Woke up , to my dismay, feeling much the same .  I had 11 miles today in front of me and I was struggling to get down the stairs !  I had to get moving early as Packhorse were collecting my bag at 7.30.    I again had to turn down breakfast , sitting with a glass of iced water instead … ( I know it pains me to even say it !!!).    Hilary gave me fruit and a cheese sandwich in case I felt like something later and I got a lift back to my starting point at Kirky Stephen.

Today was either the walk up the moors to Nine Standards Rigg , the boggiest part of the walk or following a long , isolated road through moorland into the the tiny village of Keld.   I am walking alone today and as I had been warned about the peat bogs, I took the road route to Nateby and then to Keld.    I believe that a wrong step across these bogs could leave you knee deep or more .  Advice being : “if you go down just don’t struggle or you’ll go deeper”.  I certainly couldn’t face a situation like that today !   Thank goodness  there was an alternative .

I started off , my pack suddenly felt like a tonne weight today.  I just decided I would take it slowly and sit down when I needed to.    Today I truly felt like I was walking across England , this long , deserted road that climbed up and up took me through rolling farmland, moors and a windy deserted landscape .   It was fabulous.  It was my first day of not seeing another soul.  It was just me and the sheep.    The only face I saw was a friendly farmer on a three wheeler with his feed and his sheepdogs on the back.  He stopped for a chat and said “you choose this for a holiday ???”   His dogs were amazing and seemed to know every word he said, I swear one of them actually waved to me as he drove off !

I stopped a few times bent double with stomach cramps , taking deep breaths – god only knows what the sheep were making of me.   At the base of a big hill I had Hilary’s banana.  This was the first
thing I’d had since yesterday’s breakfast.  Unheard of !!     I passed by lots of unused stone barns , called laithes, bleak but stunning.   It was like walking through a Wuthering Heights landscape – I
loved it and the weather was kind to me , perhaps thinking this girls in a delicate state the least we can do is give her a  bit of sun .  

Wainwright , describes this road in his book “it is the sort of road, lonely and inhospitable, no more than a narrow thread of Tarmac through barren hills, where a passing motorist feels an obligation to offer a lift to a solitary walker”.   Well, not a single motorist did I see – I was
beginning to think that someone was playing a trick on me and Keld didn’t really exist when I saw a
sign saying Keld half a mile. !!  This tiny hill village sits at the head of Swaledale , there are some beautiful waterfalls as you approach .  And I have today officially crossed from Cumbria to Yorkshire and the half way point of the walk.
Keld lodge was a welcome sight and while I waited for them to finish my room I fell fast asleep in a high back chair in the guest lounge!    After a hot shower and another sleep  I headed down for some soup.  I actually felt like some soup so this was a good sign .  Another good nights sleep should do it !!      A memorable day for many reasons xxx