This day
is an extremely dull one and there is very little to note about it. I
only took around a dozen photographs and filed less than three. You
start off by following the reservoir round and take the road up back out
the valley. The road is broad and clear and the only annoyance is the
passive aggression shown by the farmers here and there.
At one point you pass a strange series of cabins, very stoutly built
but in the middle of nowhere. The guide is equally unsure suggesting the
possibility that they were hunting cabins. Its another awkward passage
through a village and back up through an endless maze of farm fields.
I paused at the Hare and Hound Inn for lunch, soup and onion rings
before climbing up for the last 8 miles, slightly annoyed that I'd only
managed to cover six and a half. The food was great though and
rejuvenated me. I also talked briefly to an elderly gentleman on a
walking stick who's walked it fifty or so years ago. He still had pride
in his voice has he described it and reiterated what a wonderful
experience it was.
Thornton-in-Craven was a little confusing and
once again my pace went down to a mile an hour as I tried to find my
way around. After my previous disasters at navigation I doubled checked
everything, using the map to cross reference the guide book. On the way
up another road I stopped at a house with a hose outside and asked to
refill my water bladder. It wasn't that empty but since it was a warm
day it made sense to be cautious.
Not that long later, and a easy stroll up Leeds-Liverpool Canal through
East Morton, I arrived in Gargrave. I'd originally planned to stay in
East Morton but Gargrave was only a little further and the extra stretch
gave me the option the next day to walk all the way to
Horton-in-Riddlesdale instead of been stuck in Melham tomorrow night
only 8.5 miles on. The stretch between Melham and Horton-in-Riddlesdale
is 15 miles of hard and steep walking, if I added on the distance
between Gargrave and Melham it equaled a 21 mile day. I'd been
struggling with 15 and I was sick of it so I figured I'd get a hard day
under may belt and gain confidence that I could do this walk.
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| Leeds-Liverpool Canal |
Gragrave seemed a very pretty town but I'd walked
another eleven hour day and both my feet and my left heel were on fire. I
stopped in a co-opperative store and bought an obscene amount of food. I
decided on brae, cuotomali, and baguette for mains with peaches for
desert. I also bought snack food for the next day or two. The campsite
was flat and with washing facilities including a clothes ladle with I
liked. I showered and ate my meal outside the laundry rooms as my
electricals charged. I was a little worried about them been stolen on
such a busy caravan site.
I lovely couple on holiday were also
at the site in their enormous tent and they kept offering me things like
a chair or coffee. I thanked them but declined. A larger tent stood
behind me housing a loud family with kids but with my Ipod on I fell
easily asleep just before the rain came.
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