Pennine Way - Day 9: Hawes to Keld

Tour Fever

Age gone by

This is billed as one of the top five days on the Way. And it may have been. But my comments about the weather had angered the rain gods.

Before it got too bad we reached Hardraw and the Green Dragon pub.

I can tell that you aren’t impressed.

This maymean nothing to you and to be honest it meant very little to us. But in the grounds behind the pub is England's

     highest, 

As Advertised

          unbroken, 

               single drop, 

                    above ground, 

waterfall: Hardraw Force, 33m. The paid entrance is through the pub. The price seemed a bit steep, but they had spent money and we probably wouldn’t be passing again and much to our surprise we got a free cup of coffee on the way out. I think this is because Wife will talk to anyone. 

Or possibly because there was more water falling from the sky than was coming over the waterfall after the drought and they felt that we had been short changed.

The Reality

The waterfall's title may seem unduly long – but there is, apparently,  an unbroken, single drop, undergroundwaterfall, nearby that is 100m high, or low or lower than low or something. England's droppest waterfall. So, precision is needed.

No mention of freshwater.

The

Pub

As I said it was raining and it did so for most of the day. Easing off occasionally just to get our hopes up only to dash them again with a fresh torrent. I think nature was making up for the drought.

The wild ruralness was wild and, well, rural. Everything was picturesque. Or at least would have been if it wasn't for the cats and dogs obscuring the views. It was pissing down.

On Holes – there were lots of holes. They, at least according to the maps were of different types; Pots, Swallows, Sink and Pits. To wander off the path is asking to be potted, swallowed, sunk or pitted. Any of these would probably ruin a good day, let alone a miserable day like today. I guess they need all the holes to deal with all the water.

Thwaite, billed as pretty was just pretty wet. As were we by then. Our waterproofs weren’t, it seemed.

A wall

We were wet through and sodden. 

Our plan had been to stay at the Tan Hill Inn, more on that tomorrow. But with rain and our water-collectors we had had enough. A quick check on the map showed that Keld was reachable by my farther by car at about the same time that we would get there on foot. So a pleading call was made. 

He is a very nice man and came to get us. So in the end we would only reach Keld. 

The guide shows two routes today. It recommends the lower route in bad weather to avoid walking on Kisdon. Given that we couldn’t even see Kisdon (a bloody big hill) we took the lower route.  In nice sunshine, this would have been truly beautiful, one of the more picturesque bits of rural England.

Friendly reception

But it was raining, we were wet – it was f---ing miserable. Keld was the destination. It was so bad we didn't take any photos.

The crossing of the Coast to Coast path brought some interest – but only in the sense of that might be another nice walk to do in the dry.

Keld has a nice Hotel, but we were so miserable, so wet, so dirty we didn’t even try to go in. I wouldn’t have let me in. So we waited in the rain for our lift. We had for as long as we could in the campsite cafe.

We weren’t giving up.

We were just going to use my father’s house as a base for the next few days and walk with even lighter packs. Relying on his good graces to ferry us to and from the starts and ends of the day's walks. 

He had planned to join us for some sections – but injury prevented this. And maybe the rain.

31/7		Cumulative
Distance Walked	21km	182km
Start Point	Hawes YHA
End Point	Keld
Via	Great Shunner Fell and Swaledale
General Comments A waterfall A Pub Rain

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