After breakfast we made some calls to sort out our travel arrangements back to London at the end of our hike. The bus is much cheaper thn the train (about 1/3 the price) but we are still working on the accomodations for the night after we finish the hike, at Robin Hood's Bay.
It rained overnight and was still raining when we first got up, but it was clear by the time we started hiking. Thank goodness we hiked with the guys today because I'm sure we would have gotten lost up on the moors. Between everyone we has strip maps, ordenance survey maps, a compass, a GPS, 2 coast-to-coast books and we still missed one of our turns. This is not an easy trail to follow.
We got to the hostel in Keld about 3:30 and we decided not to camp because the weather looked somewhat threatening. I'm glad we decided to stay at the hostel because we met a really interesting couple from California and, surprise, surprise, we met some Appalachian Trail thru hikers. One was Nomad, who Shari, Richard and I all know. He knows my brother, and just stayed at his place in Maine a few months ago. He is also good friends with Gary and Millie who we all know from the AT, and with whom we spent Ground Hog's Day this year at their farm in Punxsatawney, Pennsylvania. Nomad was with a woman who has hiked the AT a few times, and they hiked with Gary and Millie this past March. The woman he is with, Jo Jo Smiley, did a hike from Florida to Gap Gaspe, Newfoundland (5,200 miles) last year, in just 11 months. They were married last October and they are here doing the Pennine Way hike (270 miles) with a fellow Keith, that they met on the AT in 2000. Keith is from England and another friend of his from England is also hiking with them.
There are also 3 British 16 year old girls staying at the hostel who are also doing the Pennine Way. They are having problems following their maps and it us feel quite incomptetant.
I'm glad we decided to stay at the hostel because of the interesting people here, but we hope to camp again going forward. The hostel tonight is only 10.25 pounds and I booked a full English breakfast in the morning (3.50 pounds). We may not see 3 of the guys after tomorrow, because they will do B&Bs going forward and Peter, Shari, Richard and I will camp if the weather is good. We never know though, because we may do B&Bs or buses of the weather is bad. It is nice to have choices of carrying our packs or not, and to decide whether we want to camp or stay inside.
7/04: Happy 4th of July! We ate breakfast, left our packs to be transported to the Lodge at Marrick by the Packhouse Company, and we all started off (the 7 of us) about 8:45AM. It was a beautiful hike, overlooking lots of green fields and stone walls. The footing was good today and we weren't in the boggy moors like yesterday. Again, it was nice to hike together because the guys are good with the compass and maps and it keeps us going on the right path.
I definitely now am not in the mood for long distance backpacking, and I'm not even sure I'm really enjoying long distance hiking with just a day pack. I know I won't carry my own pack again on this hike and Richard and Peter don't want to carry theirs either. We will keep using the Packhorse Van service and Shari can decide each day whether she wants to carry her pack or not.
We got to Reeth about 2:30 and Mike heated us all coffe, tea and scones before we split up for the day. Mike is hiking only for 2 more days so we won't see him again, but we plan to hook up with Stuart and Paul again on Monday. After our break, Peter, Shari, Richard and I hiked three more miles (14 in total today) to the Lodge in Marrick where we had our packs delivered and where we are camping.
The Lodge is just a private residence and the owners offer B&B rooms and camping in a small field off to the side of the driveway. The woman gave us tea and a snack before we set up our tents and told us we could use the shower if we wanted. We are paying 5 pounds to camp including the shower with a towel (such luxury). The only problem is the grass in our small field is about 18" high so it is a little damp.
We booked camping for tomorrow night and I hope the area is a little nicer than tonight's camping area. It also looks like it might rain tonight so I hope we don't gt flooded out in our tents. At least we won't have to carry our big packs tomorrow so it won't matter if the tents are heavier because they are wet. Oh well, only 6 days left of hiking.
We were treated to quite a "concert" starting at about 7PM. All the cows and sheep started mooing and baaing and it went on for about an hour and a half. The cows sounded just like elephants and it really was the loudest and longest animal noise I've ever heard.
7/05: We were up early and packed up and were ready to hike at 8AM. Unfortunately, it was raining slightly when we got up, so our tent rain flys were very wet. I just put mine in a big plastic bag and strapped it to the outside of my big pack and I didn't care because I knew I wouldn't be carrying it.
Today's walk wasn't bad. The rain stopped but it was overcast so it wasn't too hot. It was 15 miles in total but it was mostly all flat. We got to the town of Richman before noon and we were a little cool and damp so we decided to go into a pub for a hot lunch. (Peter and I also had a nice pint of ale). We then bought some groceries and decided to go into a tea house for coffee and scones with jam and clotted cream. We were trying to use up some time because we didn't want to get to the camping place too early today.
I also called Susan and talked to her a bit and then I tried to get Joshua. Today is his 24th birthday, but I didn't get him so I left him a Happy Birthday phone message. I thought I might be able to call again later but we never passed another phone booth and there isn't a piublic phone at the farmhouse where we are camping.
We ran into Paul in Richmond, so the 5 of us walked together until he turned off about 3 miles before our camping area to go to the B&B he is booked into for the night. We arrived at the farm about 5:30 and it is a lovely place. A nice flat yard with low cut grass, 2 picnic tables, a toilet and a shower, and a clothes line to dry our rain flys.
Peter was thinking of going to the pub tonight because the oweer of the farm will drive him there (it's about a mile away) and then he will walk back. I think I'll just eat and then go in my tent and read and listen to music and skip the pub. I think I'm getting spoiled - I don't want to carry my pack and I don't really want to camp. I keep saying only 5 more days of walking and camping. We are already booked into a hotel in Scarborough for our last night on July 10th and we have our bus tickets for the ride back to London for July 11th.
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