Lands End to John O'Groats - 2010

 Diary

Day 33

 

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Diary

Friday, 4 June 2010 - Malham to Horton-in-Ribblesdale

 

 

Weather:

Mostly sunny and warm with a strong breeze

Accommodation:

"Doll's House" B&B (£20)

Aches:

Right knee sore (3/10)

Kilometres Travelled Today:

24.2km

Total Kilometres Travelled:

1023.2km

Nutrition:

English breakfast; cheese & pickle sandwiches for lunch; ??? for dinner.

Pictures:

Here

GPS Track (.gpx format):

Here

Website:

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Journal:
We had the 7:30am breakfast we had ordered in the hostel and collected the packed lunch we had also ordered since we weren't going to be passing by any resupply opportunities during the day.  It was forecast to be warm and we knew we had some mountains to climb, so we took along plenty of fluids which, of course, added to the weight of our packs for the first long climb.

Early on the path took us past the base of Malham Cove, a huge and impressive limestone cliff which had once been a waterfall, and then we had to climb to the top before the path levelled off somewhat for very pleasant walking across the Yorkshire Dales.  The grassy path passed through park-like surroundings with stone fences, sheep and cattle, and their young, and large hills (fells) in all directions.  We saw quite a number of other hikers, some of whom we knew from the hostel.  One of them was, Karen, the Lands End to John O'Groats hiker I had met earlier in the week, who had now caught up to us.  We had met her in the pub the previous evening, and she had told us that there was some kind of event in Horton-in-Ribblesdale, our target for the today, and that she had got the last B&B room available!

The path now wound around the side of the very pretty, almost alpine, Malham Tarn, overlooked by a stately home on the other side.  From there it was a steady climb in warm conditions to the top of Fountains Fell where we sheltered behind a stone wall from the cool breeze and had lunch.  We were high and had mobile reception, so I took the chance to give Aaron a call for his birthday.

We then descended across the moors to a wide valley with great views in all directions before beginning the solid climb to the top of Pen-y-Ghent, the highest mountain in the vicinity for some more great views, although it was getting hazy.  From there it was a steady and sometimes difficult descent on a stony and rocky trail for two blokes with only two good knees between them to Horton (did I mention that one of the two pairs of shoes Keith brought with him, fell apart on the descent from Fountains Fell.  We arrived in Horton soon after 4pm and found a small cafe that doubled as a tourist information centre, and got some leads on accommodation in the area.  No joy at all.  We tried further afield on the assumption that we could get a train from where we were to a larger town not so far away, but everything there we called was booked out as well.  During this time, Karen walked past the cafe on her way to her B&B, and learned we were having no luck.  Even the campsites in town were full.

We decided to get a light meal at the cafe and then continue hiking for an hour or so before just finding somewhere to free camp.  Then, just as we were about to order some food, Karen came back and told us that her B&B host had said we might be able to get two beds in the "summer house" of another person in the village.  I returned the half-mile with Karen to see whether we were in luck, while Keith stayed with the rucksacks and found the villager waiting and his "summer house", almost like a doll's house, at the end of his garden set up with a double bunk and use of the his shower and toilet in the main house.  It was all very clean and well cared for and I accepted his offer of £20 each, including breakfast, and walked back and got Keith.  It started raining soon after we "checked in".  Our piece of luck meant that Keith was able to avoid testing the water permeability of his £5.80 tent from Tesco!

After showering, we went down to the nearby pub and joined Karen, Gay (a retired nurse hiking the Pennine Way who we had met at Malham Hostel), and Andy (an aerospace engineer with Rolls Royce who was also hiking the Pennine Way and had been staying at the same two previous hostels as Keith and I).  The meal was good and we had a nice social evening.  Gay and Karen will be at the same hostel as us again tomorrow night, assuming Keith and I can get beds (no luck so far), but Andy is pushing on further and I may see him later up the Pennine Way if I have a few longer days.

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