Distance: 18.4km (126.6km), time spent: 7:16.
Weather: Very sunny, very hot, sudden clouds.
Must have been tired, for I slept remarkably well. Which is unusual when I sleep in my tent at campsites, I feel herded in like animals in them. This one is however, rather different than those usual campsites, and the ground was flat and in shade. About to leave in the morning, hoping for an early start, I suddenly become aware that I am missing something. My sunhat. Searching for it on the premises of the campsite, with the help of Ady (the owner of the campsite), reveals nothing. Rummaging through my backpack too bears also no result. I even take out my tent from the backpack twice, checking if I had managed to forget it inside the inner tent. But it is nowhere to be found, my sunhat is gone, and my protection from the sun with it. Where can it have gone? Has someone actually taken it? That sounds unlikely, and I guess I will never know. My early start vaporized in an instant.
Green rolling hills in sight when leaving Ickornshaw.
With the temperatures soaring, at least England-wise, my scalp will have a hard time today. It is maybe positive then that the Pennine Way is still in a gentle mood. Above Ickornshaw it is not another moor that awaits me, but green rolling fields. Leaving the small village, the first thing I notice, is a sunhat hanging next to the path. How convenient, someone has lost his sunhat, it is so tempting to just grab the hat and my sun protection problem is solved. That is not my way, though, I leave it be hoping that the owner will find it there later (although there is a mischievous voice in my head telling me that the sunhat hanging there is the reason why my hat was missing).
View back towards Cowling and Ickornshaw, with the moors I walked over yesterday behind.
Postman Pat landscape.
If anyone has watched the old children's tv show Postman Pat, they would have an inclination of what the landscape I am walking through looks like. Small and narrow roads with stone fences on each side, rolling grassy hills and scattered trees, but there are no red vans driving around with a black cat riding shotgun. I sneak past cows, climbs the numerous stiles, gets disoriented by a short lack of waymarks, everything is as it usually is one a gentle stroll through England. Except that it is very hot.
Lothersdale.
I spot the small, but charming village of Lothersdale beneath Cowling Hill. Down at the village, a signpost warns me 'If you think that was a hill! It was nothing compared to what is coming up.'. Encouraging. Whatever that is in store for me later, I leave be for now, and settle for a short break at the one local pub in the village, the Hare And Hounds pub. Inside the village, you also find the largest waterwheel in England, but it is not there for your eyes. It belongs to the Dale End Mill, dates from 1861 and is 13.5m wide.
Stone fences and green fields above Lothersdale.
Lothersdale might just as well been the place where I would have had my dinner yesterday, had everything gone according to plan. Plans however, they break, and so did mine. I was not to stay in the village, but set sight on wildcamping at the top of Pinhaw Beacon. Did not get as far as that yesterday. The walk up there is quite pleasant. Gentle undulating hills at first, then it slowly changes to a more familiar moor landscape. More dry this time, the heat might be to blame.
Gentle moors on the way to Pinhaw Beacon.
Pinhaw Beacon.
The views from the top of Pinhaw Beacon (388m), next to the trig point, are quite nice, with me trying to make out the upcoming features of the trail. There are places here where I could have pitched my tent, but a stone somehow tells me that it would be frowned upon. Carved into the stone are 'Please keep to the Pennine Way'. I am keeping to the Pennine Way and heads down from the beacon on a mix of grassy tracks and paved roads.
Descending from Pinhaw Beacon.
Further down, the warnings that I had got that the path would be unclear at times comes true. It is swallowed by the grass, but I find my way down, enters a road and passes by a house under maintenance. Both the workers and I agrees that it is a truly hot day. And if anything good comes from it, it is that the hikers coming after me will have no trouble finding the way. I am leaving a trail of water behind me. Thornton-in-Craven is only passed by briefly, although a bench on the edge of the village offers some welcome shade.
The rural England.
While the feeling is of being far from any wilderness, it is not difficult to believe that it is easy to get lost here if the visibility is low. Not entirely lost in its true meaning, but in finding the correct path. Sometimes the path is clear against the green meadows and fields I walk over, sometimes it is barely discernible. In clear weather like today it is however not difficult finding the Pennine Way. Crossing undulating and green hills with sheep bleating and looking at you.
Meadows and sheep staring at you.
The Leeds and Liverpool Canal offer a change of scenery, and I am not far away from taking the jump into the water. Canal boats in various colours are moored next to the shoreline. At East Marton the only place open is the Cross Keys pub, which does not serve any food until later. Again, I have forgotten time and the lunch hours in England. It is back to West Ilsley on The Ridgeway and a lunch consisting of chips from the pub and energy bars from my own backpack.
Walking next to the Leeds and Liverpool canal.
Canal boats on the canal at East Marton.
From East Marton it is back to the green grass and rolling hills on a muted path. On the sky there is a sudden change of cloak, in all the clear blue sky of the day, the small rain clouds approaching appear like an anomaly. With the warm air, there might be a change of thunder forming too. Walking over Scaleber Hill, the sky is slightly dramatic. A few rain drops comes when I am walking down towards Gargrave.
Suddenly dramatic over Scaleber Hill.
Time walks its own distance when on a long walk. And I guess I had subconsciously disregarded getting to Malham today, so in Gargrave I resign to the urge to continue walking. Acquiring a room at the Masons Arms, I find Roxanne and Sophie eating in the bar. They was to go to Malham today and started earlier than me, so I am a little bit surprised to find them still here. Given the heat they had arrived just before me and there were bad weather coming up apparently. Still needing to get to Malham, as they had a friend meeting them there, they would be picked up.
Coming down to Gargrave.
A good room awaits me, but there are no good news for me when I take of my shoes. If my first blood blister was bad, this one is worse. The other one is at least confined within the skin, but this one is bleeding. You may call me what you want, but I does not like it. Especially given what you step in throughout the day. I think it was good luck that I did not continue walking to Malham. From now on, I will have to be on a strict clean and disinfect scheme.
St Andrews Church in Gargrave.
Shouldering the disappointment of my feet aside, I go for an easy stroll around Gargrave. It is a charming village (or small town), but it is quickly looked at. There is remains of a Roman villa here, but the information board explains that you no longer can see it as it is hidden underneath a newer building. The most interesting place is undeniable the Dalesman Café, a wonderful café frozen in time, unfortunately closing too early for me to take any advantage of.
The Dalesman Café, Tea Rooms & Sweet Shop. On the signpost outside the café there is signs to Edale, 70 miles, and Kirk Yetholme, 186 miles. I still have some miles left to go.
I return to the Masons Arms to have dinner and to rest. Going through what is known as the Aire Gap is not the most memorable part of the Pennine Way, but I am not to say that it is without its charms. And for the benefit of my foot, it is good that it does not offer the most difficult challenges of the walk. If today was a short and relatively easy walk, I expect tomorrow to be an even easier one.
A café out of time, inside the Dalesman Café.
<< IckornshawMalham >>
No comments:
Post a Comment