5/15/08

Day 8: Kirkby Stephen to Keld/Muker (July 1, 2007)

Accommodation: Swale Farm
Distance walked: 13 miles

Evidence of the solitary walk up to Nine Standards

All I can say is thank goodness for the trekking pole!!... I finished today and I really felt like I could keep going for awhile except for the DOWNPOUR rain that started at the end of the walk. I really don’t think we are going to have one good weather day here. Today was my first day walking all by myself and I was nervous and not sure how it was going to go, but it was actually really quite nice having that solitude. I got going around 8:45, and kind of took my time walking out of Kirkby Stephen, then heading up to the Nine Standards. I just wanted to keep on my map and enjoy myself. The Nine Standards are these nine pillars of stone on the top of a hillside that kind of ominously look over the horizon. No one really knows why they were built, but one theory says that they could have been used as decoys to scare of Scottish invaders from the north. I guess they look a little like an army of giants.....

Looking back on the road left behind

And forward to the road ahead

So up I went, and came to this point where there was a sign for public land leeways, one going off and one straight ahead. I thought this was where the trail to the left split that I was supposed to take and went off. And even though there were no cairns or sheep fold, it wasn’t until I was shoe deep in muck that I thought I might be wrong and turned back (although as it turns out the bog was much worse on the correct path on the way down!) So I turned around and sure enough a little bit up was a clear sign for the Coast to Coast. This is one place Steddy needs to be a little more clear on! So up I went and looking down I saw a couple of people doing the same thing I did! I tried to whistle and wave to them but after several minutes of failing to get their attention I decided to just keep going.

The right C2C sign

I made it up to Nine Standards and was able to have them to myself for 10 minutes or so, having some lunch before a whole herd of people arrived - a couple who I ended up walking with more later on, a big group of rowdy older men somewhere in Yorkshire that had such thick accents I couldn’t understand a word of what they were saying, and a younger group of three. By the way, today we crossed into Yorkshire from Cumbria!

Where's Coty?!

On the way down we all sort of followed each other as we all played leap frog through the peat bogs. Wow - okay now I know what they mean by boggy. I put my trekking pole into one and it sunk 1/3 of the way up. And then another one I stepped in and went in past my shoe and had to pull myself out! The whole way down was like this and after awhile I think the fun had worn off and I just wanted to get out of it! I see how in, I think the Hound of the Baskervilles, the villain gets caught in a bog. Finally we did get off the hillside. At this time, most everyone else stopped for lunch, but I decided to keep going.





The art of bog jumping

But going didn’t get much easier. All the rain had made everything very wet and I had to jump across streams and through grass and my shoes were soaked. I made it to a farm called Ravenseat which advertised for drinks and homemade scones and I was so tempted to stop, but I also wanted to try and miss the rain that seemed to be looming in the distance. But alas, after a few fields there were some sprinkles and then I heard this rumbling and couldn’t figure out what it was. Then all the sudden there was a big boom and crack, and it dawned on me....I’m in the middle of a thunderstorm. So there I was walking in the middle of a wet open field on a hillside with a metal trekking pole in a thunder and lightning storm. This went against everything my childhood safety training taught me, and by then I was having visions of me getting struck by lightning, so I just quickened my pace and tried to get out of there. But then the rain really started pouring and I gave in and put on the rain pants, which I’ll have to say, kept me much happier than if I hadn’t put them on because the rain just kept getting heavier and heavier as I descended to the road to Keld. I had the choice to either continue on the trail or take the road, and wanting to see the waterfall, I took the road. However, the waterfall was falling brown water because of the heavy rain. Still neat though! The descent to Keld brought me into Swaledale Valley, which when the sun came out later in the evening was so beautiful. I can see why James Herriot would love this valley so much.

If you ever feel lost........

.....just trust the animals to point you in the right direction!

But anyway, arriving in Keld at around 3:00 I called Swale Farm, and then, feeling a little awkward, waited in the phone booth for a ride into Muker. I’ll tell you, arriving soaked it was wonderful to get a nice shower in a great room that was en suite. I think this was our favorite place - very cozy. Also, apparently James Herriot’s favorite village was Muker! Later in the day the clouds cleared, and we were able to walk around the little village and see the beauty of the area with warmth and light. Today was a day of walking with new people. A different feeling from before but new adventures for the future.






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