Day: 032
Date: Saturday, 02 July 2022
Start: Middleton in Teesdale
Finish: Hawes
Daily Kilometres: 51
GPX Track: Click here for Julie’s Strava & Photos
Total Kilometres: 932
Weather: Cold and rain showers in the morning. Windy and partly sunny in the afternoon.
Accommodation: Youth Hostel
Nutrition:
Breakfast: Cheese & tomato sandwiches, hard-boiled eggs and cold sausages
Lunch: Breakfast sandwiches
Dinner: Chicken kebabs and chips
Aches: Both have very tired feet.
Highlight: Despite feet crying out for relief, the last five kilometres down to the village Hawes, bathed in late afternoon sunshine in the valley below, was a fitting end to a long, but enjoyable day.
Lowlight: It wasn’t really a lowlight, because the Yorkshire Dales scenery was truly spectacular, but the mid-afternoon seven kilometres of Pennine Way from Keld to Thwaite was slow and technical on very tired legs and feet with still a long way to go.
Pictures: Click here
Map and Position: Click here for Google Map
Journal:
Dave had been unable to get accommodation at the hamlet of Keld as we had originally hoped for today (which would have made for a 32 kilometre day), but did manage to get a room at the hostel in Hawes, making it a 50+ kilometre day instead. We knew there would be hills, bogs and technical trail, so decided to start walking at 4:30am from Middleton in Teesdale, to give us some chance of reaching Hawes around dinner time.
It was raining and dreary as we walked out of the sleeping village and began our first climb of the day up onto the moors. We made steady progress, but the terrain did not favour fast walking (which Dave doesn’t seem to be able to do any more anyway). We just moseyed along, following farm tracks and back roads, literally up hill and down dale, passing through farmyards, climbing stiles and opening and closing innumerable gates. Up on the moors it was bleak, with a cold wind strengthening and, by the time we reached the Tan Hill Hotel, claimed to be the highest in England, it was very cold with few places to shelter. This meant our second break for the day, lunch, was postponed until nearly 2:00pm after 32 kilometres of walking.
While having lunch, we calculated our remaining kilometres and decided to skip the Pennine Way over Great Shunner Fell and instead follow the shorter, but still challenging, road from Thwaite to Hawes. When the Pennine Way to Thwaite proved to be much more technical and slow than expected (see above), the wisdom of our decision was confirmed.
After a last break in Thwaite, we climbed over Buttertubs Pass on the road, enjoying great views of the Yorkshire fells. With five kilometres to go, Julie walked on ahead at her faster pace and bought some take-out dinner in Hawes, which was nicely ready just as Dave arrived in the village and we then walked up to the hostel, checking in around 7:30pm after a very long and tiring, but satisfying day. Having said that, we will be trying to avoid any more 50 kilometre days.
We now have a much shorter day tomorrow and will sleep in a bit given the hostel breakfast isn’t until 8:00am.
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