Pennine Way (North to South) 2024 – Intermission

I’m writing this a couple of weeks before I set out on the second leg of my North to South Pennine Way, and I’m pleased to say that I’m as eager to set out on this half of the walk, as I was to start the walk, back in May. Having said that, and although there’s still plenty of great walking to look forward to, I think the best section of the Pennine Way is behind me. In this case, ‘best’ is very subjective – so before you start shouting “what about the Yorkshire Dales”, let me explain! I know I still have the Dales, the Southern Pennines and the Dark Peak to traverse, and although no-one could accuse these area of being uninteresting, I do think they, as a whole, lack some of the scenic grandeur of the northern section.

My definition of ‘best’ isn’t limited to just the scenery though, the fells and the paths of the southern section are much more familiar to me – I spend most of my time walking these hills, whereas the Northern Pennines and the Cheviots are a little too far north to be regularly visited. I’m not saying familiarity has bred a contempt for them, but there’s going to be much less of a sense of excitement to see them again.

Secondly, there won’t be the same feeling of ‘remoteness’ that you get with the northern section of the Way. Notwithstanding the first couple of days, which will have their moments, once you get south of Malham, the path quickly becomes squeezed between conurbations and the longer views from the tops will include more factories and tower blocks, than heather-clad summits. I’ll only have to divert a couple of miles from the Way and I can be surrounded by cars and concrete, people and shops.

Finally, I suspect the southern section is going to be more populous – I doubt there will be a day when I only see three or four people. There were several days on the northern section where the only people I saw all day, were the other folk walking the Pennine Way. I’m dreading the walk out of Horton, up to Pen-y-ghent – thanks to the crowds of people I’m going to have to share the path with. I expect the first of the Yorkshire Three Peaks will be absolutely jammed, even on a Tuesday – we are in the middle of the school holidays after all.

That all sounds a bit negative, I know, but I also know I will find wonderful scenery, remote sections of the path, and the solitude of a quiet hill, but just not in the same frequency or quantity as the first leg. And of course, irrespective of where I walk, I also know I’ll find the simple joy of being out for a long walk.

In terms of kit, I’m starting out with a completely untested new shirt – something I have always avoided on my long distance paths. A multi-day walk is no place to be testing new kit! However, in this case, I doubt it could be any worse than what it’s replacing, so I’ll give it a go. The cotton rich material of my Craghopper Kiwi shirt absorbed so much sweat on my last walk that it got to the point where it never really dried out. After a few days it was pretty much unbearable and unwearable, damp and greasy and pretty rank. As someone mentioned in the comments, I could wash it and dry it out on my pack the next day, but that would mean carrying two of them – one to wear and one to dry – and it would also mean me doing chores while I’m on my holiday! I don’t do the washing at home, and I certainly don’t want to start doing it while I’m away!

As such, I hunted high and low for a suitable replacement. I needed something light, with long sleeves (to help prevent sunburnt arms) and made of a material that wouldn’t retain the sweat and odours that are generated over the course of a long walk. I tried to find something made from merino or bamboo, but the choices were limited and after much searching I found the Montane Dart Long-sleeve Zip Neck T-Shirt. As it’s Montane, it’s designed for whippets of course, so I had to go up a size, and even then it’s ‘snug’ on my frame – I would have gone up two sizes if I could! Fortunately, I don’t really care what I look like on the hills and it ticks all my other boxes, so I scoured the internet for the best price and pulled the trigger on it. It’s light (176g for the 3XL), it has long sleeves, which I can roll up if I want, a collar and it zips all the way up. It’s made of a material called Polygiene which is fast drying, moisture wicking and more importantly says it includes a biocide (silver chloride) to stay fresh without washing.

I found out to my cost, many years ago that I need to be wearing two layers when I walk multi-day paths. A single layer leads to a VERY painful sweat rash in all the places where my pack is in contact with my back. Wearing two layers seems to prevent this, and although I do still sometimes get a rash around my hips, this is a rare occurrence now.

My other piece of new kit is not new at all, it’s just been repurposed. My hands got badly sunburnt on the first leg of the walk. Walking south, the backs of my hands were exposed to some quite strong sun for a couple of days and they got burnt and blistered quite badly. For the southern section, I’ve butchered a pair of old, cold-weather gloves, by cutting the fingers out of them and turning them into what I hope will be gloves I can wear in the sun without overheating too much.

I’ll set out on Saturday 17^th August, from the lay-by on the A66, just outside Bowes, heading south for Edale, and I can’t wait!