Pennine Way Day 15 - Mankinholes - Crowden

July 8, 2008

Journal

Leaving Mankinholes YHA.

0815 Mankinholes YHA
Awake. Looks dry today thank God. We'll see how my body is etc when I stand up! This is the penultimate day!! Just one long moorland march and I'll be within 6 hours walk of the end. Edale, I'll never look on you the same. The highlight of today may well be crossing the M62 on that bridge - or Black Hill, don't know. Let's get on with it!

Looking back to Stoodley Pike.

Warland Reservoir.

The Aiggin Stone, a medieval waymarker on Blackstone Edge.

1946 Crowden
Arrived Crowden 1850 - no one in reception on the camp site here so I just pitched - just met the guy now he says everything OK. Shop opening again in 10 minutes - will get milk and stuff. Should cook but the place is crawling with midges. And it keeps on raining a bit.

Blackstone Edge (472m).

Approaching the M62 crossing. Seen this bridge many times from the road...

Anyway, how was today? Good. Long, but good. It didn't rain on me much, otherwise it would've been the proverbial. It was a long way though, about 24.5 miles door to door. Crossing the M62 was interesting - a little bit scary actually - and there were lots of trig points today - 4 I think; Blackstone Edge; White Hill; Standedge and Black Hill - which really would be impossible without slabs - God knows how they used to do this walk. There was also a lot more climbing today than I thought by looking at the map last night. Amazingly this has been the second most climbing day after Day 1. No wonder I'm knackered :)

Cotton grass and stone slabs. Just like on Day 1.

Wessenden Reservoir.

At Wessenden Head looking ahead to the path over Black Hill.

Still, I am now on home turf - only 16 miles over Kinder to go. There's a monster climb tomorrow morning but once up there it's a moorland trudge on slabs. Forecast says light rain.
Oh, today I lost a glove. Dope! Now my left hand has to go in the pocket. I think I may have lost it when I went to the toilet! And I had some trouble fording some streams coming across Round Hill Moss - a couple of times my foot was right in the stream! And today was the first time a bog tried to suck me into it. Not so bad, but weird feeling.

Black Hill (582m). Scene of many previous PW nightmares.

Imagine what this would be like without the slabs!

2110 Crowden
Just had my dinner - that Uncle Ben's stuff I've been carrying since KY! Actually it wasn't bad - and I had a bowl of coffee to wake me up a bit. Bought some bacon for the morning. Aim to leave about 9 means up and functioning at 8. Going to read "Into the Wild" a bit now, until it gets too dark.

Danger Deep Bogs! Please keep to path!!

Day 15 Statistics

MAN - CRO
24.5 miles (258 miles from KY; 93%)
1657m ascent
582m max elev.
time moving: 8h24m
time stopped: 0h29m
overall average: 2.8mph
average while moving: 2.9mph

My feet didn't look so good after 15 days hard walking.

Pennine Way Day 14 - Lothersdale - Mankinholes

July 7, 2008

Journal

0837 Lothersdale
Up at last.. rained in the night. But reasonably bright now. Sort out feet, sort out GPS traces, then I'll pack up and move on. Long day ahead :)

Non-National Park footpaths are not always so welcoming looking...

Climbing up onto Ickornshaw Moor - rain, rain more rain.

2050 Top Brink Inn, Mankinholes
Oh my God what a day! Rained about 6 hours solid. Finally made it to Mankinholes. And thank God they a) were open; b) were still a youth hostel and c) had a bed for me.

That was a long way with a lot of climbing compounded by the weather - I wrang my socks out twice - my feet were wet after 2 miles! Once again the book is nonsense for distances.

It did clear up for the last two hours but my shorts wouldn't dry out and now I have painful chapped skin on the insides of my legs... Pray for it to heal overnight and for clear, dry weather tomorrow...

Right now I'm in the Top Brink pub - my God I needed a beer. I can totally see why Dad gave up here. They have about 10 beers on draught!

Walshaw Dean Middle Reservoir.

The PW at Pry Hill - you don't seriously expect me to walk up that do you?

