Day 12 - Danby Wiske to Ingleby Cross

Alfred Wainwright says in his book that this is one of the boring parts of the walk, and we must admit that there is not much to see.  Fields, hedgerows, fields, more fields, hedgerows, and more fields.  To be honest, we could be anywhere in the country.

However, the one driving force was us heading towards the Cleveland Hills which by all accounts, are absolutely spectacular.

 We couldn't find anywhere to sit for lunch, so we had lunch leaning on a field gate.

 We know that anyone who saw our walking poles congregated on the verge would know exactly what we were up to, but it was a chance we had to take.  When mother nature calls, you have to answer.

When we crossed the M6, there was a foot bridge over the motorway.

When we crossed the A1, there was a tunnell underneath it.

When we came to the next busy road, the A19, we had to leg it!!  

Running across 4 lanes of fast traffic is not an option, because after walking 140 odd miles, your legs don't know how to run anymore.

We crossed the first 2 lanes quite easily, but it took us over 5 minutes to get over the next 2!  We somehow managed to photograph the road when there were hardly any cars on it!!!!!

We have had on/off showers most of the day, but it ended with the most beautiful rainbow. 

Tomorrow we will be heading up into the Cleveland Hills.  So, watch this space.

Day 11 - Richmond to Danby Wiske

We left Richmond in beautiful sunshine this morning.

 The walks along the River Swale and through the woods was stunning.

Surfs up today on the River Swale!!

 Toby loves a good back rub and as we weren't game, he decided to organise his own.

 The weather was far better crossing the A1 than when we crossed the M6, although this time we crossed under rather than over.

 Catterick Race Course?

 Where's lunch?

Only 63 miles to go!!

Day 10 - Reeth to Richmond

Last night we finished 4.5 miles outside of Reeth, so we had to do that this morning.  However, we were in fine "fettle", and completed the paltry mileage in just over one and a half hours.  We then got back on the Coast to Coast trail and headed off for Richmond.

We stayed back at the Keld Lodge last night, and were waved off this morning by Nick, the most amazing landlord!

We are fascinated by the fact that the dales are divided up into small fields with brick walls, and most of the fields have a brick building / cottage in a corner.  They all appear to be derelict or abandoned, but we can't work out the story behind them.  We have seen almost hundreds of them over the last couple of days.

 The North Yorkshire Dales.  Quite stunning!!

 Stopped for a breath of air and looking back at how far we have walked today.

 Toby, as per usual, always get to the top of the hill before us and then sits there like Lord Muck with attitude!!!!  Occasionally we get barked at  - as if he's saying "are you going to be much longer"??

 After detouring around flooded fields, chased by over excited heffers, and following never ending paths, this was the highlight of the day when we finally reached Richmond.

ONLY 76 MORE MILES TO GO UNTIL WE SEE THE SEA!!!!!!!!!!

Day 9 - Keld to Reeth

We had to go back today, to do the last 8 miles to Keld that we didn't finish yesterday. We were up with the larks, ready to go, before 9.

 The long and winding road... that leads, to your moors..........................

 Ode to Cumbria!   Hello North Yorkshire!

 First dip  of the day

 This ice cold water is heavenly. Tastes good too!

 Miles and miles of nothing and no one!  Stunning.

 The floods have produced the most beautiful waterfalls

 Could this be a bridge too far?   No.  Only a few more miles to get back to Keld Lodge

 Another beautiful waterfall below the limestone cliffs.

 Aaah!!!  Keld Lodge.  Home from home for a couple of days.  8 miles in three and a half hours.  Time for lunch before we continue on towards Reeth.

The recent floods have caused landslips on the hills above us.

 Pheasants and rabbits everywhere.  We also managed to see a pure white pheasant who was unfortunately rather camera shy.

As well as lots of sheep, we have also encountered quite a large number of landrovers since we crossed over into North Yorkshire, which seem to be very popular with the local farmers.

........not that we're complaining.

