Captain's Log

Keld

It had been another frosty night and the outer canvas of my tent was white with frost. I wanted to make an early start and so I didn’t wait for the sun to rise above the trees to melt the frost and evaporate it. I wiped what I could off the tent and packed it away. A couple of other walkers beat me to the campsite’s exit, but most campers seemed to be having a lie-in. Sleepy Keld was still drowsing as I headed for the footpath to get me back on the Pennine Way trail.   

At just over 11 miles, today’s walk would be a lot easier than yesterday's. There wouldn’t be as much ascent either. The Pennine Way initially  follows a contour along Kisdon Hill. The elevation provides great views down into the valley and over to Swinner Gill. I think this is one of the prettiest sections of the Pennine Way. I’d then descend to the pretty village of Thwaite where the tea-room might be open, if I was lucky. There would then be a long and gradual traverse of the whale-like hump of Great Shunner Fell. This would deliver me to Wensleydale and my campsite for the night at Hardraw. The only sting in the tale would be the 2-3 miles I’d have to complete to get supplies from Hawes, after my walk. There was also the pleasing prospect of quaffing a pint of Old Peculiar at the Green Dragon pub at Hardraw. 

Kisdon Hill

There’s a 20 minute out-and-back option from the Pennine Way, to visit Kisdon Force. The waterfall is along the River Swale that runs down the valley from Keld. It is normally well worth a visit (see the Captain’s Log, Completing A Kisdon Classic), but I decided to give it a miss today. Given the lack of rain over the last week or so, I doubted that it would have been as impressive as the last time I visited. I continued on the Pennine Way along the eastern flank of Kisdon Hill. At first, the surrounding vegetation blocked views into the valley, but eventually I escaped the branches and leaves and a wonderful panorama opened up. It was a delightful view down to the sparkling River Swale in the valley bottom. On the opposite side of the valley, Swinner Gill folded its way into the hillside. Normally, you can see walkers making their way up the valley, but it was deserted today. Maybe it was just too early. The path along the hillside was stony and undulating. It was necessary to keep a canny eye on my footing as well as the scenery. As I went further down the valley, the view opened up into the main Swaledale valley. The path breached the shoulder of the southern end of Kisdon Hill and I got a tremendous view westwards to Great Shunner Fell. It really was a big lump. At its foot in the valley was the village of Thwaite and I started making my descent towards it. The trail meandered through small fields and between stone walls before it reached the valley bottom. I made my way across the fields to the small collection of buildings. 

Thwaite

As I half-expected, I was far too early for the tearoom to be open. I settled for one of my own flapjacks, while sitting on the bench in the centre of the village. As I was chomping away on my oaty cake, two women walked by and we started chatting. They were on their way to Keld taking the path on the western side of Kisdon Hill, rather than the Pennine Way. I’d walked this path with the Kapitan and the Cabin Boy about 18 months ago (see the Captain’s Log, Completing A Kisdon Classic) and I thoroughly recommended it to them. They sounded American and so I asked where they were from.
‘We’re Canadians. We are NOT Americans,' one answered. Well, that was clear enough. To be more precise, they were from Ottawa. They were on a self-guided walking holiday that would take them around the Dales and then over to the North York Moors, following some of the Cleveland Way along the coast.’ They were using luggage transfer rather than carrying big packs. They said that they’d walked a few of the UK’s national trails over a number of years. It seemed odd that they’d travel all this way to the UK when they had the Canadian wilderness on their doorstep back home. 

Great Shunner Fell

Although I think Great Shunner Fell is impressive and has a great 360° view from its summit, I don’t find it an inspiring climb. Especially so, from Thwaite. The ascent was gradual enough and the stone path (later slabs) was favourable underfoot. The problem was that there’s not much of a view ahead. The only thing of interest was a large cairn on the ridge before you reached the summit. At first, you think this might be a person, but when it doesn’t move, you realise that it's a stack of stones. Occasionally, the boredom might be broken by spotting walkers making their way down from the summit. As I got higher, things improved a bit. The view down the length of the Swaledale valley was exceptional. There was no escaping though that the climb to Great Shunner Fell’s summit was a long, slow and sometimes tedious haul.   

