C2C Day 6 - Kirkby Stephen to Keld

Sunday 7th August 2011

C2C Day 6 - Kirkby Stephen to Keld

Day 6 - Kirkby Stephen to Muker.

This section of the route takes us out of Cumbria and into the Yorkshire Dales - You cross the full width of England doing over 200 miles and you only go through two counties ! It's the section everyone dreads - crossing the Pennine bogs. They now have colour coded routes for you to choose from - you're advised which one to take at certain times of the year. It was pretty bad in places and you had to plan your route of attack in advance to pick your way through all the huge peat hags and their sides of mushy black gloop.

Ravenseat is a must, just for the banter with Amanda and her stories of the kids growing up in the area, she's quite the celebrity now - We were both surprised to find she was pregnant again ! "Nothing much else to do round here" joked Amanda as she served up a lovely cream tea with a cuppa - she's certainly a character.

Swaledale is one of the best places in the world - It only just ranks behind the Lakes in my opinion. We reached the Swale in warm sunshine and enjoyed the gentle walk into Keld.

Our evening in the lodge was a quiet one - apparently the night before it had been bouncing ! We hit it at the wrong time and there wasn't much else to do in Keld, so we turned in early in preparation of the 26 miles along Swaledale we had planned for the next day.

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Distance: 11.8 miles

Duration: 5:30 hours

Ascent: 2330 ft

Difficulty: Moderate

Accompanied By: Paul

Weather: Overcast am Sunny pm

3D outline of route

Parking

Which way to the Nine Standards Rigg ?

Looking back Westwards along the track from Kirkby Stephen

This must be the 'Nine Standards Rigg' Situated in the Pennines at a height of 650m, which is the second highest point on the Coast to Coast , their original purpose is uncertain but one possibility is that they marked the boundary between Westmorland and Swaledale. Another theory is that they were constructed by the Roman army to look like troops from a distance or that they were built to resemble an armed encampment that might deter invading Scots. I doubt we will never know for sure. I'm sticking with the one to keep the Jocks out - they get everywhere !