Sunday 4 August 2013

Pennines. Last Days


As I pack away the tent it's damp and drizzling. I need to get to Middleton in Teesdale Coop for supplies. A scone and coffee wouldn't come amiss either.


This section is mainly rough pasture or hay meadows. There's lots of bullocks in the fields.  Mostly they ignore you but I found  them a bit intimidating when they stand in a  heard right in front of the stile you are heading for.  Wall climbing became my speciality.


Middleton in Teesdale.  Half day closing, despite being 10:30 ish  half the shops were shut.  Maybe that's what it means.


The Tees is a big river and the path follows it for miles.  There are lots of flowers and spectacular water falls.


Eventually a roaring can be heard and I turned a corner to the site of Cauldron Snout. Special.


It's getting late and I want to get beyond the farms to camp.  Maize Beck looks promising.  The far horizon is High Cup.  Hopefully I won't need to go that far.


Oh yes I do.  The midges are terrible by the beck and there's no wind. At High Cup there's a breeze, well half a gale actually,  but no midges.

How far can I walk in a day back packing ? I now have the answer. 29 miles, never again.

This is all worth it as the next day is beautiful.



Just after this I tip the whole bowl of porridge in the gravel.  So when I get to Dufton walk the half mile into the village as last time there was a shop.  It's now gone.  So I had to walk to the train in Appleby  hungry.

I can't see any reason for anyone doing  the Pennine Way for going all the way down to Dufton just to climb back up to the escarpment to go over Cross Fell.  I would just keep height and walk around the plateau.


Last twist, I'll get some breakfast in Appleby but as I pass the station to get there I  just check the train times. What time is the next train to Carlisle?  3 minutes time.  Bugger.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

That's a long day – 29 miles. But like you say, it was worth it to wake up and see High Cup with the mist in the valley.
Fantastic walk Greg. I've enjoyed this series. Shame about the half-day closing and the Dufton shop. This country isn't what it used to be.
Cheers, Alen

Greg said...

I suppose in retrospect it didn't matter in Middleton in Teesdale as the coop sells virtually everything and is open til 7pm.
Dufton appears to be full of very expensive houses and I guess they all have cars.

AlanR said...

I’ve enjoyed your little walk Greg. 29 miles in 1 day shows your fitter than me. Those days are now over i think/hope. HA. Anyway well done.

Howellsey said...

Sounds like a tough day, never done more than 24 in a day myself and that was enough! Know what you mean about the bullocks though, even if they're just being boisterous they can be quite intimidating!

Greg said...

I think the 29 was 10 miles too far Alan and i won't be repeating it in a hurry. I didn't get blisters but with the Innbov8s being thin the balls of my feet were bruised.

Greg said...

Howellsey, I once crossed a field and they ran down the hill towards me like one of those cowboy stampedes. I ran like hell and dived over the fence. Maybe they would have stopped but I wasn't waiting to find out.

SolwayA said...

29 miles is some distance to walk-prefer to do that on my bike! Lovely pictures, particularly of High Cup Nick

Greg said...

Thanks A. Definitely easier on the bike.