We were up for breakfast at 7:30am and
only had the company of the landlady, Jill. She talked, amongst other things,
about bringing up her daughter who is deaf and the book she had written about it
. We departed about 8:30am and took a slightly circuitous
route via the Castle Walk. This takes you below the walls of the castle but
high above the river. I tried to get a new bite valve for my Platypus but the Yeomans shop only stocked a complete Gelert bladder with pipe and valve so I bought that. What I
failed to do was buy a new cannister of gas which I would later regret. We left
the town and walked up the hill. At the top we stopped and sat on the seat
looking out over Swaledale. It was fresh and dry but hazy and the cloud was
broken. It was 40 minutes before we set off again. As we approached East
Applegarth we met our first Coast to Coasters of the day - a man and his dog.
They must have got a move on as they claimed (or at least the man did) to have
left Reeth at 8:00am! Not bad going! We stopped for our elevenses and
briefly enjoyed sitting in the warm sun. More Coast to Coasters passed us. At
the white cairn on Applegarth Scar a couple kindly took a photo of us together.
The one and only of the whole walk! As we dropped down off of the scar we passed
a group of around 10 Coast to Coasters. Initially we thought they must be
together but it transpired they were in fact several seperate parties one of
whom was a woman on her own in her seventies. As we crossed the fields
below the scar we met a couple out for the day. They recounted how they had done
the Coast to Coast some 20 years previously but had used two cars in order to
avoid carrying their baggage! Each morning they would park one car at the end of
the day's route and then drive to the start. At the end of the day they would
drive back to the start to pick up the car they had left there!. We continued
through Marske and on up the lane to Hardstiles Top. We crossed the 'easy' stile
into the fields and decided to stop there for lunch as it was now 13:15pm. It
reminded me of the time on my Coast to Coast walk in 2004 when a herd of
cows had encircled me when I stopped at the same spot for my elevenses.
Today there were only sheep. Three men with three dogs appeared across the other
side of the field and then realising they were off route back tracked
over to the stile. They were camping and carrying all their gear. Then two
more campers complete with gear appeared. They had spent the previous night
at Muker and were heading for Richmond. They both looked tired and still had a
good way to go. The weather clouded over and started to look quite
threatening. We had thought we might make 'Elaines' for lunch but fortunately we
had not reckoned on it. We had already been told it was closed and sure enough
when we reached the signs a large one announced 'CLOSED'. On through Marrick and
down the Nuns Steps towards the Priory. I concluded it looked better from a
distance than close up and the white vans of the Outdoor Pursuits Centre
based there didn't add to the aesthetics. Shortly afterwards two final
Coast to Coasters came from the opposite direction making a total of 35 today!
By now it was 15:45pm and we wondered whee they were headed so late in the
day. It transpired that they lived 'locally' and had left their car at
Marrick and would be spending that night in their own beds before continuing the
next day! There followed a 2 mile trudge down the road into Reeth. The only
good thing ws that the rain held off. We arrived at 16:30 pm and
headed for what I remembered as a Spar shop on the village green. It appeared
now to be not as well stocked as I remembered and the picnic table outside had
gone. They had no powdered milk and a youngish lad who was serving didn't even
know what time they were open the following day (Sunday)! We bought food for
that evening and then headed for the campsite. The site used to be run by an
elderly man who had previously told me there was always room for a Coast to
Coaster. It transpired that he had sadly died in 2007 and, although still owned
by his widow, it is now managed by a Peter Daly (no relation!). He was also very
welcoming and provided us with two garden chairs, a wind break and gave us a
prime spot to camp which he said would be quieter. We settled in and made a
meal of soup, mince, mash, rice, pineapple, chocolate and coffee. By 20:00pm it
was already dark so it was into the tent and by around 21:00pm we were asleep.
It was a cold night but the Marmot sleeping bags did their job although the new
Helium, with a comfort rating of -1ºC, was only just warm enough.
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