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Today began with a traditional English breakfast before we hit the trail at a leisurely 9:15am. Rain was forecast so we packed our wet weather gear at the top of our packs. If the temperature was anything to go by we were in for a real squall.

The walking today was easy and flat which soon grew into boredom as there were very few ‘good views’. Our travels across the Dales looking at rolling fields of wooleys and cows a thing of the past. After about 10 miles of road/track walking we decided to stop for some coffee at a local pub which by poor luck was closed :(. We carried on through and found a sheltered spot by the river for a quick lunch break of cheese and tomato sandwiches.

After setting off across more fields following the riverbank the rains came – nothing super heavy but it kept going and going for several hours. Out came the jackets, hats and pants. The drizzle continued unabated as we walked across meadows with long (and now very wet) grass.

Our route took us through to Wetheriggs Pottery which despite it’s name is now an animal sanctuary. They have a nice cafe so it was tea and cake before continuing on for the last four miles into Penrith.

The outskirts of the city soon came into view and we bade farewell to nice farmland and hello to houses and cars.

Our hotel is the Agricultural Hotel in the heart of the city next to the ruins if Penrith Castle. Yet another perfectly good castle sacked by the Scots.

This was our last day with some 19-ish miles under our belt to round out the trip to a 100 miles since leaving Skipton 6 days ago. The first few days were by far our favorite with lovely Dales and high passes across the hills. Similar to our TGO walk last May all the hills were at the start before heading out into the lowlands at the end. Overall this was a great walk – we carried little with us this time opting to eat on the trails at pubs and cafes. No tents or sleeping bags either so this made a huge difference in the weight of our packs.

It feels good to be done and well exercised just in time for my sisters wedding this coming weekend.

Our B&B spot last night was great across the board. We were welcomed with tea and cakes then hooked up with a fab spot for dinner.

The Manor House B&B is a huge old two story house in the centre of Kirkby Stephen. Our room had a small ensuite power shower which rocked after a long day on the trails.

For dinner we went to The Croft House B&B and restaurant. Dinner was outstanding with lovely decor, service and food. The mushroom soup was the best I’ve ever tasted!

Our walk today was the easiest day so far with 17 miles along mostly flat trails. Unlike other days the views today were limited as our paths were surrounded by trees and hedgerows.

About 1/2 way through the hike we passed Warcop, a small village which hosts a British Army urban warfare training area. There were lots of machine gun sounds and the occasional BIG bang (with impressive smoke) as we hiked throught out afternoon.

As we entered woodland trails we were rewarded with beautiful fields of bluebells lining the trails.

The trails seemed long today so we entertained ourselves with our very own Olypic hurdle event over the many many stiles. For a foreigner Lynn showed good promise but lost out to the creative talents of yours truly with my signature ‘double hip rotation jump’.

The last few miles into Appleby followed the riverbank and we saw lots of large brown trout munching on bugs.

Tonight we’re staying in the Royaloak Hotel, a 16th century coaching house. We ate dinner here tonight and it was lovely washed down with local Blacksheep ale.

We took a short walk around Appleby – it’s a small town with a castle which is unfortunately closed to the public. The local architecture is old with lots of character.

Today’s mileage was 17 miles making a total of 81 miles. It was much cooler today with overcast skies and almost rain. The forecast for tomorrow looks dodgy with 60% chance of rain. That’s unfortunate but should be a good field test for our Paramor jackets.

Tomorrow is our last day with the longest mileage at 19 miles to round it out to an even 100 miles.

Didn’t sleep too well last night – it was hot, our room (facing the main street in Hawes was loud) and the bed was tiny. We got up early again and had cereal and toast (marmite yes!) before hitting the trail.

Today the first few hours were slow with lots of map navigation needed to find the right trail. I’ve been using my Iphone as a GPS device and love the new MemoryMap software. For about 10 quid (pounds to my Anerican friends) I was able to load all the 1:50K maps for our route. I use the GPS when we want to doublecheck our location and use the excellent OS landranger maps (1:25K) for everything else.

The weather was cooler today in the low 60F’s making it a great day for our long trek to Kirby Stephen. Not too much to mention today – lots more sheep and birds. We also spotted our first Romany Gypsy caravan heading for the great Appleby Gypsy horse gathering next week.

We also passed Pendragon Castle home of Uther father of King Arthur. We saw another border collie working sheep called Mac. We stopped to talk to the farmer for a while too.

