Badger Adventures Coast to Coast day 11 Reeth to Richmond

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The accommodation the previous night had been a bit ropey dogs were certainly more welcome than their human counterparts which was great for Jess and Zulu, not so much for the rest of our group! The staff were a little abrupt and made a mess of our evening meal also I don't think our mattress had been changed since the Viking hoards had passed through some years before!

It was with weary legs, a tired mind but a great 'let's be avin it' spirit that I set off on this slightly kinder 10.5 mile walk, the weather was great at least in fact it was decidedly hot! The sun was strong and a steep climb soon presented itself in front of the group, at least the terrain was kind being of solid track and flat stones for the most part. I think the good people of Yorkshire must have the perception that everyone is about a size 8 with no hips as some of the stone 'styles' we had to pass through even Judy, Pete's mum struggled to fit through and there's more meat and size on an Ethiopian hunger victim than her!!

Again we faced rolling hills, beautiful countryside, quaint villages and gentle slopes (gentle slopes in the main with 1 or 2 killer climbs) 1 of our group Helen kept reciting and dancing elements of a Sound of Music as we walked........luckily she was only with us for half the day due to some pressing admin she needed to complete first!!

We reached our lunch spot in the village of Marske which was absolutely beautiful, once again Pete said he'd found our new house pointing and gesticulating animatedly at this particularly aesthetically pleasing cottage which was up for sale; this was only about the hundredth time this had happened and as usual he had reached the spot ahead of me. I gave my usual withering look of 'yes dear, whatever you say dear' as I plodded past, for some reason the houses he always pointed out were either in the middle of nowhere requiring quad bike access and were in ruins or were on a flipping hill! "A nice little doer upper" he would exclaim! If he carries on I'll do him up and post him back to 'his' precious Somerset!

Our quiet lunch spot was soon gate crashed by the 9 women from Montana who had been shadowing us so far on this trek, a great bunch of ladies but so noisy, what I perceive to be 'typical loud in your face' Americans unlike the quiet and reserved lovely Americans we had as part of our group. They had so much energy and hyper activeness about them I think they must have been taking something, everything was 'awesome'! Our guide let them go on ahead as they're quicker than us anyway so the peace and tranquility of the Yorkshire Dales was soon once again in evidence thankfully, true to form not long after lunch came a dramatic climb! Why they always make us climb straight after lunch I can never work out I think to be a guide you have to have a sick mind for those people less able and fit than yourself!

The final part of the walk into Richmond was absolutely beautiful descending from the high ground with Richmond below to our right we had a great view of the capital of the North, made even more stunning by hot bright sunshine! Some truly magical scenery on this stage of the walk that I will try and keep in my mind for some time after this experience is over, as usual our group had been filled with laughs and micky taking along the way making it seem like the miles had just evaporated before us; we are truly lucky to have such a great group of people!

Once in the town we visited the chocolatiers 'Mocha' which was great, had a nosey round still in bright sunshine then retreated to our pub where we would stay for the night and planted ourselves in the bar with Nicola and Helen and some of our group. Pete's mate Ken who he had climbed Kilimanjaro last year with also came and had a drink with us as he didn't live too far away which was great for Pete to catch up with him and me to meet the guy Pete had spoken about.

Tomorrow looks like a long day so it's meal and bed for me! Then up and at it for the next 14 miles, at least most if it will be downhill.....so says the Badger guide.....let's wait and see!!

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