A couple pics from our layover day in Dent:
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| Dave and Linda relaxing at our B&B |
After the rest day, we continued along the track following the River Dee, passed near the village of Sedbergh (home of a prominent and very well endowed private school), and then along the River Lune. There isn't any village or accommodation at the end of today's stage, so our outfitters had arranged for a taxi to pick us up at a prearranged spot (the Lowgill Viaduct, which once carried a rail line but is now only there for scenic value), take us to a nearby hotel, and then drop us back at the spot next morning. Another day of beautiful walking in perfect weather.
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| Our merry band. Sedbergh in the background |
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| lunch break along the river |
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| I was not so successful: slipped into the mud up to my ankles |
Our hotel was in Tebay, at a service exit (gas station, store, restaurant, hotel) off the motorway. But this was not your usual freeway exit accommodation: the store was like a Whole Foods on steroids, with rows of fancy gourmet delicacies and elegant baked goods. The hotel was beautiful and the restaurant very good. Ate too much, as has become my (unfortunate) routine.
In the morning our friendly driver Gordon was back to return four of us to Lowgill Viaduct for the next stage. Linda and Dick had to fly back home for the GWU graduation ceremonies, so are missing the last two days of the walk. We posed for a final group photo wearing our custom shirts, said our goodbyes, and resumed the trek.
Today's stage was through rolling farm country, and again with perfect weather.
We have all become quite practiced at crossing stiles and navigating the variety of gates built into farm fences. It is refreshing to walk through a country where farmers allow hikers to cross their fields on established foot paths (cyclists are pointedly excluded). For most of the way until today's stage, we've been walking through the Yorkshire Dales National Park, which is 98 percent private land.
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| Kathie, Ellen, and rhododendrons |
Just before the end of today's stage we passed by an old stone barn offering snacks and drinks on the honor system. I filled up the water bottle, and Dave and I poked around the amazing collection of antiques scattered around, including several beautifully restored old wooden sailboats. Two Brompton folding bikes parked in a corner sparked a conversation with the owner who has toured all over in the Western US by bike. She knew of Bike Friday, but not that they made a tandem, so we had to show pictures of ours.
Our accommodation this evening was in the village of Burneside, at a lovely B&B (really, a couple of extra rooms in a private home). Our hosts, Tony and Caroline, only take in Dales Way walkers, and only for about four months a year. Tony is a retired park ranger and very accomplished mountaineer. He insisted on driving us to a nearby pub outside the village for dinner, and then picked us up after. Sent us off in the morning full from a great breakfast and with lots of tips for today's final stage.
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| Kathie and Ellen starting the descent toward Windermere |
The stages of Dales Way route are both all the same and very different. Most of time we've been walking through rolling countryside, sometimes over hills and other times along rivers. The agriculture is mostly sheep, with occasional cattle. But as we've headed west into the Lakes District, the mountains are a little higher and steeper, and we are now seeing more exposed rock in the fields. For most of the walk we saw no other Dales Way walkers, but as we've approached the finish at Windermere we've seen more (sometimes leapfrogging the same other groups).
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| Arrival in Bowness-on-Windermere! |
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