Keld Tuesday 26 May 2015
Start: Horton in Ribblesdale
Finish: Keld
Miles walked today: 27
Total miles: 545
A long day - but good. I'm walking at 8.30 after saying goodbye to Chris's family and Mike. Looking back at Horton in Ribblesdale I'm surprised to see the scars above the village from massive quarrying operations.
Around 10 I'm sitting and breakfasting on cheese, apples and digestives. It really is a life of luxury out here... (does cheese go off? It's been in my pack a while, not refrigerated. Tastes and smells ok). There is not a sound except for birds and the occasional bleat from a sheep. Wonderful.
Twice in the morning I see lively streams disappear into massive caverns leading deep underground. Potholing? Perhaps not for me...
I get to Hawes around 1.30 and get some refreshments in a bikers cafe. It's a pleasant place with a market today. It's too early to stop so I decide to head for Keld, via Great Shunner Fell (2350 feet). The climb is relatively gentle. By 7 pm I'm walking high up on one side of the valley of the River Swale which leads to Keld. At one point the side of the valley is completely yellow with primroses.
Don't want to camp. The B&B is full, as is the (ex YHA) hotel. But just when I'm giving up hope and thinking of getting my tent out I find an excellent campsite with yurts and rooms. I share a room with David and Stephen from the US who two weeks ago both qualified as doctors. They're doing the Coast to Coast walk as a reward for over six years hard study. Me and Tina did the coast to coast in 2007 and thoroughly enjoyed it. Keld is where the Pennine Way and Wainwright's Coast to Coast intersect.
