Day 19 - A Gentle Stroll

Wark to Bellingham

Today's miles: 5.2 (only 5.2!)
Today's Ascent: 734
Today's Descent: 958
Total miles so far: 233.1
Star team member: Dad, for organising such a short day! 

News Update on Paddy: I know a lot of you will be breathing a sigh of relief when I tell you that Paddy is on the mend. Personally, I think it was the BioOil I so lovingly rubbed on his poorly paw, but i think the rain and lots of dips in the river did him good. 

Well, what can I say? Today was short and simple, and very very enjoyable (because of the two factors mentioned, probably!). Most Pennine Wayfarers generally tend to walk from Twice Brewed to Bellingham, a total of 13 miles, but as the last 3 days after that are really hard (16,16,18), Sherpa Dad made the decision to split Twice Brewed to Bellingham, meaning today was only 5.2 miles; great decision Dad!

We set off from where we left off yesterday, and climbed the stile into the rolling fields. We walked through the fields, past lots and lots of sheep, and Paddy found a rather large stick, that he had to leave behind when it wouldn't fit through the gate.

Ambitious Paddy

We walked through the fields (this is going to be an occurrence for today- because that is basically all we did! Oh well, I will try to glorify it a bit for you!) Here is a nice picture for you to look at while I try to think of a way to glorify fields...

Still going strong

I just would like to say a bit thank you to Sherpa Dad, who has taken all the photographs of our journey, they are pretty good, i have to say. Of course the best picture was the one that I took, of the Wild Beasts of the Pennines, back on day 06; http://caitlinspw.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/day-06-moo-ving-on.html clearly the best.

Anyway, we walked down to a footbridge and I nearly fell down the bank into the river while throwing stones for Paddy (not funny Dad), and continued on to climb Shitlington Crags (I am going to be totally mature about this because it is NOT funny.  Hilarious!). From here we stopped and had a break, with a mere 2 miles to go. Usually 5 miles on a normal 12 miles day seems to go on forever, but not today! I wonder why....

Looking back from Shitlington Crags *snigger*

We walked through a few more fields, with Bellingham in sight.

Bellingham

It was a simple matter of walking down the hill, through some heather, past some cows until we hit the main road that took us into Bellingham.

Walking down to Bellingham

The road wasn't particularly pleasant walking, but it got us there quickly. We crossed a bridge over the North Tyne (Alston was the South Tyne), and walked down to our hotel in Bellingham.

The North Tyne

We didn't really know what to do with ourselves, having never got to our destination so early (3 hours!), it was 2 o'clock. The hotel had a swimming pool, but when you are walking the Pennine Way, you do not have room in your pack for luxuries like swimming costumes. Apparently not! Sherpa Dad had bought his without telling Mam and I! Luckily, (for Sherpa Dad's sake!) the hotel had some spares, so we had a swim, then went into Bellingham to stock up on chocolate.

Tomorrow, a much harder day, 16 miles, so a more detailed post is definite.
See you tomorrow,

Caitlin x

Day 18 -The Walk to Wark

Once Brewed to Wark

Today's miles: 9.9

Today's Ascent: 1870
Today's Descent: 2178
Total miles so far: 227.9
Star team member: Organiser Mam for keeping going despite the sore heels and doing all our washing. 

A short walk today (only 10 miles!) We started off after our breakfast walking along the Roman Wall, the weather was rather miserable as we climbed the hills overlooking Crag Lough (we must be near Scotland). We past the sycamore tree used in the Robin Hood film (no merry men) before leaving the wall behind.

The Sycamore Tree

 After crossing some fields we entered Wark forest, a flat path compared to the ups and downs of the wall. The forest was a wide track and easy going, no midges so far.

Entering the Forest

We passed through a big field of cows and had our lunch. Finally pushing on to the road just outside Wark.

A different view today

The shortest day tomorrow, only 5 miles to Bellingham, yipee! Sorry to be brief blog, a dodgy wifi connection tonight.

Day 17 - Hit the Wall!

Greenhead to Once Brewed

Today's Miles -  7 miles
Today's Ascent -  1863  ft
Today's Descent -    1391 ft
Total Miles so Far -  218 miles
Star Team Member: Caitlin, for her inventive recreation of classics!

