So i arrived home on Sunday night, which is really only halfway but it's a major checkpoint.
So here's the breakdown of the trip so far:
DAYS TOTAL: 74
DAYS WALKING: 61
DAYS SIGHTSEEING / REST: 13
NIGHTS HOSTELS: 17
NIGHTS SOFAS: 12
NIGHTS "TAME" CAMPING: 9
NIGHTS WILD CAMPING: 36
MILES TOTAL: 934
MILES AV/WALKING DAY: 15.3
...
....STAT ATTACK COMPLETE!
maybe things like total elevation climbed would be interesting but i ain't got it!
ok, factual update time.
Arrived in Malham on (consults diary) Monday, with thunder clouds following like a shadow but without a further soaking.
Overnight was violently sick, I assume as a result of drinking water from that spring a few days earlier without sterilizing it. Won't be that naive/thirsty again.
So I was forced to spend two additional days in Malham recouperating. what joy. Gordale scar is very nice though.
So finally onward, spectacular Malham cove and limestone pavement, over fountains fell, and the scramble up Pennyghent, where I met a group of deaf schoolkids, a quick ice cream in Horton and a long hot evening looking unsuccessfully for camping spots on marshy moors whilst RAF helicopters swooped overhead, until finally arriving at firm ground beside the stream at Ling bridge.
Friday was a quick ten miles over to Hawes, in plenty of time to look round the creamery and eat seventeen different sorts of Wensleydale cheese.
Today was one of the most beautiful, with Englands highest waterfall Hardrow Force, a windy crossing of shunner fell and beautiful sunny views of lush Swaledale. And now the Tan Hill Inn. yay!
Wainright quote: "Never was a pint better earned"
Scheduled Home Monday. Temporarily. I'm worried though, because it may be difficult to get moving again after time off with home comforts.
Arriving home almost feels like a destination and achievement, though actually I'm only about halfway! Daunting!
Arrived in Malham on (consults diary) Monday, with thunder clouds following like a shadow but without a further soaking.
Overnight was violently sick, I assume as a result of drinking water from that spring a few days earlier without sterilizing it. Won't be that naive/thirsty again.
So I was forced to spend two additional days in Malham recouperating. what joy. Gordale scar is very nice though.
So finally onward, spectacular Malham cove and limestone pavement, over fountains fell, and the scramble up Pennyghent, where I met a group of deaf schoolkids, a quick ice cream in Horton and a long hot evening looking unsuccessfully for camping spots on marshy moors whilst RAF helicopters swooped overhead, until finally arriving at firm ground beside the stream at Ling bridge.
Friday was a quick ten miles over to Hawes, in plenty of time to look round the creamery and eat seventeen different sorts of Wensleydale cheese.
Today was one of the most beautiful, with Englands highest waterfall Hardrow Force, a windy crossing of shunner fell and beautiful sunny views of lush Swaledale. And now the Tan Hill Inn. yay!
Wainright quote: "Never was a pint better earned"
Scheduled Home Monday. Temporarily. I'm worried though, because it may be difficult to get moving again after time off with home comforts.
Arriving home almost feels like a destination and achievement, though actually I'm only about halfway! Daunting!
So finally I started the Pennine Way, labeled by some as the toughest long distance trail in the UK.
Maybe when it was created. Some quotes from the first few days of Wainright's seminal guidebook, in reference to the boggy expansive moors;
"better a postponement than a postmortem", "potential leg breaker", "roll your pants up above your knees",
"nor in this wilderness of peat, should one whoop with joy at coming across footprints, which too often do not indicate a track but merely the erratic wanderings of some unhappy wretch as lost as yourself",
"risk of being trapped or even entombed in the seepage hollows"
and finally: "before resuming the journey look around to make sure there is nobody in the vicinity sinking out of sight and in need of help"
An auspicious introduction! So as I climbed out of Edale into the fog it was with some trepidation and excitement at the challenge ahead.
However years have passed and times have changed.
I would suggest it is now impossible to get lost on the pennine way, or drown in a peat bog, since it has become a four foot wide pavement with some nice views.
That was my opinion halfway through day one, when I was asking people coming the other way if the terrain underfoot would be so pitifully boring all the way to Kirk Yelthom.
On a wet day like today I have come to appreciate the paved sections a little more, but no dammit, I should not. Where is the hardship and sense of achievement at surviving nature?
You may end a day wet with rain, but not muddy up to the waist and glad to be alive.
I predict soon that fat Americans on off-road mobility scooters will soon be riding the length of the pennine way and getting a t-shirt at the end.
The scenery however is beautiful whatever the weather, and what a relief to be back on open hills!
Maybe when it was created. Some quotes from the first few days of Wainright's seminal guidebook, in reference to the boggy expansive moors;
"better a postponement than a postmortem", "potential leg breaker", "roll your pants up above your knees",
"nor in this wilderness of peat, should one whoop with joy at coming across footprints, which too often do not indicate a track but merely the erratic wanderings of some unhappy wretch as lost as yourself",
"risk of being trapped or even entombed in the seepage hollows"
and finally: "before resuming the journey look around to make sure there is nobody in the vicinity sinking out of sight and in need of help"
An auspicious introduction! So as I climbed out of Edale into the fog it was with some trepidation and excitement at the challenge ahead.
However years have passed and times have changed.
I would suggest it is now impossible to get lost on the pennine way, or drown in a peat bog, since it has become a four foot wide pavement with some nice views.
That was my opinion halfway through day one, when I was asking people coming the other way if the terrain underfoot would be so pitifully boring all the way to Kirk Yelthom.
On a wet day like today I have come to appreciate the paved sections a little more, but no dammit, I should not. Where is the hardship and sense of achievement at surviving nature?
You may end a day wet with rain, but not muddy up to the waist and glad to be alive.
I predict soon that fat Americans on off-road mobility scooters will soon be riding the length of the pennine way and getting a t-shirt at the end.
The scenery however is beautiful whatever the weather, and what a relief to be back on open hills!
"thundery showers" I think sums it up.
a wet and windy camp on the moors last night but a brightening morning saw me looking forward to a sunny lunch atop the next trig point. However as I ascended the hill, a couple of light raindrops drew my attention skyward to see a grey curtain of torrential rain sweeping down the valley.
Before I could get my waterproofs out of my rucksack I was already soaked.
However, three hours later and everything is dried out, excepting socks, and I've finally stopped for lunch.
But now thunder rolls ominously in the distance, so time to stop typing and start marching, seven more miles to the sanctity of Malham youth hostel!
a wet and windy camp on the moors last night but a brightening morning saw me looking forward to a sunny lunch atop the next trig point. However as I ascended the hill, a couple of light raindrops drew my attention skyward to see a grey curtain of torrential rain sweeping down the valley.
Before I could get my waterproofs out of my rucksack I was already soaked.
However, three hours later and everything is dried out, excepting socks, and I've finally stopped for lunch.
But now thunder rolls ominously in the distance, so time to stop typing and start marching, seven more miles to the sanctity of Malham youth hostel!