood onto Buckden Rake. This was a nice steep ascent to start the hike, always good to get these out the way early on.
We came to the top of the climb and onto the open fell. The path was really well defined, as well as well signed.
The weather had changed as we made our way towards Cow Close, it wasn’t raining but the wind was blowing a fair bit and the cloud had started to descend, bringing a noticeable drop in temperature. We both donned our jackets and continued on our journey. As we climbed, we met a couple coming down from the summit, “are you doing the night?” we were asked, “Aye, we are” I said. “It’s really wild up top, you’ll probably want to pitch the other side of the wall.” “Yes” I said, “that’s probably a good idea, thank you!” “Enjoy your night, hope the weather breaks for you.” After we’d said our goodbye’s we continued on, the views magnificent, although you could see the change in weather.
Everything sorted, it was time to get out the wind and get some food.
The view from the tent wasn’t great but wild camping isn’t just about views, it’s about been out in the wild and getting away from the daily grind. We were out there, we were also supporting a good cause, and we were doing things Jasmine would remember as she grew up.
Jasmine opted for tomato soup for her tea, well why wouldn’t she, Heinz market it as a soup for just such weather as we were facing.
One good thing about the wind was it was now finally blowing the low cloud away and we were treated to an amazing display of the setting sun, patchy cloud, and great views.
I awoke around 5am, the rising sun hitting the tent bathing it in a golden morning light. The view was also a little different than it was when we had arrived the evening before. We had breakfast, broke camp, and made our way down to Buckden.
Excerpt taken from the Bearded Warrior Blog https://beardedwarriorblog.wordpress.com/2017/07/08/a-wild-night-out/
WILD NIGHT OUT: GET INVOLVED
There are so many ways you can go wild at night. Anyone and everyone can take this opportunity to make some amazing memories to treasure forever. To get your imagination going, we’ve gathered together some ideas, stories, and how-to guides to help you design the very best Wild Night Out for you.
Everyone needs a Wild Night Out!
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