During the night I awoke briefly several times. At 5:30am I woke and heard the first aircraft flying low as it came into land at Manchester airport. Then I heard the first raindrops on the tent. I slept again till just before 7 am. It was still raining. I made my breakfast of porridge (OatsSo Simple) with dried apricots and a fried egg and two slices of bread. By the time I had eaten it the rain had stopped and patches of blue appeared. Drank my mug of milky coffee sitting outside on a rock and replied to Dave's text received late yesterday evening.

During the night and at seven in the morning I had thought I had heard distant voices but was miles from anywhere. I now looked across to the other side of the stream and realised that I had not imagined them completely but it had been the cackling of two geese who were standing on the bank.

Washed, shaved, cleaned up, took a couple of photos and packed the tent up. Before leaving I put a plaster on my big toe which was tender. I had felt the one next to it yesterday as well but it now seemed OK. My back ached a little but my legs were fine. Left at 9:10am and walked down the valley. Within half-an-hour my other toe was hurting and I had to stop to put a plaster on it. I reached the A628. A road I had often raced along on my way backwards and forwards to Manchester. Eventually there was a gap in the lorries thundering along that was big enough to allow me to cross.

I knew there was a shop on the campsite nearby and went out of my way and 100 ft down to visit it. I thought they might have some more gas (I didn't know whether mine would last) a small tin of peas and maybe an orange and/or apple. When I got there a notice on the door said: "Open 9am to 10:30am". It was now 10:15am. The door was firmly locked and although I rang the bell several times, no one came. I peered through the windows and concluded they had nothing I wanted - only pot noodles and baked beans. I cut back across to the path and regained the 100ft I had lost. I saw two lots of people ahead of me. As I reached the top of the climb up to the cliff I stopped and chatted with the first pair, who were sitting resting on some rocks, - a couple from Hampshire. They also started yesterday from Edale (well ahead of me) and were spending eight days to get to Ribbledale. They were bed and breakfasting and youth hostelling and had to get to Marsden today. Tomorrow they would have a rest day!

The path was narrow and with a steep drop to one side. With the heavy load on my back trying to overbalance me I had to be extra careful. Then it led into an open flat valley and here I passed the other pair - two men - who were sitting having lunch. It was 12:15pm. I spoke briefly and discovered they were only out for the day. At the top of the valley the path became paved and lead up to Black Hill. It was clear this was extremely boggy terrain, (although at present it was a fairly dry) and the path, thus, a necessity. Stopped for lunch just before the summit. The two men soon passed me and at 1:50pm the couple appeared and passed me as well.

The weather has been cool, not as windy as yesterday, dry and broken cloud. Set off again over Black Hill - its name is very descriptive - black peat bog but now with a paved path. Passed the couple shortly afterwards and soon reached the A635. The map showed the path going straight ahead but a sign pointed to the right along the road. I walked a couple of hundred yards to a road junction where another sign still indicated straight along the main road. Decided this could not be correct and returned to where I came onto the road by which time the couple had caught up. Their map also indicated straight ahead. Set off in this direction and crossed a couple of stiles. They fell behind, as it appeared she was having difficulty with her ankle over the rough ground. Soon reached a track high up alongside two reservoirs. Stopped to put on sunscreen and sunglasses as the cloud had cleared and my eyes, particularly the left, had started watering. Looked back but there was no sign of the couple.

The path was very pleasant. Today's walking had less of the paved slabs that are so hard on the feet. Stopped at the end of the reservoirs and had a cup of tea before continuing onward and upward. At about 5:00pm I saw the couple below, a full hour behind. Here our paths diverged, as they were bed and breakfasting in Marsden.

I was tempted to stop and camp, as it was very pleasant here. However it was still too early and would mean I would not make Hebden Bridge tomorrow. Continued on to the A62 and decided I needed to look for a place to pitch tent for the night. I found a spot just beyond the road although it was far from satisfactory. No running water and I needed to refill my bottles. I brewed a cup of tea and got out the maps. My measurements indicated that the total distance was 42 miles and not 36 as I had thought! After ¾hour (at 7pm) I decided that if I stayed at this less than ideal spot I wouldn't make it to Hebden Bridge by tomorrow evening. I packed up and moved on. It was a glorious evening and I felt refreshed and made good progress. Stopped to ring Gemma but she was engaged so texted David. I was enjoying the walking but there were still no fresh supplies of water. Then, as if by magic, lying on the path was a full 500 ml unopened bottle of Sainsbury's Caledonian mineral-water! This made all the difference. I walked briskly on, made good progress and eventually, at about 8:15pm, found a place to camp by a stream.

I discovered I was not the first to use this spot as in the course of erecting the tent I found a tent peg left in the ground by a previous occupant. (the next morning I found two more as though they had been flung away in the grass when someone had shaken out their tent). The spot was relatively sheltered, had a view of a reservoir, was by a stream and within sight of a telephone mast so I could ring a home!!

Ate TVP, dried veggies and mash, with soup as starters. Rang Gemma and finally turned in at 10:15pm. A cold night was forecast and I was up relatively high.