The paths on this walk are occasionally not very good, especially around towns that are not in a national park. There was a bit where I was supposed to walk between 2 walls through all manner of nettles and stuff - luckily there was a nice field parallel to walk up! The people in the house there thought I was lost - I wasn't - I just could bloody believe that that was the path! It's the premier national trail ffs! Lots of up and down today as well. Saw Top Withens - just a ruin. But it's true that some of the signs around Haworth are in Japanese. Weird!

Dropping down into Hebden Bridge.

The fact that is had rained so much of course meant that all becks and rivers were in full force - at Hebble Hole it was so powerful!

Mmmm starter justd arrive - black pudding - v. nice... probably could've eaten the mixed grill I reckon, but anyway, cumberland sausage to come! :)

Isn't cumberland sausage usually a spiral? Maybe I'm wrong but anyway... it was nice too, and God I needed it. Now on 3rd pint of Lomond Gold's Blonde Ale @ 5% - need to go after this and it'll be dark soon... and the door closes at 11 - not that that's a problem - I'll be back at half ten.. then I can check on how all my stuff in the drying room is doing.

You can see Stoodley Pike from miles away.

And then you walk right past it.

Later @ Mankinholes YHA
So back at the YHA - my inner thighs really hurt from the chapped skin. Have put more savlon on them - doubt they'll be painless in the morning though :(

Just before dropping down off the PW to Mankinholes.

Day 14 Statistics

LOT - MAN
23.6 miles
1403m ascent
452m max elev.
time moving: 8h25m
time stopped: 0h43m
overall average: 2.6mph
average while moving: 2.8mph

Comments

You can see I think that I was getting to the point now where I really needed the end to come. I wasn't writing as much in the journal during the day and this day in particular I remember the walking was quite hard because of the weather. My camera lens steamed up so a lot of my pictures came out blurry too.

Of course there was no question now that I wouldn't finish, but I had a conversation with the manager of the Mankinholes YHA who told me that after I finished this walk I wouldn't want to look at my hiking boots for a very long time. As it turned out, he was right!

Pennine Way Day 13 - Malham - Lothersdale

July 6, 2008

Journal

0933 Miresfield B&B, Malham
Had a nice breakfast in the B&B here with Ciska. All stuff is dry amazingly after all that rain. Will put this little book in my hermetic bag today, after the horse has bolted so to speak. I should've put it in yesterday when the rain started but it was so bad I just put my head down and shut out all thoughts except putting one foot in front of the other. Today I'm making for Lothersdale or Cowling so it'll be 14-17 miles. 4 days left including today.

Lots of fields today.

The Leeds-Liverpool Canal at Gargrave.

The canal south of Gargrave.

1235 Gargrave 6.6 miles from Malham.
Started wet from Malham but has brightened up towards Gargrave. In the Mason's Arms (Good Pub Guide) for a pint of Landlord. Started spitting again upon arrival here. Phone battery flat. Should've charged it last night. Dope. So far today mainly river walking and pastures. It's been easy going so far. At one point I met a Dutch couple going the other way. Seen the Leeds-Liverpool canal for the first time today just now. And in Gargrave they have a sign post saying Edale 70 miles, KY 186. Good stuff. I think 186 is wrong though, I make it about 200. Should go back and get some cash before I leave.

Agricultural bog. Awful stuff.

Thornton-in-Craven. "You'll get no welcome here, son!"

1635 Lothersdale 15.8 miles
Further than the book says. Got 'lost' twice today in poorly signed fields. Lots of agricultural bog too - I hate it - arrived here with God knows what in my socks. Right 3rd toenail hurting now - funny how Ciska just asked if it was OK - it has been until now! Don't know where I'm staying yet. Will ask at bar in a bit. I'm in the Hare & Hounds by the way. Barefoot at the moment so really hope I can stay here tonight. Feet always itch and feel weird when they've been wet in the boots. Charging phone in pub here - still no network - Dales must be a black spot or something! - I would've tried it earlier but I obviously left it on yesterday and the battery was dead.

Pinshaw Beacon. Only proper hill of the day.