Today we had a lovely walk! It was more like a stroll, really, but still we thoroughly enjoyed it, despite the rain. A nice surprise was, my sister Hayleigh and her best friend Neil joined us to walk a stretch of the walk- a really nice day. I think, in the nicest way possible, that we all get a bit tired of the same ABBA songs and small talk, so it is nice to have some different company!

We were taken to the point we finished yesterday, by the lovely man from the B and B we were staying at. We walked along a path by the river and over a bridge to Thirlwall Castle, where we walked on to a visitor centre and the rain started to pour down on us.

Thirlwall Castle

We walked up a little hill,waterproofs on, to hit Hadrien's Wall. It was really stunning to think of all those Roman soldiers marching up and down the 15ft high barricade, dreaming of warm weather and olive oil! But here it was in front of us today, a bit worn down, but still the same wall. 

The Wall!

I exhausted 'but after all..... We're on Hadriens Wall' yesterday, so came up with the ingenious 'All in all, it's just another brick in Hadrien's Wall', that well known Pink Floyd tune. 

The Wall and Me

We followed the wall in the pouring rain, up hills, then down them again. We stopped for a break, and rang Hayleigh and Neil, to find they were still in the car park at Twice Brewed, our destination for the day, sheltering from the pouring rain. We got to the top of a particularly large hill, to look back upon the view.

The view

We walked down the hill, to reach a road that we crossed over to a lovely warm cafe that had a shop selling sandwiches toilet block, that gave us a bit of shelter from the rain, that by now was on and off. Feeling a bit let down by this toilet block, we walked up a hill to see Hayleigh and Neil walking towards us, carrying gravy bones for Paddy and sherbet lemons for us. From here we had 3 miles to go, and we had great company, so the miles seemed to disappear quickly, along with the rain! Still some light showers every now and then, but nowhere near as severe as before. Up and down a few more hills, still following the wall. The trees in the next picture are where we were heading, where Hayleigh and Neil had parked their car, and Twice Brewed (we have stayed in some places with unusual names on our journey!) We got to the car park and Neil drove us to the pub, for a well earned drink, then back to our B and B.

Looking forward to tomorrow

Well folks, only 5 days to go! Dad said today "I wish we were still at Hebden Bridge (Day 03: http://caitlinspw.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/day-03-flat-out-no-hills-today.html) and the adventure was still to come!" Honestly, is he mad? Yes, I will miss the adventure, but certainly not the prospect of having 19 days of non stop walking ahead of me!

See you tomorrow, on our 18th day- can you believe it?! (I can't, but my feet definitely can!)
Caitlin x 

Day 16 - What a bog!

Slaggyford to Greenhead

Today's Miles - 10.7 miles
Today's Ascent -   1748 ft
Today's Descent -   2024 ft
Total Miles so Far - 211.0 miles
Star Team Member: Paddy for his remarkable recovery!

We left the Kirkstyle Inn at about 11 o'clock, moving past the church, back the way we came yesterday. It was raining very strongly, and we were togged up, so we wouldn't get wet! 

St Judes Knaresdale

We were sopping wet, and after walking only 1 mile, spirits were low in the wet rain, but we plodded along the Roman Maiden Way. It really was coming down fast and we had covered little distance, but we (Mam and I) did a bit of singing to get our spirits back up, and the rain went! It was still pretty grey but at least it wasn't raining!

I knew there was a reason why we carried the waterproofs

We crossed a road after tromping through the soggy moorland, to get to more soggy moorland on the other side. The river was a torrent and very high and flowing fast, as you can see!

High water mark

We walked along the bogs and up a hill to have our lunch, then with 4 miles walked on.

Thinking we had seen the last of the rain, we walked along the wet moors... and reached 'the bog'. We crossed a bridge and were faced with deep water and boggy puddles before a dry patch on the other side. If you have ever read the children's storybook 'We're going on a bear hunt', the saying 'we can't go over it, we can't go under it, we'll have to go THROUGH IT!'. This basically sums it up. Paddy (now magically recovered- I think he herd us talking about sending him home and pulled his act together) trotted ahead, straight through the calf-deep water. We tried to delicately hop through, but realised there was no way we were going to get through with dry boots, so we bit the bullet, and ploughed through the deep water. Lets put it this way; we got very wet. 

