Day 11 - Keld to Baldersdale

Second delayed update - no phone signal or Wifi at Baldersdale

Can it get any wetter ? Even before we left Keld Lodge this morning the rain was heavy. We were talking to a man who had just driven down West Stones Dale, the valley that links Keld to Tan Hill, and he said that he'd never see it as wet as this, and that water was pouring off the hills everyone, creating streams and rivers where normally there would be nothing. Since that's the valley which the Pennine Way follows up to Tan Hill that didn't bode well.

Leaving Keld we had to cross the same river where we said goodbye to Sean yesterday.  Facing the footbridge over the river is Catrake Force waterfall, which after the past 2 days heavy rain was in full flow.

Catrake Force

Heading up the hill onto the east side of the dale we were almost immediately wading through those very streams the driver had mentioned, and between the streams picking our way through deep boggy peat and moss. In several places a small beck barely visible on the map was a raging torrent which completely cut the Pennine Way path in two, requiring a detour to find a spot where crossing was possible.  In the below photograph I'm looking down the Pennine Way path, so the stream cuts right across it.

"How Gill" cutting across the Pennine Way

Further up the valley we finally hit a "stream" which was so wide and fast flowing that it proved to be impossible to cross. We tried heading a couple of hundred yards up the valley side to find a crossing point, but to no avail, and eventually had to walk back down to the road to cross on the road-bridge. In the below photograph the Pennine Way comes in from the left and runs up to the gate next to the stream. The stream is about 8 feet wide (2.5m) at that point.

Lad Gill - Pennine Way

So we trudged up the road to Tan Hill in the heavy rain, and about 2 hours after leaving Keld we entered the famous Tan Hill Inn. This is officially the highest altitude pub in the country at 1,732 feet (528 m), and is also well known for often having sheep or ducks wandering around the bar. Today the sheep and ducks were waiting outside, but there was a group of 6 other walkers trying to warm up and dry off inside. This group was walking the "Pennine Journey", which is the version of the Pennine Way as documented by Wainwright, following a slightly different course in places.

Tan Hill Inn is also where Sean spent last night, having very wisely decided not to camp. Our walking guide says "dogs (£5)" so I'm not sure why that wasn't his first choice anyway. Apparently Saffie was suffering from the cold again, so the puffer jacket duvet was brought into service.

Saffie's duvet

After warming up on pints of tea we eventually ventured out into the heavy rain and fog (actually we were in clouds), starting across Sleightholme Moor. Actually the visitor boards next to the road called it Bowes Moor, so I'm not sure which is correct. Whatever you call it, this was probably the low point of the journey so far, comprising soul-sapping trudging through more sodden peat bog, deep sphagnum moss, and fast running streams, for mile after mile. By this point both Jonathan's and my feet were completely soaked, and every step was a wet squelch.

Throughout this section of the Pennine Way it was almost impossible to find the path, there being an almost complete lack of any footpath signs or posts. The best strategy proved to be looking for streams going in roughly the right direction, and often these were walkers tracks which had become flooded. Often though there was no option but to wade ankle deep in water through peat, or moss, or heather. Here's a picture of a typical part of today's "path", where my GPS showed us as being exactly in the right place, but which was nothing more than moss swimming in 6 inches of water. Looks nice, but I don't recommend walking 10 miles in this.

"Footpath" on Sleightholme Moor

Frumming Beck, which I imagine is normally a small stream, was another ferocious white-water torrent, and the footbridge where we crossed was only just staying above water.

About three miles after the footbridge the Pennine  Way split in two, with an Easterly fork heading over to Bowes (where the Tan Hill Inn walkers were going) and the Westerly fork heading up to the A66, one of the more famous of the Pennine road crossings, and which is often impassable in the winter because of snow.

Pennine Way split - Bowes or Balsersdale

Just before the A66 the Pennine Way crosses "God's Bridge", which is where the  River Greta has tunnelled through the stone (limestone?) to form a very servicable footbridge. Thankfully, despite the heavy rain His omnipotence had kept the river low enough to pass under the bridge.

God's Bridge

Since we had had no shelter from the rain yet we decided that the only option for eating our packed lunch was in the A66 underpass. Ah, luxury. Except that the underpass had become a river itself, with rainwater flooding through from the North side. Not only that but it still smelt of wee, presumably a side-effect of it being near a lay-by where lorry drivers frequently stop.

From the A66 the Pennine Way continues roughly North-North-Westerly across yet more waterlogged moor, Cotherstone Moor, so more wading ankle deep in the bog, more leaping over raging streams, and more guesswork as to where the path really was.

Deepdale Beck

Something which is noticeable as we head north is that we are seeing more new-born lambs than earlier on in the journey. On Cotherstone Moor a ewe was cleaning her new born lamb, still lying on the ground and yet to take its first faltering steps. A little further on was a trail of afterbirth, maybe from the lamb we had just seen. Hope no-one's squeamish, but at least this means that the lambs were born live.

Here's a sight typical of today. Would you prefer to go through the gate which is in a lake, or over the style which is in a lake ?

Choose wet

At this point we were on the home stretch to Baldersdale, where at the western edge of Blackton Reservoir there are a few farms and houses, including the excellent Clove Lodge where we are now staying. Since there is no pub or restaurant for miles the owners provided this evening's meal, and very nice it was too.

Update from Sean this evening: for some reason he couldn't cross the footbridge on Sleightholme Moor (the green bridge) and had to divert by road to Bowes, resorting to a taxi when he found the roads knee deep in water. Sounds like he had an even worse day than we did.

Spying on Eric: the visitors' book at Clove Lodge showed that Eric stayed here yesterday. Apparently he has damaged his ankle and couldn't manage to walk to High Force in the unrelenting rain, so got a taxi to his next stop. Can't say I blame him.

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