Kirkby Stephen to Grinton Lodge

Friday 9th April 2010

I had calculated this walk as being twenty-two miles so I set off early for a good, long walk but in the end I think it must have been more like twenty-six miles over some very hilly terrain, so it took me over ten hours to complete and by the end I was really exhausted and my feet were aching. The walk started with an ascent of Nine Standards Rigg by climbing up a road onto the open hillside. Nine Standards Rigg is a significant hill on the Coast to Coast as it lies on the watershed of England, all the rivers and streams from now on flow towards the east coast rather than the west coast behind me. I visited this hill in 2004, but unfortunately I was not able to on this occasion. There are different routes over the hill in different months of the year because of erosion-prevention and the December-April route doesn't go to the summit but skirts the western slopes heading south to a road. I was quite disappointed at not visiting the summit but the road walking gave me an opportunity to put some speed on and eat up some of those miles that I had to cover during this walk.

Leaving the road I crossed a wet moorland hillside, and was soon joined by the later season paths before dropping into a secluded valley farm, Ravenseat. Leaving the farm I walked above the narrow, picturesque valley of Whitsun Dale and rounded the corner into the young Swaledale. Crossing a valley mouth I dropped down to the picturesque spot where the Pennine Way crosses the coast to coast, near the village of Keld. Here I had lunch and enjoyed the sunshine with a lovely waterfall beside me. I passed this spot last year while walking along the Pennine Way and it was nice to be able to enjoy this tranquil spot again. Setting off, the route now changed tempo completely as I climbed up the side of Swaledale to the old Swinner Gill Lead Mines where I left the picturesque Swaledale and climbed out of the valley by a rough and steep path onto the top of the hill. On the heather-covered moorland I walked past areas where the heather was being burned and descended into another area of mine workings, the Lownathwaite Lead Mines in the deserted valley of Gunnerside. Passing the eerie, old mine buildings I climbed once again up the side of the valley onto the moorland top where I found a bleak, desolate wasteland caused by the mine workings. I also found a good track that I was able to follow for several miles across the top, down into the valley opposite and along the bottom of the valley to a road.

Sadly the good track does not lead all the way to the youth hostel as I really wished it did. Instead, rough, boggy walking resumed as I crossed heather-covered moorland above a wall and a network of fields eventually reaching a track that would take me to a farm house. Now with weary steps I crossed countless fields as I dropped into the village of Reeth. With the little strength that I had left I crossed the River Swale and climbed up the steep road to Grinton Lodge Youth Hostel. My epic walk had been completed in awesome weather and across some stunning terrain. Unlike my previous day's walk this one had great variety and significantly prolonged walking through open country. The coast to coast doesn't have another day like this until it reaches the North York Moors, fortunately the next day was my last.