Pennine Way (North to South) 2024 – Day 11

18th August 2024: Keld to Hawes – 13 miles

All 15 rooms came down for breakfast at 7.30 this morning, so it was a lively and noisy dining room. Dave coped like a star, almost jogging back and forth between tables, taking orders and ferrying plates and pots to all the tables, and always with a smile and a happy word to say for people. It’s that kind of service and hospitality that make places like Keld Lodge an absolute joy to stay at.

I slept like a log and was awake unusually late, close to 6am, wishing I could turn over and have another hour, but I really needed to finish yesterday’s journal and get it posted while I knew I had decent WiFi. I got up and washed and brushed and spent an hour doing the journal and was down for breakfast just ahead of the tsunami of walkers. People are funny, we all picked the same tables we had at tea last night, so I chatted again to the couple from Hull and the solo lady doing the C2C. I asked if they were doing the high or low routes, one each it turned out. The Hull couple had done both on their previous walks and preferred the easier day, while the solo lady wanted the traditional C2C experience.

Breakfast was fine (maybe a few too many beans) and only one sausage, but it was all lovely and I wolfed it down and then headed back upstairs. I was in no particular rush today, only 13 miles and an arrival time of 3pm in the Fountain in Hawes, so I resolved to relax a bit and head down about 9.20.

As I was checking out, Dave spotted a group of Herriot Way walkers getting boots on in the porch and dobbed me in to them. I love meeting Herriot Wayers though, so it was great to chat to them for a while as they were getting ready. I think I persuaded them to do the high route, despite at least one of them groaning audibly and complaining in good spirits that he was already broken from the previous day over Great Shunner Fell. I waited a few minutes to give them a head start and then followed them down to the bottom end of the village. They headed left down to the Swale and I headed right, along the upper path, around the eastern slopes of Kisdon.

This is a wonderful path, and if it hadn’t already been appropriated by the Pennine Way, I would have adopted it for the Herriot Way, which uses a path around the western side of the hill. It climbs quite gently and then meanders up and down, rather than climbing to the top, it hugs the slope. It provides great views across the Swale, to Crackpot Hall and down into the head of Swaledale. I pushed through deep bracken and stepped carefully over many broken sections of limestone and absolutely loved the first couple of miles. I didn’t realise I was in the lee of quite a strong wind, until I left the shelter of Kisdon and began to bend right, down towards Thwaite. I was immediately buffeted by a strong cold wind, and I almost stopped to add another layer. I held off though, thinking I may warm up on the way down into the valley.

I passed a few walkers on this section, and on the way into Thwaite, all probably doing circular walks from Muker or the campsite at Usha Gap. As I arrived in Thwaite, I passed the remains of an old car that I first pictured in 2005 when I did my very first Herriot Way. It’s crumbled and collapsed gradually over the last 20 years and I probably have 20 pictures of it – maybe I’ll try and make a collage of the decay of this unidentifiable old car. Once in Thwaite I was disappointed, but not surprised, to find the tea room closed, but I stopped and used their tables anyway, taking a Jelly Baby and layer swap break. I watched a young lady with an absolutely massive pack and a little dog walk I to the village, wander around for a minute looking lost, and then wander back out the way she had come. I wanted to ask her if she needed help, but figured if she did she would ask – it’s always a different balance to maintain between being helpful and patronising, and I’m maybe getting better at it.

I swapped the Dart shirt for my fleece, expecting to be colder as I climbed up onto Shunner. Once I’d faffed for a while I was back on the road, heading steeply up the tarmac to find the Pennine Way fingerpost that points the way up the track. It’s steeper than I remembered, especially the first part – but then I’m usually coming down this way, rather than going up. Of the dozen or so ascents I’ve made up Shunner, I’ve probably only gone up this path a couple of times. I’m pleased with my fitness level though and although I was breathing heavily and sweating, I kept a steady pace and only really stopped for photos and a couple of breathers. Once through the last fell gate I had to stop and change layers again. I ditched the fleece, pulled the Dart back on and added my coat on top. It looked dark and foreboding ahead and I fully expected it to start raining at any point, despite the weather forecast to the contrary. It was also cold enough and windy enough to need the coat. I hooked my Tilley onto my pack and used my Buff as a beanie, and pulled my hood over the top of that. I was warm again. It did indeed rain, very briefly, but the drops never joined up on the flag stones of the path, so it didn’t count and within a few minutes it was over, just cold and very windy again. The wind was in my face too, which made the going that much harder.

I passed a couple of obviously Pennine Wayers coming down – they are easy to spot, not just because of their big packs, but there’s a certain focussed determination in their manner, and I wondered if I looked like one to them – I imagine it’s harder to identify me as a Pennine Wayer because I’m going in the wrong direction, and so few people go north to south, they’d probably never twig I was walking the Way.

