Day 7: Orton to Kirkby Stephen

Weather: Cloudy with strong south-wester

Distance covered today: 20.7km (12.9mi)

Last night's B&B: George Inn

% Complete: Cumulative distance: 44.9%: 138.4km

Total Ascent/Total Descent: 720m/787m

GPS satellite track of today's route: Day 7(click!)

Today’s pleasant walk through transcendent English countryside was bookended by war stories and coincidences.  Having said goodbye to Marilyn last night as she retired to her separate B&B, who should be walking past my hotel as I emerged this morning, but her!  She was en-route to meet up with the heroes of our deliverance on Kidsty Pike, and we walked together for a while, before parting company so that she could meet up with said David and Gay.  I refused the invitation to join the trio, and was soon amazed to find them ahead of me on the trail, courtesy of a short-cut from their B&B. Inevitably we did walk together awhile, but after a few more coincidental meetings with other new acquaintances, I found myself, via my satnav, actively selecting alternatives that had me walking through the brilliant countryside on my own, and very much at peace.

Much to my surprise, when I went down for supper tonight, the same trio were there in the pub, despite the fact that none of them are staying in this establishment and they didn’t know that I was here!  David and Gay are leaving the trail tonight and Marilyn is pressing on, while I have a rest day, so this was definitely the last supper. We had a few beers to celebrate.

It was also an opportunity to exchange war stories.  It turns out that there have been two deaths on the path over the period of our walk. I mentioned earlier the woman who had been killed at Ennerdale Water. I now learned that she had been on the same path as me, just beyond Robin Hood’s seat. I remember some hairy climbs, but nothing that I would consider potentially fatal. The other fatality apparently happened on my Kidsty Pike day, but I can find no record of it in the media.  It may well just be hype.  There is plenty of that!

At breakfast, I listened to a walker describing how one of our number had been blown off his feet and come down on a rock head-first. The walker had bandaged him up as best he could and advised him seriously to take an escape route down the mountain, but he had refused. Within minutes, the savage wind had removed the bandage and blood was running into the victim’s eyes.  Mountain rescue apparently admitted that conditions were very much more severe than had been expected and they didn’t have the appropriate resources in place. Despite that, one of their number, equipped with a VHF radio and a mountain rescue dog was despatched, and in retrospect, I remember chatting to him as he took shelter behind a wall. I remember being impressed at how cheerful he was, despite the conditions. I had no idea he was doing a job.

The stories of injuries and narrow escapes were legion.  I couldn’t quite escape the feeling that imagination was lending a certain grandeur to the event, but I was impressed by a comment from David, who had so competently led us down the mountain.  He said to me this evening in the pub that in the maelstrom he had been seriously toying with the idea that we should abort and find an escape.  On my own, despite being alarmed and almost prostrate, I would anyway have kept going, potentially into extreme danger.  It takes experience to acknowledge that circumstances warrant a strategic retreat.

David is a quietly spoken northerner of few words and much wisdom. He retired from a position as Director of the YHA (Youth Hostel Association) of north-west England.  I have no doubt that many youths have benefitted from his wisdom over the years.  Certainly, this youth did!

Tomorrow is a rest-day, so no blog, and I promise to let go of my near-death experience in the next one!!

These stone stiles are now ubiquitous and rather fetching!

Such abstract art in the fields and their dry-stone walls

This badly photographed sequence features a deer in the corner,

literally being chased by a herd of horses. The deer has hopped the fence as the horses appear,

The deer is now half-way down the next field as the horses reach the edge. Why??

Back from action to aesthetics: Barn in field with curved path....

Hills and dry-stone walls

Sunlight in valleys! An extraordinary lighted V. 

Moments later, the clouds have moved on and the V looks very different!

Bent's Farm

Rugged grassland

The so-called Manchester of the stone-age. Not much evidence on the surface!

A bridge across the Scandal Beck

The disused Smarsdale Viaduct

An ancient limestone kiln and its associated quarries

Looking through grasslands at my objective for the day, Kirkby Stephen (prn. Kirby Steven)

In a future post, I will reflect on this animal's expression

Sorry luv, tonight I was intemperate!

Rejoicing the old in old England!

Today's elevation profile