The day dawned fair and bright. After a leisurely breakfast I shopped for the day’s provisions before heading over Frank’s Bridge and treading the track to Hartley.
What a change from yesterday. Kirkby Stephen was positively thronging with walkers. Dutch, North American and several brands of British accents were prominent. I’d joined the Coast to Coast route for the day.
It’s not a difficult climb to Nine Standards, just a long haul up the Fell Road, passing the hideous Hartley Quarry. Despite its size the quarry is soon passed and the metalled lane loses its surface as height is gained and the scene widens to encompass a great swathe of the Eden valley, the Howgills, Cross Fell and deep into the Dales.
The Nine Standards were well populated with walkers, some following the Coast to Coast, others just out for the day. A group of three elderly couples, farmers from Derbyshire, had walked up from the summit of the Nateby road, where they had been dropped of by their landlady, and were walking back to their digs at Keld.
The walk down Whitsun Dale is muddy, in places a morass of semi-liquid peat. The surroundings are sombre, lonely and magnificent. On the way down I talked to a couple who’d completed Tasmania’s Overland Track the previous year. They considered the Coast to Coast walk to be very different in character to the Overland Track, but it’s equal in quality.
The day’s walk was a little tougher than I’d remember it from my last C2C walk. Perhaps seven days continuous walking before crossing the Pennine watershed had helped. That said I was still fresh when I arrived at Keld in mid-afternoon. I’m afraid my feet were beginning to blister though.
I stayed in the former Youth Hostel at Keld Lodge. It’s a shame the YHA no longer has a commitment to provide inexpensive, basic accommodation for outdoor enthusiasts. It appears to have abandoned its long-time supporters to make a quick buck to finance city centre hostels. Whilst the hostel’s successor caters for a more affluent market, it does it rather well. Whilst not cheap, the rooms and food are first class.
Accommodation: Keld Lodge, Keld, Richmond, North Yorkshire, DL11 6LL
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