Day 11: Richmond to Ingleby Cross (July 4, 2007)

Accommodation: Park House, mile down the road from Ingleby Cross, at the base of the Cleveland Hills
Distance Walked: 24 Miles

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!

I think Mountain Goat made it to Robin Hood's Bay today if everything went as planned for him. Three more days for us. Wow - three days. I've been so caught up in making the 24 mile trek that I haven't really thought that it is almost over.

So today: How do I feel? I'm hobbling around like a crotchety old 90 year old. (Quite a humorous picture I know) I successfully walked 24 miles, but my feet are really NOT happy with me right now. I will have to give them a good massage. I left the Emmanuel Guest House around 7:50 this morning to go meet up with Rob. I really think the guest house must get more business because of Steddy's misprint because in reality they are quite a distance from the square, where today's walk started. I must have put at least a half mile extra on the beginning of the walk. And then with the mile extra from Ingleby Cross - that's almost a marathon!

Looking back at Richmond castle in the early morning light

Anyway, I met Ron at his B & B and started off. Lucky him, his place was right at the start of the path. I'm glad we decided to walk this day together. Good moral support! So we started off to cross the infamous Vale of Mowbray, and I'll have to say I was feeling pretty good - then we somehow got turned around on a road and I'm glad he had a bigger map to get us back on track, because I probably would have gotten completely turned around on my own. Getting out of town, we descended to the river path and that's when the fun began. I decided to wear my tennis shoes because I wanted something light on the roads. What I didn't think about was that while yes, half of today's walk was going to be on tarmac, today's walk was 24 miles. That meant 12 miles on trail. And not just any trail. What I didn't think about - or know about - was that the paths we actually did walk on were like a slip n slide of mud. With all the recent rain, the trails had turned to complete muck, and I was skating all over the place. I actually did slip and fall on a hill. Thank goodness for my trekking pole or I would have slid down more than I did. I think I spent half my energy on trying to not fall and even those with hiking boots were having trouble. We ran into Crazy Hair and her group and one of them actually did fall down a slope. Those four women got such a bad wrap to start off with but they are really nice! They just have such a strange dynamic. But I think we are set to arrive in Robin Hood's Bay on the same day.

Humor was good on this long walk....
this rat on a stile gave us a good chuckle!

So we walked on and then at one point Crazy Hair, with very strong sureness, pointed us down a path. I was hesitant, but we went and we soon discovered our error when we ended up in a field of cows and a bull. We turned around to find they were turning around -thanks for telling us! We did come to the hamlet of Bolton-on-Swale and made a slight detour to see the monument of Henry Jenkins, a man who supposedly lived to be 169 years old. Except we never found it. I swear we followed that map to a 't,' but alas Henry Jenkins was nowhere to be found.

So the mix of mud and tarmac continued to Dansby Wiske - 14 miles in, 10 to go. All this while I was having a debate as to whether it was worth it for me to have worn tennis shoes of not. I tended to swing from one side to the other depending on what surface I was on, but I think in the end hiking boots won. After Dansby Wiske my pains started to kick in and at one point my right foot felt so painful, like it was in cramps, that I was almost in tears, and I could feel everything under my feet and just wished I had a sturdier boot. So even despite the tarmac - hiking shoes win. Ideally probably having both pairs, but if you only have one - pick the hiking shoe. You can always walk in the grass by the road. Because skating your way through muddy paths is not much fun. Humorous looking back now, but in the present, not so much. By the way, its been the rainiest June on record here. Just my luck! And England isn't known for the sunniest of weather anyhow. Tomorrow is supposed to be nice though. *crossing fingers*

Breaking for lunch with a Shrek
looking character in Dansby Wiske.

We reached Dansby Wiske around 2:00 and sat down for lunch. Crazy Hair and the gang coming in about 15 minutes behind. As we were finishing a huge shower came through and just as we had finished putting on our rain pants and coat, it stopped. However, I was defiant and continued to walk with my rain pants for awhile. It took enough effort to put them on! So on we trekked over the Vale of Mowbray, all the while the Cleveland Hills slowly getting more visible. The whole day you could always hear the faint noise of traffic, and I couldn't help but think how fast they could drive from Richmond to Ingleby and long a little every time a car drove past. But no, I came to walk across England and that's what I'm going to do! So onward I go!

Watch our for trains!

I'll have to say that really the scenery this day was not all that bad. Yes its farm fields, but really I do find the beauty in that. And today was pretty good weather so that might have helped. But really it's not bad. The whole point of doing the 24 miles in one go is to get this supposedly long, monotonous day over with, but I'd actually have to say that the bit from Shap to Kirkby Stephen was probably my least favorite part. And of any potential long day, I would recommend that be the one. Of course then you wouldn't be able to stop in that fabulous chocolate factory in Orton. Because I still think about that chocolate cake!

Fields, fields, and more fields...
with little arrows pointing the way!

Oh wow- I'm exhausted! So that was the basis of our day. Ron is great to walk with because we have conversation but we also are fine just being with ourselves. I like that. No obligation to have to carry a conversation. I left him in Ingleby Arncliff after an awful run across the motorway. This is the one spot on the walk where you encounter serious traffic. We waited and waited for an opening in the cars, and oh god- I didn't realize how tight my legs were, but when we took off across the road in a 'run,' my upper thigh just tensed up and HATED me. Wow - that was pain. After Arncliff I hobbled along past Ingleby Cross and my last mile to Park House where I got this second wind and actually felt like I could keep going. Probably the adrenaline kicking in at the realization that YES! I had made it! I had walked 24 miles across the Vale of Mowbray. I CAN DO IT!!



Looking back after a hard days walk - and another sheep herd!

MORE PHOTOS FROM DAY 11!