The last steep pull up to the summit plateau was tough on my knees, but I had the walking pole out and I think that helps a bit. The wind was ferocious now and I was hoping that the shelter wasn’t completely packed and that there would be room in at least one of the quarters out of the wind. I could see a pair of walkers in one corner and they were joined by a group of three as I approached. That left one possibly sheltered corner. I waved hello as I arrived and then headed into the unoccupied corner. I was relieved to be out of the wind, to have the relentless rushing sound out of my ears, and to sit down for a while. I fully intended to stay for half an hour, just soaking up the views and relaxing with my lunch, but I’ll be honest, it was way too cold for that. Even with my three layers, my beanie and my hood up, I quickly began to get cold. The wind found gaps in the stone shelter wall, and as much as I’d have enjoyed the sit down out of the wind, at least I’d keep warm by walking into it. I had a banana, a couple of popcorn chicken bites and two of my remaining kitkat chunkies, washed down juice and then I packed up and headed out.

I popped round to the other corner of the shelter, mainly to get a picture of the trig point, which make up the end wall of the shelter, and also said hello to the group of three sitting there. They were all walking the Pennine Way, one guy doing it all, and camping, and two ladies doing it in stages. I wished them all good luck and put my head down and slogged off into the gale.

I passed two more people just arriving at the summit and then over the next few hundred yards, two more single (probably) Wayers, then a group of six people. It was going to be a busy little shelter up there! Great Shunner Fell is a popular hill and as I dropped down lower I passed a lot more people heading up. None looked like Wayers however, and I guessed I was past today’s little wave. Too close to Hawes now to see any more, unless they were backpackers wildcamping.

The transition from Swaledale to Wensleydale is wonderful, although I prefer the charms of the former this high up the respective valleys. Lower down the valleys, I think Wensleydale takes the ‘best scenery’ prize, despite the almost continuous background noise of motorbikes, which you just don’t get in Swaledale. The road through Wensleydale is an A road, it’s wider and faster and, I guess, much less dangerous for a biker if they want to open the taps and howl down the valley, as so many of them seem to do.

The view down into Wensleydale is slightly different too, it’s wider and greener, as it has more lower grazing than Swaledale. The approach down the slope of Shunner is great, it opens up the view gradually, a slow reveal if you like. I enjoyed the fact that I was walking downhill now, I wasn’t working so hard, but my knees were both complaining, and I was getting sharp stabs from the right knee which came and went, probably just reminding me to take it easy.

I was still wrapped up in coat and hood, although some of the folk I passed didn’t seem to be dressed anything like as warmly and did consider stopping and removing a layer. At Hearn Top I stopped and took a seat on a limestone outcrop. The sun was warm on my face now and I was mostly down out of the wind, so I shed my coat and hooked it under my pack lid. I had a few jelly babies and then pushed on down towards Hawes.

‘Oddest sight of the day’ award goes to a huge group of kids under the care of a guy with a huge beard, wearing a suit and hat, who was applying suncream to them. He was carrying one of them in a papoose on his back, and the kids were all very well behaved and I got a couple of hellos from them. The guy only nodded to me and I returned the gesture and waved to the kids and left them to it.

The long lane into Hardraw seemed to go on for ever and unlike the rest of the descent, there was no green grassy strip down the centre to ease the burden on the soles of my feet. At least I was out of the wind now, and I didn’t even stop in the village, despite the pub being open, preferring instead the thought of a hot shower in my hotel in Hawes. The closer I got to the highest market town in England, the more people I came across. It’s the school holidays of course, so it was always going to busy in the Dales and I met groups and families galore.

I was soon in amongst the crowds proper, in the town and I headed straight for the Fountain. This turned out to be a bit of a logistical error, but I didn’t realise that until later. I checked in and dropped my gear and had a shower. It’s amazing how good a shower can make you feel – I felt warm, refreshed and some of the weariness dropped away as I stood under the hot jets.

I got dressed and decided I’d see if I could get some ice and cold drinks from the Spar across the road. I needed multiple cold drinks and it’s cheaper to bulk buy in a supermarket than have to buy them in the pub. I was a bit gutted then, to find they shut at 3pm, about 10 minutes after I’d arrived in town, but it was now well past 3.20. Bugger.

If I’m in Hawes I always try and eat at the Chippie, they do the best chips and they do a battered Cumberland sausage that’s just to die for. I joined the small queue and called in for them to prepare a sausage for me. I grabbed a couple of ice cold Diet Cokes with my order and took it all back to my room. I sat in the little bay window, watching the world go by below while I scoffed my early tea. City were playing at 4.30 and I didn’t want to miss their opening game of the season, so rather than having to go off and find food half way through the game, I’d decided to eat early. I was getting chilly in my room, so in the end I was in bed for 4.30 watching the game on my tablet. I didn’t manage to finish the journal in time, and once the game was over (2-0 win over Chelsea) I just wanted to settle down and watch something else. So it’s 7am on Monday morning and I’m finishing it before I go down for breakfast at 8am.

I have a slightly easier, albeit slightly longer day into Horton and the forecast suggests I could get wet later! We’ll see.

Video Summary

Map