Sodden boots, we walked up a hill to pour the water out of our boots and wring out our socks. 

A bit wet!

We dropped down from the endless bog called Wain Rigg and out of the quagmire, then crossed the A69, and hit Hadrien's Wall. There was a special singing edition of that Oasis classic; "And after all.... We're on Hadrien's Wall". Up and over a golf course then down a path through some high plants, boots squelching up and into Greenhead, wet and tired.

Drying Out

Tomorrow we walk along Hadrien's Wall; I promise more Oasis special edition singing!

See you tomorrow,

Caitlin :-)

Day 15 - Should he stay or should he go?

Garrigill to Slaggyford

Today's Miles - 12.4 miles
Today's Ascent -   2070 ft
Today's Descent -   2572 ft
Total Miles so Far - 200.3 miles

Star Team Member: Team Effort!

We have had a bit of a dilemma, here on our Pennine Way adventure. You see, Patrick, 25% of Team Pennine Way, has developed an injury...*sad melodic music*. Paddy has a saw paw! Read on to find out more....

We started off in Garrigill, where we had finished the previous day. We took a footpath that led us along the River South Tyne. Paddy was limping quite severely, and we rang Uncle John to ask him to come and pick Paddy up, as he wasn't looking good. Uncle John agreed that it would be better for Pads if he came home to heal his poorly paw *sad melodic music*. We were very sad and had to accept the loss of Paddy to Team Pennine Way.

South Tyne

It was nice and sunny and walking by the river was beautiful. Of course, now Patrick was making us looking like liars, as he was running like a thoroughbred race horse, frolicking for all it was worth (see picture). After a couple of dips in the river he was back to his usual self, and we were feeling a bit silly.

Following the river

We branched off from the river for a while and walked along a path, and Dad went ahead to see if he could buy Paddy some doggy walking boots-how cute? Leaving Mam and I alone to navigate, we walked along and picked up the path by the river again. Making our way into Alston, we met Dad in a pub, without any doggy boots :-(

Mam and I went ahead to set up the lunch things, and of course went completely the wrong way! oh, well, Dad found us in the end! After lunch by the river we set off to leave Alston.

Leaving Alston

Walking along the road, Paddy started to limp slightly. Typical! We made a huge detour, on the Pennine Way, simply not to walk on the road. This detour took us up a huge hill, and then back down to the river- what a pain! We walked along the South Tyneside Railway for a while and the train passed us a couple of times.

South Tynedale Railway

We passed through a field with plants up to our heads shaped like umbrellas, they were very strange.

Anyone seen Paddy?

After this we reached Slaggyford, after following the road down. But we were not done for the day! the Kirkstyle Inn, our bed for the night was 2 miles out of Slaggyford, yes, 2 MILES! We turned off the Pennine Way to walk along an old railway line parallel to the Pennine Way, a quicker route.

Slaggyford

We were so very tired and those two miles seemed to drag on forever! When we finally reached the Kirkstyle Inn, (Pads leading us in with a spring in his step) we had a well deserved meal and long sleep. Unfortunately, no WiFi though, so this report is delayed- sorry!

Caitlin xx

Day 14 - Cross (-ing the) Fell

Dufton to Garrigill

Today's Miles - 15.6 miles
Today's Ascent -  3592 ft
Today's Descent -  3080 ft
Total Miles so Far - 187.9 miles
Star Team Member - Mam, for taking the lead, and powering up Cross Fell. 

Today was a really tough day! We climbed the highest point on the Pennine Way- Cross Fell. If those of you are more familiar with Lakeland hills, then Cross Fell is about the size of Skiddaw; so quite high, but on top of that we had 16 miles to walk, with our packs, so it is fair to say it was quite hard going. 

Dufton Pike

After a hearty breakfast, we left the cosiness and warmth of our lovely B and B in Dufton, to brave the harsh Pennine elements (Ok, maybe I am exaggerating a bit about the weather!). I feel the cold lots so I felt the wind and had to put on my fleece. We walked along the main road for a short distance then turned off to a country lane, and passed through a farm. Then we started the climb upwards, passed through some fields with cows grazing, and kept walking up and up. We were aiming for the summit of Knock Fell, our first hill of the day, at 2604 ft. We had lots of chocolate and had done 4 miles, 25% of the way, and had gained some hight.

