C2C Day 9&10 Yorkshire Dales

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Kirkby Stephen to Keld (Yorkshire Dales)

July 22

12 Miles

From reading our Wainwright’s C2C guide book and seeing the wet weather forecast, Xavier, Katrien, Mark, Dave, and we knew this was going to be a challenging day. So we set out together after breakfast and stayed together until we reached Keld 12 miles away.

The day was marked by relentless, strong wind. Also, rain and cloud condensation were persistent. Hiking through cloud and wind and lots and lots of boggy terrain made for a very soggy, muddy day without rewarding vistas as views were curtained by the weather elements. We endured endless muddy bogs that were difficult to navigate because the land was obscured by the cloud condensation. The group stayed close together. Emilie fell in a stream, submerging her right leg up to her shin.  My backpack cover blew off and I chased it through mounds of boggy terrain hoping not to break an ankle or run into shin deep mud or water. The trail was most difficult to stay on, and Xavier and I were frequently looking down at our phone GPS tracking logs (mine now in a ziploc bag for protection from the elements).

9 Standards

We had a decision point where we could have opted for a lower lying “green” route, or take the more challenging “red” route. We should have taken the green route, but of course we took the red route. The red route was chosen because we could then hike to the highlight of this segment of the C2C, the mysterious “9 Standards” dryrock cairns.

When we finally reached the 9 Standards situated at the highest point of this segment (about 2,000′ above sea level), but remarkably only about 3 miles from the center of Kirkby Stephen, the large haystack-like cairns were barely visible given the weather. They appeared ghostly monolithic, lined in a series which stretches about 100 yards from the first to the last. They range from about 6-12 feet in height. Nobody knows their origin but many think they were created as a boundary marker between Cumbria and the North Yorkshire, since that border is very close. We rested at the 9 Standards for a bit before heading off.

Upon departing the 9 Standards, if it weren’t for the gps tracking log we would have had no idea which way to head. Xavier and Mark and I consulted and finally agreed on which direction to head. Not too long after starting off again, I was looking at my phone upside down and led the group in the wrong direction for about ¼ mile before Xavier insisted that we were going in the wrong direction…glad he did. It took a few miles before we got to less challenging terrain.  About two hours beyond the heights of 9 Standards Rigg we reached level, dry path, and we were out of the rain.  We had some nice hiking here, with beautiful scenery culminating in crossing a beautiful stone bridge over water.

At the time, we regretted taking the red route while struggling to navigate it, and worrying about never being found. But, no regrets afterward, or now. It was a great adventure…we were badass as Emilie says.

We finally made our way into Keld around 4:00 PM. It is a very small hamlet with just a few structures, one being the Keld Lodge where 4 of us were staying. We met up with other hikers staying at various places at an outdoor beer garden at Keld Lodge for some well-earned drinks. We had a very nice, civilized meal at Keld Lodge and marveled at the fact that we just did that amazing hike. There were 6 tables in the restaurant at Keld Lodge, and all but one contained C2C hikers.

Keld to Reeth

July 23

12 miles
During breakfast at the Keld Lodge we saw the person from the C2C Packhorse sherpa service arriving to pick up our duffel bags for transfer to the next stop, in Reeth.  It was the only time we actually saw somebody from the sherpa service we hired for the trip.  He was one of the management team, and he was very friendly.  He gave us suggestions for the day’s hike.

Xavier, Katrien, Mark, Dave, and we set out and hiked all day together. We followed an alternative lower valley route to the official Wainwright C2C trail. We decided to hike along the River Swale just about the whole way. This route paralleled Wainwright’s C2C trail, but was just south of it. It was a very hot day and so we thought it would be cooler and possibly shadier along the river. For the most part, it was.  Hiking was mostly level and pleasant along dirt and grassy trails.  This was one of the easier hikes of the trip, which was a welcome change from the previous day.  At one point we stopped along the river where Katrien sat in the water, and I cooled my feet off. The others, including Emilie enjoyed just sitting on the rocks at the river’s edge.

We found ourselves along a road, and after about 1/2 mile realized we missed the turn to get back down along the river. So, instead of going back to that turn, we decided to untie a rope on a gate to a pasture next to us and walked toward the river. It was only about 50 yards, and so we successfully trespassed for the first time on the trip.

Reeth was a cool village with a surprisingly touristy and somewhat busy center. It was wide open, with a large common area with great views overlooking the Yorkshire Dales. It looked like a painting. We enjoyed just walking around taking in the stone houses and endless green rolling hill scenery on a beautiful summer night.

Em and I stayed at a nice bnb, the Hackney House, along with a family of 4 from Salt Lake City we had seen a few times. As it turned out, this would be the last night on Wainwright’s Coast to Coast trail for this family. They decided to stop due to their teenage boys being very ready to stop, and they planned on getting a train the next day after hiking to Richmond, and head for Edinburgh.
We had dinner at the Buck Hotel at the top of the village center. This was a pub/ restaurant inside the hotel where Xavier and Katrien were staying. The staff of The Buck Hotel was friendly but extremely inefficient…they were not quite ready for prime time. Xavier and Katrien waited 30 minutes to get food for breakfast the next morning…they were not thrilled with staying at the Buck Hotel.

After dinner we headed to our bnb and went to bed in our very small room which had barely enough space for us and our luggage. But, it was quiet and comfortable.

Next: C2C Day 11&12 Richmond