Tonight we’re staying at Manor House B&B. We had a lovely welcome from Jean the owner who made us tea and cakes as soon as we arrived. We have dinner plans in the village at a local restaurant. They aren’t licensed for booze so you bring your own! Should be fun.

Total distance today was 18.5 miles making a total of 64.5 miles. We hiked for 9 hours with 1 1/2 hrs for snacks and lunch. Tomorrow we head to Appleby 17 miles away.

We are enjoying the hike though Lynn has started with some blisters (7 and counting) 🙁

We had a lovely dinner last night in Buckden at the Village Store Restaurant. Their tagline is ‘where the locals eat’ which gave me flashbacks if little Britain. The food was excellent Nd the host Gordon very colorful and fun.

After dinner we walked down to the river and saw two border collies riding on a quad bike driven by the farmer. We watched them gather sheep and move them into another field.

We were up early and on the road by 7:15. Given the heat of yesterday we wanted to bang out the first 10 miles (with all the climbing) before noon. The walking today was lovely with outstanding valley views and lots more wildlife. Lots more birds too keeping us company throughout the day.

As we hiked up Hells Gap (aptly named) we saw another shepard working a huge flock with one border collie. It was amazing to watch as the sheep were pushed towards and past us. What a treat! Lynn has it in video and I’ll post when were back home.

By noon we’d made it to Askrigg a great little village with a fantatic ‘village store cafe’. The food was great and refueled us for the final 6 miles into Hawes.

Hawes is a small market town packed with lots of people. I guess the good weather has brought out all the motorbikes 🙁

Total distance today was 18.5 miles making a total of 46 miles. We were flyingnalonv today taking only 8 hours including 90 minutes for lunch and stops.

Last night we had a great Indian meal at Rozi’s tandori house. The restaurant caters mainly for takeaway but has a small seating area upstairs. The food was made quickly and was very yummy. Our breakfast at the B&B was great and set us up well for the short 12 mile walk into Buckden.

We left the B&B at 9:15 and it was already very hot with clear blue skies and little wind. We bumped into another hiker for a short while doing something called the ‘Inn Way’ which appeared to follows the Dalesway. We then entered beautiful hills above Grassington passing two runners out weigh their dogs. The path up onto the hills was nice and lush green grass but hard to follow in sections with few visible landmarks. The GPS came out a couple of times to keep us on track.

We soon reached the top and continued on well defined trails skirting old collapsed mine shafts (from lead mining). Anyone taking these trails in poor weather would need to be quite careful. From the tools it was a lovely descent down into Kettlewell where we found a local pub serving Timothy Taylor Landlord ale! From the Racehorse Hotel we followed the valley along descending to join the Dalesway along the riverbank, There were lots of people out with dogs swimming in the river due to the high heat.

We entered Buckden, a small village hamlet around 4pm and found our hotel the Buck Inn, a 16th century coaching house. We settled into our room and then went down to the hotel for a nice pint of ale. We met several locals who’d just completed a charity walk supporting TFA, the tenant farmer network, and FCN, farm community network.

We overheard a very funny story from their hike: “I was walking along and saw a bunch of cows walking up the road. This cyclist then comes along at sled wearing all the fancy cycle gear clearly looking like he was on a time trial ride. Unwilling to wait or dismount, he starts to weave in and out of the cows at speed, This is working great until one of the cows turns sideways and t-bones the cyclist who flies over the top of the cow coming skidding to a halt on the road.”

Tomorrows walk is back up to 17 miles so we plan to have and early night so we can start the hike by 7am.

Arrived Grassington – 15 miles from our starting point in Skipton. Total time 8hrs with a 1hr lunch stop. The weather is OUTSTANDING at 70 – 80F. It’s almost a little too hot. We started out in long pants and quickly broke out shorts, tees and sunscreen.

The hiking is very easy today wih mostly flat trails. We followed footpaths from Skipton, Embsay, Eastby and Bardon. We stopped at Bardon Tower which had a cafe for an early lunch. From there we took the ‘Dales Way’ a very popular LDP. So popular in fact that sections were paved 🙁

Lots of wildlife on the trails sheep, cattle, birds – we even saw trout swimming in the river.

Tomorrow we head for Buckden an easy 12.5 miles away. The days beyound look a little mire daunting with some lovely 20+ mile days.

Time for shower and then onto the pub for some rehydration 🙂