Top of Knock Fell

 We walked (I have never used the words 'we' and 'walked' so many times in my life before!) down from the top of Knock Fell, only to walk up to the top of our next hill, Great Dunn Fell, at a hight of 2780, so we were gradually gaining hight. It had an early warning system station on the top, and it looked a bit like a giant golf ball.

Odd looking cairns- golf anyone?!

From here we walked (there it goes again!) down and then up to Little Dunn Fell, summit three at 2761, just a bit smaller than Great Dunn. i had a stone in my shoe, and there was a handy wind shelter, so I took off my boot, and Dad waited with me, while Mam took the lead up to the top of the big one (how many hills have been branded 'the big one' on this blog? Black Hill, Pen-y-Ghent, and now Cross Fell. Well, Cross fell is the BIG one, so all the others can be 'nearly big ones'.), anyway, back to the topic! Mam took the lead and powered on ahead. Dad said to me "let's go and catch Mam up", but it was impossible! She was marching onward, lulled by the lovely thoughts of her dinner. We got to the summit after a long climb over 8 miles, at about 1:30. We were very pleased with ourselves and the view looking over to the Lake District was amazing, as the weather was perfect. It had not rained the whole way up so we were feeling very good. After sitting the wind shelter and enjoying our lunch we pressed on, with Garigill 8 miles away.

Summit of the Pennines

 We dropped down from Cross Fell and after about 1.5 miles hit a small shelter called Greg's Hut. I asked if there were any pasties, but unfortunately not. We popped in and signed the visitors book and had a break with 5.5 miles to go.

Gregg's Hut (no cheese pasties)

We joined a rocky track that would take us all the way down to our final destination for the day. It was very lumpy and bumpy, and not easy underfoot, but we kept going. We walked along this road, it was tediously long, and turned corner to see Garigill. Cross Fell was always looming behind us, reminding us of the previous climb done today.

Looking back to Cross Fell

With 1.5 miles to go, we thought we were on the home straight, the village was in touching distance, a mere 3 fields away, but then the road turned right!? It took us the long way round after that tediously long bumpy road, it was such a pain!

Garrigill still 1 mile away

With our feet on fire, we reached the village (finally!) to a J20 and cider bought by Dad, who walked ahead, and our two fellow Pennine Wayfarer friends, Petra and Emma. We got a taxi to Alston, and got out of the car like robots, we were so stiff. Pads especially!

The end of a long day

We said farewell to our German friend Petra, she is walking to Greenhead, while we only go to Slaggyford (don't snigger!). I am going to stiffly walk to bed and get some rest, to wake up revitalized for tomorrows walk to Slaggyford (not funny!)

Caitlin xx 

Day 13 - Caught out!

Langdon Beck to Dufton

Today's Miles - 13.1
Today's Ascent -  1876 ft
Today's Descent -  2611 ft
Total Miles so Far - 172.3
Star Team Member - Great team effort!

We set off from YHA Langdon Beck, at about 10 o'clock. We walked through a few fields (cows too!) and joined the Tees again, and followed it round the bend to a place called Widdybank Farm.

Widdybank Farm

From here we walked along some boulder fields, and had to do a lot of clambering, to get along. Falcon c
Clints were on our right, lots of jagged rocks, and we even saw some sort of bird of prey.

Falcon Clints

 We kept following the river along and turned the corner to see the beautiful Cauldron Snout (funny name, but amazing waterfall!). It was just tucked away and looked lovely and really spectacular just billowing and gushing. We stopped for a break, admiring the view of the waterfall. Personally, we all agreed that we preferred Cauldron Snout to Low or High Force and it was a highlight of the trip.

Cauldron Snout (lower)

We started to climb quite steeply up some rocks, but Pads had a bit of difficulty so Dad took him on a different path, while Mam and I clambered upward. We walked to the top of the waterfall to reach Cow Green Reservoir.

Cauldron Snout (upper)

We had a nice view back along the Tees and we walked along the tops, and started to climb uphill for quite  while but walked on. We stopped for lunch after walking 6 miles.

