Journal: |
After a late night catching up on email and other internet stuff,
I slept in a bit and didn't leave the hotel until 8:30am.
Given the high price of breakfast at the hotel, I had opted not to
pay for it and, instead, headed for a bakery I had seen the previous
evening. They didn't have much range ("still baking, mate"),
so I chose a sausage roll and a bottle of orange juice and began the
steep climb out of town. As I did, I crossed the Huddersfield
Narrow Canal as a longboat went through the lock. The canals
seem a bit incongruous on the sides of these steep-sided valleys.
Quite an engineering feat.
The guide book had warned that the day would be a series of
climbs to moorland and then descents to intervening valleys, and it
was right. Not long after I started walking, the forecast rain
began and it pretty much drizzled for the remainder of the day.
Despite a few particularly steep climbs, the day was mostly easy
walking and it wasn't cold or windy. I enjoyed crossing the
fog-shrouded moors and, with my good wet weather gear, wasn't
bothered by the rain.
When I stopped for my morning break around 11am, I was passed by
a girl hiking on her own and appearing to be following the same
route. We said a brief hello, and she continued on. I
followed after my break and caught up with her about 90 minutes
later when she stopped for a break. We chatted for a while and
I learned that Karen was also walking from Lands End to John
O'Groats, raising money for charity en route. She had been on
the trail six weeks and was travelling at a more relaxed pace than
me. She was also heading for Hebden Bridge for the night, and
there's a chance Keith and I may see her early on the trail again
tomorrow.
I aimed to get to a pub at Cragg Vale for lunch, but the climbs
and descents were slowing my pace and I didn't get there until
2:10pm, by which time lunch was over. However, it looked a bit
expensive anyway and I was running later than intended, so I had a
Mars Bar instead and kept going. Just as well that I did,
because crossing the last hill moorland to reach Hebden Bridge took
me a lot longer than anticipated. It was foggy and raining and
the path was non-existent for a section at the top. I couldn't
work out exactly where I was after about 30 minutes trying to find
something recognisable, so I went to Plan B and forgot about trying
to find the guide-book route and, instead, concentrated on finding
my way off the hill and down to Hebden Bridge. I eventually
did this, but an hour later than I had hoped.
I found the Post Office and mailed off my old maps and asked for
my package. After a lot of searching, the guy said there was
nothing there for me. I was insistent that it would be there
and, after consultation with one of his colleagues, my package was
found. By this time it was 4:30pm and I was hoping to meet my
friend Keith's train at 5:00pm. I wandered around the town
area and eventually found a hotel with a twin room available, though
not ready for another 30 minutes. They offered to look after
my rucksack and then I walked down to the station just in time to
meet Keith, who will be hiking with me for the next five days.
Lucky for him, the rain is supposed to clear overnight and not
return until some time next week.
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