On the Saturday of a party weekend, four new friends and I had arranged to go up a big hill near the town we stayed in: Stoodley Pike. At just over 400 metres elevation with a tower monument on top it was a good target and we set off from Hebden Bridge train station around midday.
The first stretch was up a hillside diagonally, then toward the first shelf for around 150m climb. I'd gone ahead and was wonderfully surprised by the view at this first peak, the monument sitting on the edge of a hill a couple of miles distant. I wandered back down to find my companions resting thirty seconds down the hill, unaware of the distance we still faced.
A good stretch of trackway lead us toward the next climb where we stopped for a brief break before an approaching column of sheep drove us onward. We let them pass on the corner and followed them up the hill watching the sheepdog work its instinctive magic, rounding-up stragglers and moving the group forward.
A two-stage stomp up the final ascent followed, laid gravel up the steeper section and well-walked mud and dust to the top. When we arrived at the monument marking the peak we only had half a minute to appreciate its splendour before I noticed a helicopter heading toward us at much the same altitude. As it flew directly toward us I put my hands in the air and waved. The huge machine throbbed directly at us, banked, encircled us and the monument almost within touching distance and flew off into the hazy sunshine. This whole event gave me such a rush I bounced around the peak with a massive grin on my face!
We climbed the monument tentatively and sat taking in the view for a fair while. Instead of following the route we'd found online we spotted a simple descent into a nearby village and went down to find a pub. We took directions from two very pretty girls on horses who directed us with the sexiest Yorkshire accents I've ever heard. It was a good mile or two's trek along very rural roads to a pub called the Top Brink which was nice enough, although I overdosed on Red Bull.
This walk was incredible. Lovely people, great route, awesome weather, nice quirks and a real feeling of achievement.