I think the PW weather gods hate me today. It's now quite pleasant, but it certainly wasn't before... couldn't see Pen-y-ghent from Pinshaw Beacon. :( Maybe if it's clear tomorrow I'll see it from when I go over to Ickornshaw. Tomorrow's going to be a bastard long way - and the day after - and then I'll drag my carcass over Kinder to Edale... :)

Today was another 'link' stage - too agricultural for my liking - OH! - I got chased by cows in a field just before Thornton-in-Craven! I had to run up a steep slope to get out of their way!! Another first for me on the PW. What happened I think is that crossing this field I accidentally ended up inbetween the cows and their calfs and they went all defensive and mental. Maybe they didn't get that close to me but I wasn't looking I was dashing up the slope with every ounce of effort I had! Quite surprised - never seen cows get upset before. Thing is, they're thick animals, but they're heavy.

The cows that almost got me!

1720
So according to the bar staff here there's no B&B in Lothersdale only camping at that Lynmouth place... so, could be camping tonight after all! Unless I plod on to Ickornshaw.

1752
Just rang home and a few B&Bs - either not there anymore or full. Not sure what to do now.. Lothersdale is obviously not the gem that the book says it is... Thing is, it's so nice outside now as well, maybe I should walk on a bit.. or just go and set up camp and have done with it... at this Lynmouth place.

1837
So, got my tent up at Lynmouth just in the nick of time before the rain started again. The weather is so changeable! But maybe it was just a flash in the pan because it's stopped again now and I'm back in the pub :) Apparently there's some signal here, I could receive texts and surf the net.

Started reconstructing the little journal that got water damaged - maybe the damage is not irrepairable - I can make out some of it and in any case when I get home I'll type it up quickly to capture the memories [ha! only took 4 years to get around to this!].

1923
Should probably order food...

Later
So had soup (cream of vegetable) and gammon steak in the Hare & Hounds here. Came back to camp and read 'Into the Wild' until dark. Good book but such a sad story in a way.

Impressive clouds and light in Lothersdale.

Day 13 Statistics

MAL - LOT
15.8 miles
678m ascent
392m max elev.
time moving: 5h06m
time stopped: 0h17m
overall average: 2.9mph
average while moving: 3.1mph

Pennine Way Day 12 - Horton-in-Ribblesdale - Malham

July 5, 2008

Journal

Up early, slept OK. But the weather has changed :( Looks OK now but v. windy and may rain later. Not particularly encouraging especially after the promise of yesterday. Ciska is meeting me in Malham tonight so hopefully when I get out of the valley there'll be some signal and I can get hold of her.

Leaving Horton-in-Ribblesdale.

Pen-y-Ghent summit. No view today, but high wind!

Pen-y-Ghent after the descent. Distinctive profile.

1431 Malham
My God it has rained cats and dogs on me today. On Fountains Fell I'd have been drier under an actual fountain! Anyway, I made it to Malham - just got my head down and pressed on - and still no signal so I don't know where I'm meeting Ciska. Oh! and disaster! It was so wet that my little journal is ruined :( :( A lot of the stuff I've written is smudged and illegible now. Hopefully I can reconstruct it later but not sure [some parts I couldn't remember but turned out mostly ok - that's where this write-up comes from after all]. A lot of the statistics I was recording have been erased :( That bloody coat isn't waterproof any more. And my feet are wet. I'm all wet, and now I'm getting cold because I'm not moving any more. Shivering now. Need to find out where we're staying!

Malham Tarn. Low cloud. Wet. Miserable!

Limestone country. On the descent into Malham.

Fabulous limestone pavement atop Malham Cove.

Later
OK turned out Ciska had gone for a run, but now all sorted. We're in the Miresfield B&B. Had dinner in The Lister Arms which was very good. Nice to see someone again. Doing it solo this is probably a good idea - to have stops where you meet friends or family once or twice. Keeps you sane!

The Lister Arms. Nice food and drink to be had here.

Day 12 Statistics

HOR - MAL
15.1 miles
1523m ascent
719m max elev.
time moving:  5h34m
time stopped: 0h26m
overall average: 2.5mph
average while moving: 2.7mph

The spectacular Malham Cove.

Comments

Pen-y-Ghent summit was incredibly windy. I was clinging on to my map! Then you have to go off the front of the hill down a steep stone staircase. With the wind and my big rucksack on, this was quite scary. I could've got blown off easily - the wind was supporting my weight it was that strong.

