Miles walked today: 11

Total trip miles: 125

Elevation gain today: 1,217 ft.

Accommodation: Nuns Cottage

Today the weather was “changeable.” When it wasn’t drizzly and cool, the sun was warm and the sky was blue with puffy white clouds. We started out with rain jackets on, but at our first sit-down break, we also put on our rain pants because it was getting chilly and rainy. A few minutes later the sun was out. This went on all day, but we arrived in Richmond with blue skies. For all the drizzle and rain, though, we were never uncomfortable and we had plenty of beautiful weather. You’ll notice I only took photos when the weather was nice, but I took so many photos today!

We spent most of the day leapfrogging with several people we have met before. By the afternoon they passed us a final time and we didn’t see them again. One of them is Lorraine from Canada—everyone calls her Orange Lady because she has a bright orange poncho that can be spotted from miles away. Today she was walking ahead of us when we decided to take a break in the shelter of a stone fence. We watched as she disappeared over the hill and every sheep in the field turned and hurried after her. Once they figured out she wasn’t going to feed them, they came back over the hill and they all stood in a line staring down at us for a few minutes as if to say, “What have you got for us?”

Most of the day was spent walking through pastures and squeezing through stiles. Busy talking, we missed one stile at a road crossing, so we just followed the road into town where we got back on the trail. It was actually an easier walk as we didn’t have to climb up on that part. Not having slept well last night, I was getting pretty tired by the time we got to Richmond. (It’s amazing to me how we can be so tired at the end of the day’s walk but after a good night’s sleep, we wake up in the morning ready to go again.) I had planned on going to see the castle this time since I didn’t in 2015. I was so tired, though, I opted for a hot shower and rest before we went out to eat. In Richmond, we are the only guests at Nuns Cottage. It is a very comfortable place near the downtown center and best of all, our host had fresh-out-of -the-oven scones for a cream tea for us when we arrived. They tasted heavenly! Tomorrow I’m having a home baked cinnamon “whirl” with my breakfast.