Blakey Ridge to Glaisdale

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More Moors.

Short day today - only around 10 miles, which should mean less than 4 hours walking. Easy, right? Wrong…..

Woke up to rain and mist which had settled over the Lion Inn. No rush in starting though, so we gave it some time to clear with a later breakfast and some extra lie-down time. Off we set at just before 10.30 with the mist still lurking, but with winds that would clear it given a bit of time.

Road walk to start the day and a meet with Fat Betty (a set of stones looking like a fat lady I guess). It’s tradition to swap some food item you have with an offering from the Fat one. It seemed that the only thing on offer when getting close to Betty was a dead sheep which didn’t look to appetising, so we were about to pass on the exchange, until Ellis found the stash behind her “head”. Still not much choice, but Ellis sacrificed his beloved Mars bar for a carton of orange (probably the best option).

Onwards to the turn off into Great Fryup Lane (and I’m seriously not making these names up) and onto Great Fryup Dale; now on a path over the moors with great views and plenty more heather. Past a disused house (Trough House) and some live sheep and we had already covered half of the days distance.

Then the pain started. I think the previous 45 miles during the last two days eventually caught up with me and I could feel the searing pain of the blisters now developing under my socks. Ellis forged ahead while my pace dropped off significantly. Those last 5 miles felt like 25 miles and the most painful walk of the route by far. The end seemed so far away for such a short stage of the walk.

Limping into Glaisdale we headed straight for the Post Office, which combined as a convenience shop, for some blister plasters. Not very convenient when it‘s shut at 2pm even though the opening times says it should be open. So on for a further 0.4 miles (or 25 minutes by this time, as the walking was so slow) before we arrived at the Arncliffe Arms for our overnight stay.

Shoes and socks off before we sat for some lunch - a nice sandwich and plenty of water - before checking into our room and a much needed blister bursting session to try a relieve the pressure. An afternoon of rest followed by a nice shower and the feet seem to have recovered a bit. A nice sleep and they’ll be ready for tomorrow.

Dinner and bed with a plan for an early start to the final day in the morning. Only 20 miles to go and our mission will be complete - exciting times and looking forward very much to tomorrow night.

Sleep well.

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