Wednesday

Well, I came down to the bar at the Charles Bathurst Inn, expecting to find the tour group all drinking beers and engaging in animated conversation, but the hike today must have been so exhausting that most of our number have fallen on to their beds to take a nap.   I'm feeling quite fine, energized, really, after the 13 plus mile hike from Cumbria over the hills to Yorkshire.  We climbed gradually up the slopes of treeless moors in a brisk wind and cloudy skies.  When we stopped to look back, there was a beautiful view of valleys below.  Climbing and climbing, not too steeply, but persistently, we arrived at the Nine Standards on top of the mountain, nine stone structures of varying heights, impressive from a distance, like Stonehenge.  We took pictures in a wind so strong I thought my backpack would blow away when I set it down on the grass.   After that we descended through the wind and fog, with occasional beams of sunshine down to the road where lunch was waiting.  But, unfortunately, lunch was in a cold and foggy spot with the wind blowing away the lettuce from our salad.  Everybody got their extra clothes out of their packs and several of us huddled in and around the van that that had transported our lunches.  After lunch we continued a long descent down the road, veered to the right and climbed some more hills, passing numerous sheep and farm buildings.  We ended up hiking along a stream on a road leading down to where our bus was parked.  I checked my iphone record, 13.4 miles!  The bus took us here, to this inn, where I am drinking my beer and eating crisps (British for potato chips).  DInner will be in about an hour.

I wish I could post some photographs, but the wifi is really slow up here in Yorkshire, and the pictures don't seem to move swiftly through cyberspace.  

I'll try to post this, but in the future I must catch up on the events of Monday and Tuesday, which also involved interesting hikes and experiences which I must record.