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Saturday 10 May - After the most 'fantastic' breakfast at Hall Croft - with a welcome mixture of fresh fruit, homemade yogurt, a homemade smoothie, homemade baked bread and a tasty vegetarian cooked breakfast it was time to say a sad goodbye to our delightful and extremely hospitable hosts Ray and Frei. We were also very grateful to them for letting us have our lunches for free - the money will be donated to the Ectopic Pregnancy Trust.
We were hoping and praying for a cooler day, as hiking in the hot sun for hours on end is no fun for any walker. However, it was not to be - as soon as we stepped out of Hall Croft we knew that we were in for another very warm day and within half hour we had stripped down to our t-shirts. Why on earth we put on an extra layer underneath our t-shirts was anyone's guess. Feeling slightly cooler, we continued our 'very' long challenging ascent.
After hiking 84 miles over the previous 6 days, the thought of now facing a 20 mile day was a little daunting. Particularly because this day is one of the toughest and hardest
on the Peninne Way, and therefore we started to wonder whether our legs and feet would be ready to go again! Summing up from our various Pennine Way walking guides, the route is described as 'hard, tough and a serious section on the Pennine Way' - that was enough to make us gulp! On top of the fact that we would need to climb four mountains en route - Knock Fell at 2,604 ft, then up to Great Dun Fell at 2,798 ft, then down again and up to Little Dun Fell at 2,761 ft (nothing 'little' about this mountain!) and then down again and up to the highest point on the Pennine Way Cross Fell at 2,930 ft. These thigh busting and feet pounding mountain climbs was very hot work, especially with the very warm sun constantly beating down on us from above - it really tested our stamina!
Cross Fell is not a particularly steep mountain, but is simply enormous...you can see one its ridges rising all the way from the bottom at the Vale of Eden up to to the summit as one never-ending hump. The views from the top to the west and and the
south are great - everywhere else is moorland wilderness. We chatted with other walkers as we devoured our lunch at the top - we met a guy from Newcastle who had completed the Pennine Way in 1965 at the age of 15 - just after it had first opened!
It was the moorland wilderness that we then headed into - no roads, no houses, no real signs of any civilisation whatsoever, until eventually and at very very long last we reached the village of Garrigill. We still had another 4 miles to go to get to Alston where we were booked to stay at the Victorian Inn - but we were so knackered (we could feel every rock underfoot in each tendon and joint in our feet and legs by this time) that we just staggered into the village pub for a pint. After chatting with fellow walkers, we knew time was pressing (and the legs seizing up), so on we went - a very attractive river walk (although in our condition seemingly never-ending!) down the River South Tyne to the highest market town in England, Alston.
On arrival, all was well, other than the fact that our
bedroom was directly above the bar, and a hen party had been booked in for that night which wasn't due to finish until 2.30am. All we can say is that lying awake, desparately in need of sleep, and listening to the second rendition of "Rock Around the Clock" at 1.25am was not a high point of the Way to be re-lived.
Only 89 miles to go!
If you would like to support us in our fundraising effort, please go to www.ectopic.org.uk/fundraising/?p=46. Thank you very much for your support and messages. Lavinia and Steve.
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