Far Gearstones to Dent

Today we got up to a light rain, which lasted until we reached Dent. Rhonda is hurting but wanted to walk. She says that every time she winced because of her knee pain, her face hurt. But she made it the ten miles and it was really beautiful as we came down from the high raggedy meadows into the wild flower strewn hay fields, from the narrow high valleys into the broad rolling bottomlands.

I don't look too happy here, but it really was not that bad. The Inn half way through the days walk where we planned to eat was closed, so we gobbled a bite standing under a tree.

 

 

 

Dent itself is very picturesque with its narrow cobbled streets. We are staying at the George and Dragon. We got in early and camped out in the pub and played Bannagrams until it filled up with diners. Then we ate and talked with three women sitting next to us about the Royals and American and British politics.

 

 

 

 

Buckden to High Gearstones

We are posting a day late again as the wy fy here is a bit flakey. We still have no cell coverage here at the Station Inn, off trail a mile or so, here in Ribblehead.

Rhonda was not 100% yesterday because of a sore knee from her fall. And because we do not have cell coverage and were dealing with the biggest descent on the Way, she rode here with Sherpa Van. They not only carry bags but act as sag wagon. She is improving and may hike today, we are waiting until after breakfast to make the call. She is still very sore.

 

I hiked the 14 miles of the route yesterday by myself. It began with riverside trails but jumped up and over the Pennine Way ridge from the Wharfe drainage to the River Dee drainage through the highest point on the Dales Way, 1700 feet. The uplands are covered with rough, hummocky pasture that is still muddy in places even after two weeks without rain. I was happy to be on the Pennine Way for a mile or so, as it is an extension into the UK of the trail we hiked two years ago on mainland Europe.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Burnsall to Buckden

We got up to clouds today, but they burned off by late afternoon, and it was cooler today making it better for walking. We walked about 15 miles.

The walk started off along the River Wharfe. We saw debris stuck in the fences from the high water of two weeks ago, which would have covered the trail. We crossed a suspension bridge and on the other side of the river misread a sign and went off trail a half mile, finding ourselves in front of a tea shop in the village of Hebden. Hebden is a very nice village, but the tea shop was closed, and the way ahead to Grassington would be along a road. So we doubled back to the suspension bridge.

 

 

 

Flowers growing on a rock wall.

 

 

 

We continued our walk along the river and then encountered our second bit of bad luck today. The trail along the river is a tangle of exposed roots and cobbles. Rhonda caught one wrong with her boot and was catapulted onto her face on the trail. She was shaken, but not hurt seriously. We walked on into Grassington, with goose eggs on her knee an check growing. We got to the town square and got first aid, a glass of beer and a bag of ice at the Devonshire Hotel.

We watched the truck negotiate the narrow Grassington street while the poor old fellow on the right struggled to get out of the way.

 

 

Rhonda felt sorta ok, so we continued on as the trail climbed to a bench 200 meters above the river. The trail stayed at this elevation as it cut across the hills along limestone outcrops until it dropped down to the river again in Kettlewell, where we had lunch.

We must cross 50 of these stiles each day.

 

 

One again we followed the river until we arrived at the South Winds Tea Room in Buckden where we are staying. The South Winds is not open for dinner tonight, so we went to the other tea room in the village and had a nice dinner. Rhonda is feeling better after eating and taking ibuprofin. Buckden is very remote and we do not have cell service here and the West Winds does not have wy fy, so we will send this post off tomorrow.

 

 

Negotiating the hall to the bathroom at Westwinds was scary.

Our hosts at West Winds eating below our window.

 

Rhonda at the end of the day.

 

 

Ilkley to Burnsall

We were on the trail by 9:30 this morning after a nice night at the Tivoli Guesthouse. The walk was supposed to be 13 miles, but my GPS only had 12. This seems to be the way it is on the Dales Way, even guide books have differing mileages. We just hope that we don't make up for it tomorrow as it is already supposed to be our longest day on this trail.

The bridge at the beginning of the trail.

Todays walk was along the Wharfe River. We saw fishermen along the way. Lucky fishermen, as the right to fish along most of the river is in private hands. One person we met told us that the river was flooding two weeks ago. We saw evidence of this all along the path. The houses are all made of grey stone, as are the fences and bridges. The contrast between the stone and the brilliant green of everything else is very pleasing. We passed the partially ruined Bolton Priory and encountered many people on the trail in this area.

 

 

We stopped and refreshed ourselves in the quiet of an old Quaker meeting house.

Views of the Bolton Priory.

Crossing the river the old fashioned way.

The Strid where the river cascades through a narrow channel in the bed rock.

Another interesting bridge.

We are staying at the Wharfe View Farm tonight just out of town. We have a room in the upstairs of the family home. We walked back into the village to eat at the inn in town. Like most of the places we have been we had nice locally sourced vegetarian fare, that was quite good.

 

Day Off

Blair and Mike left early to catch their plane. Because the Northern Line was closed for repairs this morning they had to take a bus to another Line. I went out with them and saw them off on the bus. Then I bought Sunday papers and went home to read and drink coffee.

When we were first here I bought the Times, but after a buying two copies I realized that Murdoch owns the paper and stopped buying it. Now I buy the Guardian, which is named the Observer on Sundays. The Guardian is known to be a supporter of the Labour Party, but it looks middle of the road to me. There are lots of newspapers available, from tabloid scandal sheets to very proper papers like the Times and the Guardian. I don't know for certain, but it looks like the British papers are much healthier than those in the US.

We lazed around the flat and then made a dash for the train station for our trip north through Leeds to Ilkley, the starting point for the Dales Way. Ben and Melanie helped us with our stuff as they had an evening flight. The trains were full of people heading out for a day in the sun. And by the end of the day there were many sun burns to be seen. I read and dozed and Rhonda played games on her phine during the three hour train ride

We arrived at the Tivoli Guest House about 5, after typically wandering through town from the train station in the wrong direction. We got settled in the room and did some washing before setting out to town to find the trail head and eat.

 

 

 

Last Day in London

Our place in London has been great. Not only is it roomy and well designed, but it is in a great neighborhood. We go out into the crowded city in the morning and come home to a quiet neighborhood in the evening and go out to a neighborhood pub for dinner. Here we are at breakfast this morning.

 

When Rhonda traveled around Europe in the summer of 1969 she had her 21st birthday in London and then on the way back home she spent two more weeks in London. Her favorite place in London was Westminster Abbey. So today we all were Rhonda's guests at the Abbey. She says it was much more crowded today, but it was still wonderful. It is interesting because unlike the other churches we have seen the history is more inspiring here than religeous aspects. It is an historical shrine, with secular characters like political leaders and the poets in the Poet's Corner taking center stage.

 

We walked through St. James Park to Soho for a great vegitarian lunch at Mabel's. We had heard that the food is improving in the UK and we have found the eating quite good with lots of vegitarian choices.

 

 

After lunch we split up, with everyone but me heading for the shopping streets and Hyde Park. I went to Stanford's, the travel bookstore and picked up maps for the Dales Way. Then I walked to St. Paul's Cathedral for the evensong service. The difference between St. Paul's and Westminster Abbey could not be greater. St. Paul's is austere by European chuech standards, but it is all about the spirit. With only the color of the stone and the soaring vaults and immense space it focuses all attention on the service. And the service was sublime.

 

We all met at home and the kids took us to dinner.