Looking back down to the Tees

After lunch we walked down to Maize Beck, where there was a new bridge built for Pennine Wayfarers. We crossed the bridge and walked over the other side waiting for High Cup Nick to open out. We had a mile to go to High Cup and couldn't wait to see the apparently fabulous view.

The new bridge over Maize Beck

We walked along, and suddenly it just opened up before us. It was really amazing, so we deserved a break to admire the view.

High Cup

We walked down the the right side of the valley and started to drop down. A shower started and we got a bit wet as we walked down through the fields to Dufton. We reached the road and the heavens just opened! It just rained and rained, with only a mile to go. We couldn't believe our fate! We walked down into Dufton, and of course, our B and B had to be the last one in the village!

Dufton

We arrived sopping wet, but had a lovely bath and meal, and we are now ready for bed!
Tomorrow is the big one.... Dad says if Mam and I make it to Garigil we will complete the Pennine Way! Honestly, he has no confidence in us!

See you tomorrow (if, according to Dad, we make it!),
Caitlin :-)

Day 12- How very T-eesy!

Middleton in Teesdale to Langdon Beck

Today's Miles - 9.0
Today's Ascent -  1778 ft
Today's Descent -  1358 ft
Total Miles so Far - 159.2
Star Team Member - Sherpa Dad for carrying out the complicated business of dropping off the car, picking up Paddy, catching the bus etc...

Today was our shortest day up to date, and a very enjoyable one too. Dad is form Teesdale, so enjoyed walking through the Dales he grew up in and reminiscing past endeavors he has had. As we only had 9 miles to go, we decided to leave later on, and have a well deserved lie in!

   

Leaving Middleton

After a cup of tea in the cafe, we left Middleton at about 12 o'clock and walked back down to the Cattle Mart where we finished yesterday. We passed the field center on the left, where I have stayed before, on a Year 5 residential trip. 

The Field Center at Middleton

While on this trip, I walked a stretch of the Pennine Way, so I knew where to turn left after crossing the bridge. We walked through a few fields and passed over a small bridge crossing a tiny tributary stream, and Mam promptly asked "Is this the river Tees?". No, Mam, the river Tees is quite a lot larger than that! We joined up with the river and Paddy had a swim in it. He is very familiar with the river Tees, as Uncle John and Auntie Karen take him for walks in Gainford by the river lots. 

Walking along the Tees

We were walking through beautiful fields with lots of wild flowers in them. There were bluebells and buttercups, as well as thistles and it was really lovely. 

Flowers along the paths

We passed some stone sheep and soon we were at Low Force. There were lots of people around as it was a nice day, and some were swimming in the river and jumping off the top. I think walking the Pennine Way is thrilling enough, thank you! We stopped for lunch, and moved onward to High Force, a further 1.75 miles away. We were really enjoying it and we didn't have far to go. we veered off a bit from the Tees but soon rejoined it after more fields of wild flowers. 

Low Force

WE heard High Force before we saw it. The rush of the water and the sound it made as it hit the plunge pool was very loud, so we knew we were near. We walked off the path to a viewpoint and had 5 to look at the great view....

High Force

And of course take some pictures!

Made it this far!

We stuck to the Tees, but it was much calmer and quieter. We passed a quarry mine on the other side of the river, but other than that, the Dales were ours. 

We went up and over a little hill, and with 2 miles to go, we could see the youth hostel we were staying at. We had a quick break then pushed onward. There was a big field of cows (honestly, I think the farmers do it just to annoy us walkers!) and they were standing round the gate, so we did  a bit of a traverse that took us away form the gate, but we still ended up in the field. We used our technique but some excitable bullocks started running at Dad and Paddy, (seeing Dad run was very funny!), but they were a long way off and went back to eating there grass. We crossed Langdon Beck and walked along the river for a while. 

Langdon Beck

We walked up and across to YHA Langdon Beck, all with spectacular views of Upper Teesdale in the glorious sunshine. 

Upper Teesdale

We got to the youth hostel at about 5 o'clock, making a very enjoyable day of walking come to an end. Tomorrow we walk to Dufton, leaving Teesdale, regrettably behind. Only another 10 days to go! See you tomorrow,

Caitlin x