Miles walked today: 11.5

Total trip miles: 162.5

Elevation gain: 2,687 feet

Accommodation: The Wainstones Hotel in Great Broughton

Another hard day is done and we are looking at just four more days until Robin Hood’s Bay—four days that should be easier! Today was the kind of day that in the midst of it made me wonder what a seventy-one year old woman is doing scrambling around out here on these rocks. But at the end of the day, I thoroughly enjoyed the day’s walk and I know I’ll be able to get up and walk on tomorrow.

I started my day without wearing any of my rain gear and I had no need of it at all today. The only weather challenge today was the wind, which I’ll tell more about later. The only negative about the start of our walk was the fact that we had a relentlessly steep climb right away—what a way to warm up! And that was just the beginning of our climbs. The track first led us up through a lovely woods to the top of a moor.

Up the moor, across, and steeply down was the pattern of the day. Before the day was over, the downs became harder than the ups. That is amazing to us because neither Nancy or I find climbing easy. At first we we went through woods and farms between moors. Later it was just from one moor to another. When it came time to find a place to eat lunch, we were in a woods. The wind had been unceasing all morning so we were looking for a place out of the wind. The place we chose was certainly the most unusual we have found. Someone with a chain saw is building something…it looked like the beginnings of an obstacle course but up the hill was a small enclosure made of little logs. Inside were a couple of tiny seats and a “couch” made from stumps and logs. It served our purpose and we speculated about it as we ate.

As the morning progressed, we heard a cuckoo very clearly and loudly calling, we were excited to see one pheasant, and as we neared the top of the second moor, we heard the curlews and watched them riding the drafts up and swooping around overhead. I tried in vain to get a photo of them as they came close.

Yesterday we left Yorkshire Dales National Park and today we entered Yorkshire Moors National Park. We also followed the Cleveland Way National Trail, one of England’s first national trails. Much of it has paving stones laid down to protect the moors. So as we continued the pattern of up, across, down, we were getting more tired and the wind was getting stronger. It was blowing fiercer and steadier than it had when we went over Dent Hill on our second day. It knocked us off stride at times and even caused our poles to blow in the wind. Every time we started down a moor, I would take a quick picture of the moor ahead but then try to not think about that climb coming up.

As we were nearing the moor with the Wainstones, our attention was diverted by at least a half dozen pheasants in the fields on both sides of us. We stopped to admire their bright colors and take photos. And then we faced the Wainstones. This is an outcropping of big boulders right on the steep side of the moor. The climb up to them was fairly easy but then we had to choose how to get beyond them. