Back to Bowes and Ribbons of Rain – third blog today

Blades won, nice early weekend with my old lass, great meal of slow oven stewed Ox cheek. Then I set off from Leeds at 9.40am to Darlington again. My old mate Chip was joining me for three days walking and camping. I met him there and we had a breakfast at Weatherspoons before getting the bus to Barnard Castle and a taxi the four miles to Bowes, where I left off on Thursday. Our spirits were high and despite the wind the weather was dry. 

The Pennine Way splits, with one leg taking in Bowes before rejoining the main path. The Bowes Loop rises uphill southward to link in with the main path en route to Tan Hill. Our afternoon stretch would take us 11 miles to the Tan Hill Inn, where we would pitch our tents this evening. It’s a pleasant walk and we linked up in good time with the main path.

As we climbed higher the wind picked up. The Tan Hill Inn is the highest pub in the British Isles, at over 1700 feet, so weather is an issue there. But the views are good going up.

Chip was doing well, despite his long period of sickness, although he is a determined old get anyway. And then the wind picked up, and it turned cold, and the rain started slowly at first and ended in a downpour. The path began to get boggy, and then became very boggy, and finally became almost impassable. Chip kept going. Not reyt fast but still going.

We decided to cut across for the last few hundred yards from a massive liquid bog area to a road that had appeared to our left. Getting there Chip slipped into a boggy ditch and pitched backwards with the rucksack on his back. He was stuck and I didn’t get a picture. Bugger! But if I had done it would be like this.

I helped him up. After nearly six hours walking we made it to the Inn. The weather conditions were such that we couldn’t pitch a tent. No way at all. So we got a room and had a few beers and a meal and dried our soaking boots and gear on a radiator. 

Tired out, early night, sleep tight.

Night night.