And it really did rain a lot on me up there on Fountains Fell. Normally I would have taken more pictures and written more in my little book, but it was just too horrible. I could barely see 2 metres ahead of me up there, with the rain and cloud and everything. I saw a couple of people and I almost went the wrong way once, but it worked out fine. If I ever do the PW again, I'd like a clear day on this stretch so that I can see some views! This area really is one of the most beautiful in the country though.

Pennine Way Day 11 - Hawes - Horton-in-Ribblesdale

1028 Ten End 3.4 miles from Hawes
Steep long climb up from Hawes towards the Cam High Road. Windy, but sunny. Should be relatively flat now for some miles.

On the West Cam Road.

Sheep being sheared. West Cam Road.

Cam High Road.

 1118 Cam High Road 5.8 miles
Roman road. I have of course done a bit of this path before, in the midsts of the past when I did the Dales Way with Jonathan Arkell. Looking ahead from here you can see Pen-y-ghent, but that's for tomorrow. Otherwise it's perfect up here at the moment, could be incredibly grim as it was on the Dales Way, but today, lovely.

I've been here before, on the other path (Dales Way), in much poorer weather.

1252 Ling Gill Bridge 9.4 miles
Need a rest!

Fortunately walkers are allowed!

1440 Pen-y-Ghent cafe, Horton 14.3 miles
Arrived Pen-y-ghent cafe, Horton-in-Ribblesdale. Got some badges to glue to my rucksack sometime in the future. Signed the PW book - saw Paul and Colin and Tim's [people I'd met so far on the way] names in it - cool! Loads of school children here probably on a trip? Nice place to come for a school trip if so. Interestingly the man in the cafe knew Stokesley - he has a friend on The Avenue, turns out it's Sarah Chapman's dad. He made a note of my name. Small world isn't it?

The Pen-y-Ghent cafe, Horton. Here you can sign the book!

Later, The Crown, Horton
Been to the campsite: "No vacancies" - a bit odd since the field doesn't look anywhere near full. Maybe they have a maximum number of people. Anyway, I have repared to The Crown for a pint of Old Peculier (on tap) to consider the options: The Golden Lion has a bunk room - or I could wild camp somewhere. Hadn't expected to come unstuck today.... So, I was talking with the barmaid here and she reckons I should just go over and ask at the campsite in spite of the no vacancy signs... seems odd but I guess I'm going to try it :)

No room at the Inn?

There's no network here of course, not necessarily a bad thing. Today's walking was quite straightforward and encouraged a faster pace and not much stop time. It's amazing how the weather plays such a role in all this. Only one minor navigation problem today, on Cam End there's no sign or cairn to tell you you have to turn left off the main track which continues as the Dales Way towards Ribblehead. I also realised today that the hill I've been seeing which I thought was Pen-y-ghent is really Ingleborough. No wonder I was confused. Today has been really good - proper walking - the Pennine Way does not have a lot of it I think. But that's why it's the hardest. And I'm doing it because it's the hardest :)

The weather is glorious today, bodes well for tomorrow, really warm and sunny. Makes such a difference to how difficult this is. Hope it stays like this into tomorrow... Well, better go back to the camp site and see what's what.

Later
Back in The Crown now, food ordered. Camp site all sorted out. When I went back I spoke to the man in the field and he said they "keep some" places back for "people like me", i.e. walkers on PW. That's great, but I didn't get that from the sign on the gate! Anyway, I was there at the same time as a nice young lady on her own seemingly. Wanted to ask her if she'd like to go for a drink but I didn't. After that I noticed she was pitching her tent next to mine. Maybe I'll talk to her later on if she's still there.

Pen-y-Ghent from Horton church. Going up there tomorrow.

1819
Written postcards. Hungry! Just looked back through the pages of this little diary. Good stuff! And guess what? I AM going to do this :)

Later
I did speak to that girl over a bottle of wine. She lives in Yarm! The camp site is busy because there's a charity walk on tomorrow. Anyway, it was a beautiful still night only punctuated by the insane giggling of the two girls pitched right near me - went on until 2am.

Day 11 Statistics

HAW - HOR
14.3 miles
555m ascent
581m max elev.
time moving: 4h45m
time stopped: 0h34m
overall average: 2.7mph

Pennine Way Day 10 - Keld - Hawes

July 3, 2008

Journal

0945 Setting off... see how it goes ;)

Leaving the Keld Lodge, fed and watered.

