The Pennine Way, part 3

Monday 13th April 2009

Whernside and back onto the Pennine Way

This walk was much more tiring and difficult than on the previous days in this holiday even though I walked no further and that was mainly because of the problems I was having with my boots. Back in September towards the end of my week in Scotland I started to have trouble with my boots which I put down to the inner sole wearing out. I bought a new pair but they gave me blisters so instead I added volume adjusters to the bottom of my existing inner soles. This had worked well throughout the winter but I now found that it had not been good enough. The previous afternoon the soles of my feet had started to hurt and then during this walk they became excruciatingly painful from no less than three blisters. Fortunately I was staying in Hawes at the end of this day so was able to buy some new inner soles there before I left.

The walk on this day started very well with a stroll along the Ingleton Waterfalls Trail, for which there is a charge. This was a wonderful walk past a series of stunning waterfalls along a cleverly constructed path that enabled me to get close views of all the waterfalls including the spectacular Thornton Force, which is a grand looking waterfall in a beautiful setting, though I was not seeing it at its best as it was in shadow and not in spate. Despite this, the whole river walk was a great treat and I was gutted that I was unable to complete the whole trail along the River Doe past more waterfalls as I had a long way to travel and I was not returning to Ingleton.

Leaving the waterfalls behind I climbed the hillside above through the last limestone pavement that I would encounter on this holiday as I left limestone country behind, and onto the southern end of the great ridge that summits at the top of Whernside. This was a long and tiring climb with little of interest on a boggy hillside beside a dry stone wall. The weather was colder than the day before with a stiff, cold wind and the views were hazy. Eventually I reached the summit but I didn't linger as it was really cold but continued along the ridge descending the heavily manufactured path. As I was walking down the paved path I passed many people who were coming up the path on this Bank Holiday Monday to reach the summit of Whernside, the highest of the Three Peaks. Despite the colder weather the area was still as popular as it had been the day before and I was glad to be walking away from the crowds. By now my feet were really hurting but I struggled on to the impressive Ribblehead Viaduct where I sat down and while having my lunch I took my boots off to ease my aching feet, though once my boots were back on my feet were in agony once again.

With views of Whernside and the twenty-four arch viaduct behind me I made my way onto the road and agonisingly walked along it for a mile or two until I got to a clear track that climbed the hillside of Cam Fell. Wearily, I struggled up the hill where I finally rejoined the Pennine Way and continued along the track, a Roman road called Cam High Road over bleak grass-covered hills. I had definitely now left the fascinating limestone features of the Three Peaks area and was entering an area of bleak moorland hills that have few redeeming qualities, but are typical of the English Pennines: rocks are rare while heathery bogs are common place. At this point the walking was fortunately relatively easy as the old Roman road was on a very good track, and since it is Roman in origin it is, of course, straight as an arrow.

I continued onward acquiring more blisters and becoming more exhausted as I struggled past Dodd Fell Hill and finally, to my great relief, began to descend into Wensleydale, which is another great Yorkshire dale, though by now I such great pain that every step was a torture. Hobbling along the lane I came into the tourist-filled village of Hawes and to the youth hostel. I would not consider this a great walk as Whernside has no redeeming qualities as a hill, unlike the other two of the Three Peaks, and the rest of the walk was over bleak, grassy hills. The only glimmer of goodness in the entire day were the waterfalls along the River Twiss near Ingleton, as they were simply awe-inspiring, but by the time I was nearing Hawes they were a distant memory. My painful feet had made the whole walk a matter of simple endurance. Thankfully I was able to get some decent inner soles in Hawes or I would not have been able to continue my holiday.