Sept. 18 Day 5

Oughtershaw to Cowgill 10.6 miles

It was a rather bleak  morning when we started out this morning, with fog in the valley below and mist on the moors.

 



 

At first we hiked past fields, fells, moors, you name it- all covered over with literally thousands of young trees we had heard about from our B&B host. Then the road ended at Swarthgill Farm and turned into a track. The rough pastures and hilly land with very poor trails made walking difficult. We were just anxious to get over that part of the hike. Not pleasant at all.

  
  The landscape was not very pretty--wide open and rather bleak.

This area is smack in the middle of the immense Yorkshire Dales National Park and there were no farm buildings or signs of habitation anywhere. There were still a few sheep around, but otherwise no wildlife to be seen. 



 

  There were becks (little streams) running between every hill or low spot which created a muddy, difficult path to follow. We kept climbing higher and higher, and the views would have been very expansive had it not been such a cloudy, overcast day.

We finally came to a couple of old stone structures high on the moors.



 

 

 



 

 



 

 

 This one was probably a house at some time, but made me sad thinking about living in this lonesome, remote spot.



 

 

 



 

 The landscape continued to be very bleak.



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Approaching Cam Houses, one of the "wildest and most remote farms in the Yorkshire Dales."

 

As we passed the house, a man was working in the farmyard and stopped to visit with us for a few minutes. He said no one lived there anymore but the owners continued to keep it maintained in spite of the difficulty to get vehicles in and out at certain times of the year. I don't think I'd want to live here.

 

After passing by the farm, we again started to climb. The trail wasn't easy and we had to stop a couple of times for me to rest. When we reached the top, the path joined Cam Fell High Road. This was the summit of Dales Way. About 1700 feet (520 Meters) It certainly seemed a lot higher than that.

 

 

The road has a huge history. It was constructed in the first century by the Romans and has been in continued use since then. It was the main route for wagons and coaches for centuries, but because of damage from 4-wheelers, it was eventually limited as a bridleway and footpath only. But recently, they have started permitting lumber trucks to use the road. I can't help but think that isn't a good thing.

Cam Fell Woods where trees were being logged and hauled over this ancient road.

The guidebook said if we were lucky enough to have a beautiful day, the views would be "unforgettable." Unfortunately, we weren't  lucky, it wasn't a beautiful day, and the views were expansive but not quite so unforgettable.
 

Once we finally started down, we could see the Ribblehead Viaduct in the distance

 

 and we even started seeing some patches of blue sky.

  

 I thought that once we got to the bottom, we would turn and follow the greener valley west, but much to my chagrin, we just crossed over a paved road and started back up again. This is looking back where we've come from.



 

And again looking back. We thought the trail was difficult before, but it got much worse. No maintenance or upkeep that we could see, as well as no trail markers. There was mud between every hill, as well as muck from the sheep. Also very steep in places. The thick, course grass was deceiving because many times it looked as if it would support your weight, but wouldn't.



 

 

I got some pictures of the good places, but should have taken some of the bad. This was one of the good areas. You can see how high we've climbed. At one point I was getting extremely tired and discouraged at the long trail still ahead, when my dear husband tried to lend a helping hand. It was steep and difficult for me, so he gave me a gentle push from behind. Oops, I lost my balance and ended up on all fours in a disgusting puddle of mud and muck! What a mess! I was so tired, I said "maybe I'll just stay here and rest awhile." All we could do was laugh. No water to clean up with and yuck to my elbows and knees. I needed a fire hose!

 

Finally the countryside started changing and got pretty again. Here I am approaching Arten Gill Viaduct. I was tired beyond belief here and just about at the limit of what I could do. This was far and away our most difficult day.

 

 

We passed by a field of Belted Galloway cattle

 

When we finally got close to the end of the day, and not far from our night's lodging, we came across a bench right beside the path. Ahh, what a relief. No sooner did we sit down, than this chicken marched across the road and came up to Russ. She was very interested in reading our guidebook!

 

Then she hopped up on the back of the bench and decided to investigate Russ's backpack.



 

"You got anything in there to eat?"

 

 

"Hey lady, you look like you fell in a mud-puddle!"

 

What is that? A camera? I AM  smiling!



Then her buddies all arrived! I was exhausted, but had great fun with my new friends!

The walk from here on continued down a beautiful country road beside the river Dee. I was, however, so tired I could hardly enjoy the lovely countryside.

 Never in my life have I ever been so glad to see this place! The Sportsman's Inn was a welcome site indeed.

 



 

 

Our bathroom looked almost medieval, but it was exactly what I needed. It took two tubfuls and an hour of soaking to get all the muck off!

 

 

Russ reading in the little sitting area next to our room.

  We had a good hot meal for dinner downstairs and went to bed early!

 

 

Next Entry: Sept. 19, Day 6