Later in Thwaite
To get here from Keld there's a circuit of Kisdon Hill which from the map seems unnecessary but actually lets you see views of old Swaledale mines and you get to walk along some of Yorkshire's fabled green lanes. Thwaite is a sleepy little place. After here there's a big long gradual climb onto Great Shunner Fell.

Dropping down into Thwaite, a pretty green lane.

Great Shunner Fell (716m) 6.6 miles from Keld
Fantastic view from up here - with a substantial seat / cairn to have a rest. Also, mobile signal for the first time in days, so (bizarrely) sent some texts and a picture message!

Approaching Great Shunner Fell.

On Great Shunner Fell.

1438 Hardraw 11.45 miles
In the Green Dragon. It was a long descent into Hardraw off Great Shunner Fell - I thought the track would never end! But I feel quite good today. I think I will finish this walk after all :) Perseverance, determination, endurance. I'm learning about myself. The beer I'm drinking here is really nice - Tippell Brewery "Balls Up!" - tasty!

The descent to Hardraw is very long, but a good track.

Later in Hawes
As soon as I left Hardraw it started raining, so a miserable end to the day. Made it into the YHA before it opened, but able to start getting my wet things dry. Alls well, geezer showed up and there's room for me to stay. Going to eat in Hawes because it has a lot of nice looking pubs.

Some of the stiles on the PW are pretty tough to get over
with a big rucksack on. This one was particularly difficult!

2000 The Fountain, Hawes
Had a nice dinner - spicy wings and lasagne. Only one pint of Riggwelter drunk, which since it's on draught here is quite an achievement in itself, but probably for the best. Not sure what to do now... another beer? I think not. Probably should phone the family :)

Day 10 Statistics

KLD - HAW13.22 miles (164 miles from KY; 59.9%)
712m ascent
716m max elev.
overall average: 2.5mph

The Green Dragon, Hardraw.

Pennine Way Day 9 - Tan Hill - Keld

July 2, 2008 

Journal

1005 Tan Hill Inn
Bit of a mad night last night. The landlady here is completely crazy. There are chickens in the pub and sheep trying to get in still. She also has a furry spider attached to a string which is threaded over the beams to a hook behind the bar. Using this she can lower the spider onto the person who is sitting at a certain table in the bar. She scared the living daylights out of the girl who was sitting there this morning! Funny, but if that girl had been scared of spiders, it might not have been! Oh, and the girl was the one from behind the bar last night, who I assumed worked here, but it turns out that her and her boyfriend are guests too! Crazy place.

Morning at the Tan Hill Inn.

When I arrived down for breakfast, she asked me if I wanted tea or coffee - "Coffee, thanks" I said. "Well there's the kettle, get it yourself!" was the reply. When I came back with it, she said "You're a selfish b*****d!" because I hadn't offered everyone a cup. All light-hearted and I found it quite hilarious, but I can imagine it might not go down well with everyone. The bar here is decorated with funny signs like "There's no 'F' in 'parking'".

1204 Tan Hill

Still here. Have chilled out in the bar (no drinking of course). Having another coffee then off.

Looking back north from the moor.

Dropping down off the moor into Keld, some mountain bikers blast past.

1420 Keld Lodge 4.5 miles
I smell bad - need a clean :)

Later @ Keld Lodge
Good day just chatting with Mum and Dad - don't get that too often nowadays. Covered lots of topics, just nice to talk to them. They're great. Apparently Dad is keeping his own diary of my PW adventure! Typical Dad - probably on computer and everything :) Still, I can't talk ;)

My feet are a bit swollen tonight.

In Keld.

Day 9 Statistics

TAN - KLD
4.5 miles (151 miles since KY; 55.1%)
145m ascent
time stopped: 0h39m
time moving: 1h37m
overall average: 2.8mph
average while moving: 2.9mph

Comments

Of course it was Dad's birthday, one of the reasons they met me on this day. It was good to get a proper shower and sort all my stuff out - and I think my body appreciated another short day. Maybe this is the way I can succeed at things like this - by mixing up the distances a lot.