A couple of tourists climbed a mountain for 12 hours for a date

The idea sounds somewhat “reckless”, especially when two young people have only dated twice. But it was that trip two years ago that brought them closer together, recalls Eibhlis Gale-Coleman, who lives in the US.

Eibhlis used to find dating “exciting” with the thrill of waiting for texts, conversations and countless restaurant reservations. But by 2024, she began to find that sitting across from each other on chairs in the restaurant started to become awkward, even boring.

She also begins to crave adventures, discover new things, and get to know the other person better, not just through dates. So when Greg, her current boyfriend, invited her out to dinner for the third time, she offered to “trade” for a 12-hour hike.

When her boyfriend suggested conquering three famous peaks in the Yorkshire Dales national park: Whernside, Ingleborough and Pen-y-ghent, Eibhlis agreed even though it was not a light walk.

“There’s no better way to understand a person than when they’re exhausted. If the conversation still flows well on such an exhausting day, it must be meaningful,” Eibhlis said.

A week after their appointment, they woke up at 4:30 a.m. and drove in a sleepy state to the climbing starting point in the village of Chapel le Dale. Even though her best friend already knew her schedule and tracked her location, the feeling of spending the whole day with a new date still made Eibhlis a little nervous.

When they started walking, the sky was still dark, the space was quiet, occasionally the sound of sheep could be heard in the wilderness. They walked the wrong way for about 10 minutes and then burst out laughing, then found the right path. The weather on the day of climbing the mountain was not good with mud and thick fog covering the starry sky. But the two gradually caught up, talking while walking and lighting the way with their phone lights.

Two hours later, they reached the first peak and continued toward the second peak. Eibhlis realized that if they went out to dinner together as usual, they would probably have almost finished eating by now and have broken up to leave or continued trying to talk to each other over the noise of the bar. Either way, they were running out of energy.

But in the midst of mountains and forests, the distance between two people becomes more naturally intimate. After 4 hours, they felt “specially” close.

Greg received some sad news on the way, and they talked about it while climbing the mountain. “I drank too much water on an empty stomach and felt nauseous on the first mountain peak. He clumsily patted my back,” Eibhlis recalled. During the trip, they talked about so many things that they “couldn’t remember everything”.

At 1:30 p.m., they conquered the third mountain peak and burst into joy at the end of the challenge, even though they had to trudge back with blistered feet and soaked shoes.

This third date helps them erase the invisible boundary between the two of them, making the relationship stronger.

Currently, they are still together, continuing their journey to conquer their favorite mountain peaks, including Kilimanjaro – a place known as the Roof of Africa. However, the mountain climbing session on their third date two years ago still left the most special impression.

“I feel grateful for daring to try something unusual,” Eibhlis said.