Out of Yorkshire, Into Cumbria, May 27

Ribblehead Viaduct

He said:

Today, we left Yorkshire behind and entered Cumbria (county).  The good news for today was that it did not rain, although it was chilly and cold and “it” probably wanted to rain, but couldn’t. Perhaps tomorrow.  Overall, our weather has been colder and wetter than usual, that brings a bit of a challenge and makes somewhat bleak scenery, even bleaker. This is gothic weather.  Our walk today topped again over the high moorland, with its many soggy bogs, streams, and spongy spots.  My socks got wet again after just a few minutes walking on sponges.  We walked down into a new dale: Dentdale, getting warmer and lusher as we descended.  Although, the sun made few direct appearances, the sky was full of clouds of many shades, mostly the lighter one.  At the end of today’s walk, my ankles are sore from the uneven ground, 5 days of walking, and that one fall I took, oops.  Our stay tonight is Dent, a small town with a big church, at the start of a “bank holiday weekend”.

She said:

May 27

Ribblehead to Dent

11.5 miles

I’ve been fighting off a cold for a few days now, and last night it got the best of me.  Runny nose, sore throat.  (Luckily, the waterbed was surprisingly comfortable, so I did get some sleep.)  Felt pretty lousy this morning – R even checked the train schedule for me in case I wanted to skip today’s walk and train it to Dent.  But after 4 glasses of OJ, a bowl of Meusli and a scrambled egg on toast, I rallied and decided to power through and walk on.  I also didn’t want to miss the only day, so far, with no rain.  (Hmmmm…maybe I caught a cold from walking four days in a row in the pouring rain?)

Anyway, the day was dry but cold.  The path was very muddy and slick.  We had to climb up and over the moors again (hate the moors) and that stupid wind was howling again.  No sun, plenty of clouds.  Very desolate.  A house every few miles, maybe.  Not liking the walk much today.

This has happened on every other long distance walk we’ve done.  There’s always a stretch in there somewhere that feels more like an endurance test than a swell walk in the countryside.  Just wish I didn’t have a cold on top of it.

Excellent ham and tomato sandwiches, though – our packed lunches from The Station Inn.  I’ve been feeding this cold like a madwoman.

So, here we are tonight at the George and Dragon Hotel in the middle of the village of Dent.  Dent has three, maybe four streets.  The Guest Information says they are sure we will enjoy our stay as they have a “drying room” for our “wet and soggy” clothes.  It also says that “the weather is usually wet 12 months of the year but on some rare occasions the sun does shine…however, for a better forecast, please ask at Reception.”  Well, at least they’re honest.

They also have their own brewery 3 miles down the road (things are looking up) so we’ll probably sample some local brew tonight.

It’s also “Pizza Night” tonight – wonder what Yorkshire pizza tastes like (but not enough to order it.)

Signing off for now as I’m feeling stuffed up and crabby.