Distance: 24.5km (207.6km), time spent: 8:55.
Weather: Light rain and misty, then increasingly sunny and warm.
Morning rises, it is the ninth day on the Pennine Way and the weather outside my window is grey and miserable. Yesterday someone told me that it was going to be nice weather today, so I hope this is just the weather going through a serious case of morning grumpyness. Now all the Yorkshire Three Peaks Challengers has left the village and soon I will leave it too, and then I guess the village will return to its normal quiet self. At least until next weekend.
The Pennine Way leaving Horton in Ribblesdale on a gentle path between stone fences and next to lonesome barns, heading up into a landscape consisting of rolling hills and mild moorland.
While I am still quite downcast of the prospect of yet another misty and rainy day, I soon discover how atmospheric the world here appear in it. I also discover that there is another hotel here too, The Crown Hotel. Leaving Horton in Ribblesdale gently, the Pennine Way heads towards the hills on a path similar to the one going down from Pen-y-Ghent. Guarding the hikers from sheep are long stone fences on both sides, the rolling green fields and meadows are riddled with tiny white dots moving around. Old barns of stone stands lonesome in the middle of the fields. The valley below is ebbing in and out of view.
Looking back down at Horton in Ribblesdale.
Walking on a landscape that essentially consists of limestone, it is not surprising to know that there are a lot of caves around, both hidden and out in the open. In fact, if you carry a rope with you (or a ladder, more cumbersome), you can actually visit some of these caves. Today's walk pass by several of these, making for an interesting notion. I mostly get excited by what I see rising up from the ground, but there really are a lot of interesting things going down into the ground too. The first cave I pass by is the Sell Gill Holes. If you do not think about it, it only looks like a hole in the ground that the Sell Gill Beck falls down into, but if I have understood it correctly, you can actually climb down into it and find a cave. Mind you that the entrance here will be wet (there is supposed to be a dry entrance too though), and always be careful.
Ribblesdale. Rolling green fields, sheep and forgotten stone barns.
Gentle rolling hills and open moorlands is supposed to be the theme of the day. In other words, quite familiar, but at the same time I was not sure what to expect from this day. As the trail slowly progresses upwards, the clouds takes up more and more space. Around me are empty spaces of scenery. Seemingly empty of people too, until a group of other hikers suddenly appears out of the mist, walking relatively fast. Another set of challengers, not difficult to understand their pace, they have a timeframe to catch.
Disappearing in mist.
A forest appear in view, but sadly enough, the Pennine Way does not enter it. Larger forests feels like anomalies here in England, it is a rare sight to behold. The trail skirts around it from Birkwith Moor. Near a farm house, the Pennine Bridleway comes in from the East and with it two other Pennine Wayfarers. The first ones I see for some time now. Having taken a wrong turn, they had ended up on the bridleway instead. They are also carrying with them bad news regarding the weather, the forecast for the next days are close to abysmal. I will be in need of my rain coat for sure.
Gentle moorland hills.
The next cave is bigger than the previous one, Calf Holes. And more dramatic in appearance too, with waters pouring down into the hole on all sides almost. Something tells me that I do not want to fall down into the hole, but this cave is actually one that novices use for practice. Although it do involves the need for a rope or ladder and the spelunker needs to endure a flat-out crawl to come through it.
Water from the creek pouring down into the hole at Calf Holes.
There are not any true wilderness in England, but the open landscapes the Pennine Way takes you through sometimes makes it easy to imagine it to be. Only broken by the occasional scattered and lonesome farm, seen in the distance or lying next to the trail, like the forlorn looking farm before arriving at Ling Gill. This is a narrow gorge filled with trees, so dense that I can barely see that it is a gorge. Flowing into the gorge is a beck that I crosses over on a lovely old stone bridge. It is a similar setting to that at the foot of Jacobs Ladder, only that the path I walk on afterwards is not as steep.
Farm at Ling Gill.
Rising softly, the path goes up to Cam End where it joins what was once a Roman road, called Cam High Road. Signs on the sky indicates that the clouds also wants to seek higher grounds. The three Yorkshire Peaks are suddenly more prominent in the various horizons, Pen-y-Ghent, Whernside and Ingleborough. Almost between Whernside and Ingleborough lies the Ribblehead Viaduct. Situated on the Settle-Carlisle railway line it is quite a historical viaduct, as its construction was started back in 1869. The viaduct was finished in 1874 and two years later the railway line was operational. By then the construction had cost the life of over 100 men (of a total workforce consisting of about 2300 men). It is 400m long and 32m tall at its highest point.
Ling Gill, a peaceful setting underneath the grey sky.
