Woke shortly before 7:00am after a very windy night but having slept surprisingly well. There was still a gale blowing and it was raining as well. I could see, through the vents of the tent, the frame flexing to a worrying degree but despite this the inner tent was very stable. The tent had certainly proved itself in the wind. Gemma woke and we discussed our options. We decided that despite our shortage of food and gas that it was better to sit tight if the weather did not improve. Our cut off time for leaving the camp site was around 11:00am if we were to have sufficient time to reach Kirkby Stephen. By 7:50am the rain had stopped and the wind seemed less wild. I ventured out. It looked to be brightening in the west. The woman at the camp site brought the bacon and egg baguettes (£2.50 each) we had ordered the night before. We had our breakfast just about managing to heat enough water for a cup of coffee and a cup of tea with the last of the gas. The weather continued to improve as we packed everything and, having paid our bill (£5pp per night), were away by 9:45am. As we climbed up out of Keld there was a strong head wind that would persist most of the day. Just past Ravenseat we went the wrong way and ended up on the wrong side of Whitsundale Beck. However, there was a high stone wall which we were able to shelter behind from the wind for a break. At this point we decided we would take the (blue) route up Whitsun Dale, rather than the less interesting and longer (green) road route alternative and were able to take a shortcut back across some rough ground to the path. It was nearly midday and, just as I remarked: 'we may not see many Coast to Coasters today', the first ones appeared in the distance. We would pass 26 in all. One group of three was a pleasant couple who were B&Bing and a young woman who was camping and carrying all her own gear including a 'bag' made of what looked like a sheet! She was hoping to get a bus from Keld to Richmond. Later we met four American women one of whom turned out to be of Dutch origin so Gemma conversed briefly with her in Dutch. All the people we met reported that the boggy ground at the top was not too bad. We stopped for lunch before we climbed up out of Whitsundale which was a wise decision. Whilst in the dale the sun had been shining and it had been relatively sheltered from the wind, but as we climbed  up onto the boggy ground the wind hit us with its full force. The bog was as dry as I had ever experienced it in the past. The surface was soft form the previous night's rain but underneath it was very firm and caused us no problems. A brand new sign had been erected at the divergence of the blue and red routes albeit in the middle of a peaty mire. We reached the Nine Standards at around 15:00pm and were thankful for the shelter they gave from the wind. We paused only briefly before quickly descending towards Kirkby Stephen where I was hoping I could purchase a new gas canister. It was 16:45pm as we approached Frank's Bridge and I asked a couple, out for a stroll, whether there was an outdoor shop in Kirkby Stephen. He replied that there was but it closed at 17:00pm. I left my rucksack with Gemma on a seat and set off to find it. Despite the directions the man had given me (the shop is near the HSBC and Barclays banks), I went the wrong way. Asked a shopkeeper, who was just closing up, and reached the outdoor shop just before 17:00pm. To my dismay the door was already locked but the light inside was on. I rattled the door handle to no avail. Then, just as I was about to accept my predicament, a man appeared from the next shop along (an estate agents I believe) with the key to the outdoor shop. He happily sold me a new cylinder of gas! I returned for my rucksack and then we walked the long 0.75 miles to the camp site at the other end of the town stopping at the Co-op (open until 22:00pm) on the way to buy some food for the evening meal. At the camp site there were no other campers so we pitched the tent counter intuitively but logically as close to the road as possible as this was the quietest spot and the most sheltered although the wind had dropped. Now we had fuel we decided to try out the Travelunch freeze dried beef and potato hot pot that I had carried with me. I added the water, stirred and placed the bag under my sleeping bag to keep warm. In the meantime I heated a tin of peas. I have to say that the hot pot tasted good although the amount of beef was not great. We found one packet was enough for the two of us especially as we also had a tin of pea and ham soup for starters and peas with the hot pot. It was about 20:00pm, already dark, and both us fell asleep lying in the tent. We awoke an hour later and consumed our dessert of tinned peaches. Tomorrow we would decide whether to complete the remaining stages of the Coast to Coast or return home.

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