June 1, 2015
Miles: 13.4
Time: 8:56 - 2:00Elevation gain: 1,917'
Year to date miles: 282.3
Hike description:
This morning we talked to the owner of The Barn House. He's a volunteer for Mountain Rescue. He said there have been 6 deaths so far this year. One of them was a Coast to Coast hiker who was blown off the trail 2 weeks ago at Ennerdale Water! I donated to Mountain Rescue in hopes that I never need them. Mountain Rescue is funded just by donations, and they don't charge for their rescues. The hike is windier than what I expected, for sure.
Today was an easier day. It felt like a rest day compared to previous days. We had windy but sunny weather in the morning. A great day to be out hiking! We mostly hiked through fields and moors. I briefly got to see a working sheepdog. So much speed and drive! I was sad when it finished. We later saw another sheepdog but it was just running along behind the farmhand's truck.
We did see a stone circle today, and yes, this time it looked like a stone circle.
We had to go through fields with cattle in them again. As we headed to a gate to enter a field, a dozen cattle came running towards us on the other side of the gate! They stood at the gate and stared at us. One had a nose ring, which I think is something they use on bulls. I wasn't about to purposefully enter a field with a bull. So we managed to climb over a stone wall and walk parallel to the field with the bull.
We had a hard time finding a place for lunch. It was very windy so it was easy to get chilled quickly when you stopped. Eventually we found a place by a bridge to have a quick lunch break.
Shortly after lunch it started showering on and off. It started raining heavier so we put on all of our rain gear. It rained for the rest of the day. I stayed dry and warm enough except for my hands. Again I wished I had the waterproof mitts I ordered, because my gloves just became soaking wet and cold. We had some freezing rain today. I did manage to stay in a good mood despite the poor weather in the afternoon.
We had to cross more fields with cattle. We gave them a wide berth. In the afternoon they were all huddled against the stone walls underneath trees when available. No more cattle running at us!
We arrived in Kirkby Stephen a couple of hours before our B&B would let us in. So we stopped by some shops in town. I found some Seal Skinz gloves at an outdoors shop. I am so happy!!!!!! I will have warm dry hands tomorrow. We still had more time to kill, so we stopped in at a cafe so I could have a pot of tea and a scone. A perfect way to get out of the rain.
Our B&B is a little ways outside the main road in town, which meant that we would need to go back out again in the rain :(
We went out to the Mango Tree, an Indian restaurant. I found the food rather bland and their servings very small. Each samosa was about one bite.
I didn't wear rain pants to dinner. Even though we borrowed an umbrella from our host, my legs became completely soaked and bitterly cold from the sideways blowing rain. My legs are red from the cold.
Tomorrow there is a high risk of gale force winds and extreme wind chill and rain. We probably will need to skip the high route to Nine Riggs Standard unfortunately. Our route will have more road walking. It will shave an hour off of our hiking time to do the low route. The wind is howling outside - I'm thinking we'll just want to get through tomorrow's hike quickly.
Night: Kirby Stephen
Video best viewed in full screen mode:
No comments:
Post a Comment