Walking not far from each other, me and the other couple on the Way, advances towards Kidhow on an easy gradient. Now below and to the right of us lies the Cam Woodlands, the forest the Pennine Way skirts around. Trees are clearly being cut from the forest. Cutting through the clouds are the sun, the warm light is welcome. Pen-y-Ghent can be seen in all its length from here. Almost at the top at Kidhow, we walk through the gates to Camm Farm, but the farm itself is nowhere to be seen. More notably are the solitary and remote farms seen in the distance, I wonder how life must be at them when the weather here is at its most hard and bleakest.
Looking towards Ingleborough and the Ribblehead Viaduct.
From Kidhow the Pennine Way brings me on a wonderful ridgewalk, going underneath the slopes of Dodd Fell towards Ten End. On the sky above, the clouds are broken up by patches of blue sky. In the valley below, the landscape is broken up by long line of stone fences. It is a patchwork of fields, with intricate structures indicating either sheepfolds or remains of old farm buildings. A flat stone next to a gate provides the perfect lunch spot.
Light is appearing when walking upwards towards Kidhow on the Cam High Road.
This has so far been a day that has drifted by in an extremely atmospheric and nice (Pennine) way. A surprisingly good day, even with the rather bleak weather uptil now. And although the scenery has been moorland, the path has been solid underfoot, even with the rain. Wet, but still solid. The scenery has changed both in view and surface from the earliest days on the Pennine Way.
On the lovely ridgewalk below Dodd Fell towards Ten End.
At Ten End the clouds are dispersing. So is the path. It leaves the firm track and heads up into the rolling hill, only that there are two paths. The signpost could be pointing to both of them, I take my pick of the one that looks most trodden, then discover that they joins together later. The path down towards Hawes is more featureless, although the ending point is clear enough. I am here talking about the path itself, not the view. Which is quite charming. Across the valley lies Great Shunner Fell, which will be the main attraction tomorrow.
Above Snaizeholme.
I feel warm again when I am down in Hawes, which appear to be a busy place. This is the usual ending point of this stage, and is where the two other hikers leaves the trail for the night. I find them at a local café and get to know their names, Henry and Ana. They have booked everything in advance, accommodation that is, which is one way to do it, but will not leave them much room for changes if anything should come up underway. I only stop for a beer in the now surprisingly warm weather, to buy some more provisions and withdraw some money. The first ATM rejects my card, but the second one is in a better mood towards me.
Descent towards Hawes.
Instead of Hawes, I had the tiny hamlet of Hardraw in mind, it would shorten the walking tomorrow a little. Arriving there after a short, but pleasant, stroll in the now sunny weather, I get an update on the grim news of earlier today. In the typical accent of the British, the warnings resonates between the locals when I ask about the weather for tomorrow. 'It is going to get nasty' one says. 'Yeah, it is going to get ugly' another responds. Whereas the first just repeats the same words, "yeah, it is going to get nasty". I take the point. When will it then be ugly I ask. From morning on they say, from nine o'clock and outwards.
English countryside with Great Shunner Fell behind.
I become unsure of what to do with this night. Carrying a tent heavy with water after a night of rain (if the rain should arrive earlier) is not funny, but it is not that what really bothers me. It is still that dislike of staying at campsites. They have rooms at The Green Dragon Inn, where I am at now.
Hawes, or the approach to the small town.
Eventually I decide to camp. There is no one at the campsite here, only one other tent, a huge one belonging to the people driving here in their big van. No one at the café managing the campsite either, a note tells me to leave the fee for camping in a given place. What there is a lot of at the campsite however, are rabbits. They are everywhere. I pitch my tent, get a shower and gets into my evening clothes. Then I go to visit the local attraction.
Mailbox adornments in Hawes.
Hardraw Force is with its 30m the highest single-drop waterfall in England, above ground. However, it is located on private land, so you have to pay an entrance fee to see it. As I arrive back at The Green Dragon Inn, the people who manages the entrance drives away. I was just too late. A local man tells me that I can just jump the gate, but looking at it I do not feel comfortable doing that, even if I should leave behind the entrance fee outside the café.
Hawes with Ten End behind.
I just return to the inn and settle in for dinner (pie with chips, peas and gravy) and some beers. It is a cozy inn though, looking a little bit out of time this too. Kind of the ones you read about in fantasy novels, it is not hard to see the inspiration some authors may have had at some places here in England. In the end, I head back to the campsite. Still just mine and the other tent there, we have a lot of space to share, along with the rabbits. Tomorrow it is going to get ugly.
Inside the cozy Green Dragon Inn in Hardraw.
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