Journal: |
I know I snore a little bit on occasion, but the guy directly
under me in the double bunk last night, broke all records. It
sounded like he was doing it directly into my ear. Andy, the
Pennine Way hiker I have been paralleling for the last four or five
days, was sharing the same room and we both considered drastic
measures during the night to terminate the disturbance. We
didn't feel too bad making a little noise when we got up at 6:45am
(early for a Youth Hostel) to pack before our 7:30am breakfast.
Although it was a relatively shorter day, it included a climb to
the highest point on my hike, and I was keen to get to Alston in
time to buy some maps and a few supplies. I left about 8:15am,
knowing that Andy would be soon following me. He has been
hiking 11 days and is having a lot of feet problems. I know
how he feels. The guidebook said that this would be a mentally
tough day and also a challenge in poor weather. It was raining
with a low overcast. The initial few kilometres were along
farm lanes, but soon the path emerged onto the fells and the long
ascent began. I was mentally prepared for it to be long and
arduous, so it actually didn't seem that bad, but at the top the fog
had closed in and the trail was indiscernible. I began looking
for stone cairns to guide the way and found a smallish one which I
used. This was a mistake, because it set me on a more westerly
course than I needed and, before long I had nothing to guide me at
all. Through the fog, I could occasionally make out valleys
below, but it was impossible to work out where the high ground was.
I did a lot of wandering and backtracking and in the end used my GPS
to set a course for the knoll I needed and eventually found a
signpost. I had wasted about 45 minutes and soon spotted Andy
in the distance in front of me with a fluoro orange raincover on his
pack. The wind was a lot stronger and the rain continued, but
it wasn't as cold as it might be and I was still wearing shorts and
just a T-shirt under my rain jacket. It was very wet and my
feet and socks were soaked through again.
I eventually caught Andy soon after we passed the remote
communications facility at the top of Great Dun Fell (848m) and we
walked together, comparing navigation thoughts for the next couple
of hours over the top of Cross Fell (893m, the highest point of my
walk) in drizzle and fog. We reached Greg's Hut, a mountain
refuge, soon after noon and went inside and ate our sandwiches.
Andy had mail to collect in Alston and we both considered it touch
and go whether we could make it there by 5:30pm. I went on
ahead after lunch as we followed a remote track that was very stony,
wet and difficult underfoot. The fog cleared at lower
altitudes, and I had sweeping views over treeless moors and deep
valleys.
Eventually, I reached the tiny village of Garrigill, on the River
South Tyne soon after 3pm, thinking I still had 10km to go. I
took a break for a few minutes and then set of for Alston on the
path which now followed the banks of the pretty river downstream.
It was the usual stone-walled fields, wildflowers, babbling river
and overhanging trees, marred only by the continuing drizzle.
The path into Alston passed the Youth Hostel and I reached there
about 4:40pm (they open at 5pm), much earlier than expected back in
Garrigill, and dumped my pack before continuing into town to get the
things I wanted. I found the maps I needed and some extra
Thorlo inner socks that I had been looking for in every outdoor shop
for the past two weeks. The town had a cobbled main street and
old buildings, making it very pretty.
I went back to the hostel and checked in and showered and later
met Andy, who had made it to the Post Office in time. We are
sharing a dorm room again. We had dinner at the hostel and
shared a table with Shirley, who is also walking from Lands End to
John O'Groats. She had a good sense of humour and we had an
amusing dinner. She was made redundant from her job as a
librarian in early April and, 10 days later, was standing at Lands
End, ready to start her journey.
I finally have a moderately good wireless internet coverage
tonight and will take the chance to upload the last few days'
diaries.
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