Journal:
After some
discussion last night, Keith and I have decided to
plan for some shorter days. We are a bit
limited by where places to stay and resupply are
located, so have to either go for long days or short
days. Our plan is to have two shorter days
(20-25km), followed by one long day (40-45km), but
we'll see how it goes.
We left the hostel soon
after 8am and walked a kilometre into the centre of
the village where we found a cafe and ordered some
breakfast. By the time we had done that, and
made some calls about accommodation, it was after
9am before we started walking on what we were told
was a relatively flat section. The sun was
already warm on our backs as we walked out of Earby
along a disused rail line towards Thornton-in-Craven
where we rejoined the Pennine Way (we had detoured
via Earby to stay in the hostel).
The route passed through
classic undulating rural scenery with the grassy
hillsides dotted with sheep and cattle, stone fences
and beautiful stone houses. After crossing one
hill, we dropped to the peaceful Leeds & Liverpool
Canal, and followed that for a couple of kilometres.
We passed a couple of hikers, one totally blind, who
had shared our dormitory in the hostel last night
and were aiming for the same hostel, Malham, as us
tonight. The two walkers we had shared dinner
with last night at the pub, are also aiming for the
same hostel, so we are like a small moving caravan.
Because of the warm
conditions, we were pleased to see a sign on one of
the canal bridges that a small shop could be found
at the next canal bridge and we began fantasising
about cold drinks and ice-creams. Of course,
when we got there, we found it closes on Thursdays!
Fortunately, we didn't have that much further to our
planned lunch stop in the village of Gargrave, where
we arrived at noon after crossing some more low
hills. We had a light lunch and bought some
drinks for the afternoon from a nearby store before
setting off for the remaining 10 or so kilometres to
Malham. It was very warm, but we were not
pressed for time and took a mid-afternoon break in
the shade of some large trees across the Aire River
from the village of Airton. Very pleasant.
Then, for the last hour
walking of the day, we hiked upstream along the
grassy banks of the River Aire to Malham arriving
around 4pm to find there was a kind of children's
festival going on called the Malham Safari, with all
kinds of activities. However, it seemed that
most kids were paddling and splashing about in the
river in the middle of the quaint little village,
while there parents dozed on the banks or enjoyed
drinks outside the two town pubs. I got my
camera out to take a picture of the kids in the
river, saying to Keith that I would probably be
arrested if I did it in Australia, and he said I
probably would in the UK as well, so no picture.
We left our packs at the
Hostel (which didn't open until 5pm) and I wandered
through town looking for some maps I need for the
next few days, while Keith had a doze at a picnic
table in the sun. He's enjoying some of the
same problems I experienced in my first few days,
and we have decided to be less ambitious on
Saturday, reducing the long day we had intended.
It will leave me a little behind schedule, but I can
make that up easily enough. The next few days,
though shortish, involve some big climbs and, if it
is as warm as it was today, it will be hard work.
We checked into the large
hostel at 5pm and, after showers, I put on a load of
washing in their machine. We have ordered
dinner, breakfast and a packed lunch for tomorrow.
We won't be passing any supply points, but the
scenery is supposed to be spectacular. No
mobile reception here and poor reception last night,
so it will be a little while longer before these
diary entries are emailed.
