Day 11: Kirkby Stephen to Keld

Expectations

Bog Day!

This is the route we will take in good weather if the trail is reported to be not life-threateningly boggy. Regardless, there’s a risk of ending up waist-deep in bog, so should be interesting.

A long day–11.23 miles–no doubt made longer by the bogs. We’ll headfrom Old Croft House in Kirkby Stephen to Butt House in Keld (Cs) and Keld Lodge (Ls)

I wonder if we’ll be able to eat together?

Realities

12.05 miles. Route in the header is not right–that’s the blue route, not the red route that we actually took.

Early start to the day, because bags need to be ready for pick up by 8am. Kirkby Stephen is the base for Packhorse, so the vans start their route from there. Breakfast—delightful. We chatted with a couple from Philadelphia who did the first half last year and were now embarking on the second half. And a British man cycling the C2C in 5 days (different route from the walking one.)

Quick note on Old Croft House. Rachel and Nick are our favorite hosts to date. Interesting people, with great advice on Kirkby Stephen and the Coast to Coast route. Delicious food, great sense of humor. And of course, the welcome on our arrival with tea and scones! The room itself was a little noisy—it faced the pub across the road and we had to keep the window open because the room was rather warm. Besides that, lovely bathroom and lovely room. Would happily stay here again. Oh, and just look at this amazing wallpaper–couldn’t believe it wasn’t 3D paper art at first.

We paused until the pharmacy opened at 9am (fish oil for D, eye drops for L, whose eyes by the end of most days feel like they need to be rinsed under a tap!) Then headed east out of Kirkby Stephen.

Although the total climb was about 1500ft, it was gentle enough that it seemed almost insignificant, certainly compared to the Lake District.

It was nice weather at the base, with expansive views to the north, and Nine Standards Rigg was visible at times, but by the time we arrived at the top, the cloud base had dropped and we were shrouded in mist. Made it quite atmospheric, and we ended up grateful that it kept the temperature down.

M paused to do both a King impression and a Ben Hur impression

We also paused for a quick snack at the signpost to Nine Standards

Then continued upward to the top.

The infamous bogs began almost immediately after leaving the top. But they weren’t too bad. A few required some careful choice of route, but no-one ended up with water or mud in their boots.

This particular section was referred to (somewhere!) as being like the Somme in 1916!

Love F’s expression in this one (“Why did I agree to walk with these people?”)

Eventually, we cleared the cloud bank. The views to the south and to the east were breathtaking.

We stopped for lunch at (we think) Lady Dike Face (!) which was a collection of rocks.

Then onward, gradually descending from the moor.

We met a woman walking solo with her sheep dog. She thought she might be lost (she wasn’t though) and tagged along with. Very interesting chatting with her.

With great joy, we reached Ravenseat Farm, famous for providing cream teas to walkers, and for the “Free Range Kids” sign.

The owner is a shepherdess with 9 children. What we thought was the youngest was sitting in the grass happily chewing some greenery. Turns out she wasn’t the youngest…the mom gave birth two days ago to a 4lb preemie and had to be ambulanced for an hour and a half to hospital due to hemorrhaging. And here she was two days later, serving delicious cream teas.

She said something that stuck with me: “I live a life where nothing can be planned. As a farmer, you can’t plan the weather. You can’t plan when babies arrive, you can’t plan when hikers show up each day. So you just deal with what is in front of you in this moment.” She would be heading back to where the baby it still hospitalized this evening.

She wrote a book (“Life of the Shepherdess”) which Warner Bros is making into a movie. The screenwriter will be showing up tomorrow!

The cream teas were lovely. Remarkable considering the remoteness.

Then off again–farm in the distance.

—the last few miles into Keld. Pretty valley carved out by Whitsundale Beck, draining into the River Swale.

The Ls B&B (Keld Lodge) was the first one we reached. Arranged for a 7pm dinner there. Then the Cs carried on to Butt House. Lovely welcome. No working wi-fi though! Oh the humanity 🙂

Reconvened at Keld Lodge for dinner. Highly entertained by “Posh Dave”…quite the character! Had us in stitches several times. Certainly one of our most enjoyable meals so far.

Posh Dave was entirely happy to indulge D with “lashings of custard”

Tricky decisions for tomorrow…high route (cooler, harder, longer) or low route (hotter, midgier, with pubs!)

Then back to Butt House. Borderline internet, so likely a text-only post for now.