Day 8 - Orton to Keld via Kirby Stephen

What a difference a day makes!  The day started with beautiful sunshine, and stayed wonderful all day.

Due to the fact that we were unable to walk yesterday, we had to start making up the distance.  We should have reached Kirby Stephen yesterday and moved on to Keld today, but had to see how far towards Keld we could get.  We had about 25 miles to cover at the start of the day to get us back on track, but as you can see, we were happy and feeling very positive.

 We had decided to do as much road work as possible today, as the ground is so saturated after the downpours over the last couple of days.  Where ever we went today, what were previously trickling brooks, became a raging torrents.  Mother Nature in full force can be very frightening!

 There were clouds in the distance threatening rain most of the day, but the sunshine followed us for most of it.

 We decided to cut along a dismantled train track and came across these lime kilns, commonly known as the Smardale Lime Kilns.

 Further along the track, we came to the Smardale Gill Viaduct which was built in the 1860's and the views were absolutely amazing.

 Looking back from where we had come from the Smardale Gill Viaduct.

We finally had to cut across various footpaths to take us towards the Keld road, and looking back at our course today, was amazing.  As we came out of Nateby and headed up the Keld road, some bloke hung over the scaffolding on the side of a house and shouted, "ere, weren't you at Patterdale on Sunday, walking?" Talk about a small world!

We made it to within 8 miles of Keld Lodge which is the hotel we are booked into for the next 2 nights.  

Sherpa Maj picked us up and drove us the last 8 miles, but will return us to our pick up point tomorrow morning after breakfast so that we can continue our walk.  Our aim tomorrow is to get to Reeth, but that means we are looking at about 19 miles.  As long as the muscles are recovered, we will endeavour to do it.

Day 7 - Washout!!!!!!

We awoke this morning to similar conditions (okay.... even worse!) as yesterday.  On checking the weather reports, we discovered that there had been loads of flooding and quite a few of the roads around us had been closed.  We reluctantly agreed that we would need to give today a miss and then up our mileage tomorrow so that we could get back on track.

We have had the maps out, working out an alternative route so that we do more road work tomorrow to keep off the flooded moors.

However, whilst we have the need to walk, we have considered our followers, and have put together our blog exclusively for your enjoyment.

As we can't walk today, we thought a massage to start the day would get rid of our aching muscles.

Trudging through the rain and mud became quite tiring yesterday. Good for the complexion though!

Memories of nicer days in Lakeland (friendly locals!!!)

This spa looks more promising than the last.  Who's for a massage now.  Marcia, where are you??????

Toby's given up. He's trying to raise the funds to go home!

At least we have had a chance to catch up with our washing.  The last thing you want to see is a news report about 2 naked women walking across the moors cause they have no clean clothes left.

Day 6 - Haweswater to Orton

We knew from the weather reports that we were expecting awful weather for today, and for once the weather report was correct.  We started the day with drizzle, but after half an hour, the rain came in and shortly after, the wind.  That was pretty much it for the rest of the day.  We had 50/60 mile an hour gusts of wind that tried to blow you off your feet, and made the rain sting like needles.  There was definitely no conversation going on today because we had to keep our heads down and just keep going.  How many people (idiots) do you know who would walk over the moors in torrential rain and high winds???

The smiles in this photo soon disappeared

Following this map check, we managed to go wrong!  We are completely shite at map reading!!!!! (only 100 yards though  - it wasn't exactly miles!!)

After crossing a field with 6 MASSIVE BULLS, we finally made it to Shap Abbey.  

And so we reached the M6, finally leaving the lake district and moving towards the Pennines

This is a view of the M6 towards Scotland.

And this is the view towards home..........

We couldn't get the camera out again. Unfortunately, after we crossed the M6, the weather got even worse as we headed up over the moors. What a bleak place.  We didn't see one single body - I wonder why!!  We  finally end up on the Appleby Road 1 mile the other side of Orton.   Tomorrow we will be heading for Kirby Stephen once again in the rain, but hopefully not as bad as it was today.