I’ve never been to Great Shunner Fell's summit on a calm day. For some reason it always seems to be blowing a gale up there. Today was no exception. As I reached the last climb to its top, I spotted some heads in the stone cross shelter at its summit. This was a little disappointing since I wanted to commandeer the sheltered quadrant in order to brew a coffee. When I reached the shelter I was surprised to find all quadrants empty; its recent occupants were descending along the path to Hawes. It seemed my luck was in. It was great to get out of the wind and get a caffeine boost. A couple of women approached from the Hawes direction, but didn’t linger at the summit and headed straight down towards Thwaite. I packed my stuff up and headed towards Wensleydale. It was all downhill from here. 

Wensleydale

The 4 miles descent into Wensleydale was just as gradual as the ascent had been earlier in the morning. The path did offer more views though. Looking southwards I could see the distinctive hump of Ingleborough and Whernside to its right. They seemed a good distance away. Tomorrow’s walk would be a long tramp over to them. Over to my left I could see the occasional vehicle making its way over Buttertubs pass, the road link between Wensleydale and Swaledale. This was a challenging route favoured by cyclists. I only saw a handful of walkers coming the other way. It seemed a bit odd on such a wonderfully sunny day. The wind was so strong though, it actually blew me off the path at some points. As I got lower, it gradually lost its power, until it was only a light breeze when I reached the stone walls of the field system in the bottom of the valley. I accompanied an elderly couple from Berwick-upon-Tweed along the stone lane to Hardraw. This was their first visit to the Dales and they were very impressed.
‘Have you visited Malham Cove and Goredale Scar?’ I asked. They’d never heard of the place. It seemed weird that such iconic places were unknown to some people. 

I was a little early for the campsite at Hardraw  and so I dropped in at the neighbouring Green Dragon pub. The beer was good, but 10p a pint more expensive than the one at the Tan Hill Inn. Their menu was sadly lacking in vegetarian options and the prices were significantly beyond my budget anyway. I’d have to walk into Hawes later to get food for my tea. 

Hardraw And Hawes

My route from Hardraw to Hawes actually followed the Pennine Way. The River Ure is traversed using a road bridge. Well, normally that’s the idea. Today, the bridge was completely blocked by an excavator that was reinforcing the banks of the river. I looked at the metal barriers across the road; there were no information boards attached as to what pedestrians should do to get to Hawes. The only other route I could think of was a long diversion via Appersett. As I was pondering what to do, I saw some other walkers coming across the neighbouring field towards me. It seemed that there was now an unofficial pedestrian diversion that went through this field and the cricket club ground, before gaining access to the bridge. Just beyond the bridge was the infamous footpath kissing gate that one must pass through to cut off a bend of the road walk. The gap’s so narrow that people always find it a struggle to get through. Some wag had written ‘Titty Gate’ on the thing.     

Hawes was its usual busy self. I entered the Spar and started collecting items for my tea and some snacks for tomorrow's walk. The elderly lady behind the counter shouted over to me and said that I needed to get a meal-deal to save money. I didn’t really want a drink, but she was very insistent. As she was checking my stuff out, she said that my McCoys crisps didn’t qualify for a meal-deal; they needed to be Walkers instead. I really prefer McCoy’s crisps, but I dutifully changed them, much to the chagrin of the people in the queue behind me.      

I made my way back to Hardraw and the campsite. It had been an easier day on the Pennine Way. Great Shunner Fell was a great lump to traverse, but it was a gradual ascent and descent. The views along Swaledale were delightful.  Tomorrow’s walk would be longer and harder. In fact, it'd be much longer and harder than I ever imagined.