P.W. Day9- Middleton-in-Teesdale to Dufton 21miles

  I woke ready to start, packing up my tent before my fellow campers had woken and marching out  for the day the books states is one of the "best days between Edale and Kirk Yetholm" (Trailblazer series- Pennine Way). The sun was getting warmer by the second and my right ankle was as good as new, while the left heel was under blister plasters wrapped in medical tape under a supportive pandage sock thing- it would not be causing me problems today.

River Tees

  The Pennine Way is straight outside the campsite and your achy legs will be warmed up by an extremely tame and pleasant wonder up stream to low force. The path flits up and down the fields before resting on the banks of the River Tees.  This is clearly a path passed by dog walkers, and local residents- your walking through meadows squashed between the river and a minor roads, crossing farm land and stone walls. That said its extremely pretty and restfully flat.
  Along this stretch there are wonderful rocks to the west, making the tame and mindless path very charming, if heavily dotted with stiles. I felt a bit lade under by the rucksack compared to the light and brisk day walkers passing me.

Holwick Scar near the River Tees

   The path along the river carries on for another couple of miles to low force, the current growing in ferocity. Low force is pretty dramatic enough, the torrents wiping round rocks and crashing down towards Middleton-in-Teensdale.

Low Force

High Force

  It was along here that I stumbled over a ram with its head caught in a wire fence. As I went past it began to panic and try to pull its head back. Its horns were preventing it and the wool already trapped in the wire showed just how much it must have been hurting itself. I considered it for a while but any attempt to get close made it struggle even more and I was frightened of it catching my fingers between the head and the wires. After another hundred meters of so I saw a farm yard ten minutes walk up the hill. Knowing a guilty conscious would ruin my day I trudged up and looked for someone I could tell. The path wound round the farmhouse, and while climbing the style I spotted someone working on construction. He followed me down and I left him to it.
 The river winds further up to High Force, where I paused to glance at the waterfall through different viewpoints in the shrubbery. Its a pretty dramatic waterfall, only thrown into perspective when you see the tiny figures of people below you.

Smooth path along the river Tees towards the Falcon Clints

 
   A quick saunter across some fields, past a few other day walkers, before turning right and following the Langdon Beck down to another bridge crossing. Your have to fight your instincts along here not to carry on following the road up the valley and not along the river but there is a sign a few meters off the path to confirm your on the right course.
  Here is where you meet the hairiest cattle you're likely to find. The day stays true to form and you keep following the river Tees through the landscape. Its only a page in the guidebook but this next sections hard work and dangerous walking. You're scrambling over rocks right near the riverbank with a heavy backpack throwing off your weight. My previously quick pace is quartered.

  At long last you reach the end of the scrambling for a climb up yet another waterfall. This is equally scary but with the comfort that there would at least be tourist to watch be fall to my watery grave. The path, believe it or not, it on the photo on the right hand side of the waterfall.
  Here I stopped and ate my orange finishing rather early in the day the entirety of my snacks. The water was loud enough to block out my audiobook, the force quite scary in ferocity. A little further up lies the damn but the Pennine Way turns away before getting there, crossing over the stream and curving back south. This section is a slow slog up hill, but consists of a clear track with stunning views on either side.
  As with the end of most walks, you expect to reach it a long time before you actually do and half way through this section I was a little impatient. The track fades into moor land with slightly tricky navigation here and there.
  High Cup Gill is the final breath taking view of the day and the perfect climax. Its was formed by a mighty glacier and sitting in the central point of the rim you feel enveloped by it. The view spans far into the distance and as I enjoyed the view I saw the mists been blown towards me, up the abyss and around. Very soon I could see only a few meters in front. After having posed as dramatically but subtly as I could I hurried on eager not to be trapped in the weather before finding the correct path down to Dufton. Since I was in such a hurry I failed to notice that I headed down the wrong side of the gorge.

Upper Cup

Mist sweeping into the Upper Cup

  The path down disolves into nothing pretty quickly, possibly because it was the wrong way, and it was quite a hard slog down when visibility is at a minimum. The farm at the bottom was a misleadingly good sign since both paths come out near a farm but soon after I knew I must have made a mistake at some point. I found I was at least two kilometers south of where I should have come out. The road I was on would lead me straight to Dufton so gurding my loins I carried on angrily calculating how much longer this diversion had taken. The road been dull and hard felt like the last straw in a long days hike but day light remained so I didn't feel any urgency to rush.
  I decided that I'd go to the first campsite I saw. This was a slight mistake since I ended up in someone back garden with a field of baby sheep crying for their mothers near by. I was however alone and there was both a good shower and toilet near by with a flat surface to pitch my tent for no more than a fiver.
  As soon as I'd laid the bed and washed I walked down to the Stag Inn for dinner. I ordered nothing more adventurous than a burger and chips but it was a huge quantity and very well cooked. Definitely a good place to visit if your wondering through, and on the was back to the campsite I spotted a sign offering a cheap breakfast in the post office which would set me up tomorrow with walking snacks as well as a good start to the day.
  Only half an hour after I reached the campsite the rain came and in torrents blocking out the lambs bleating and sending me straight to sleep.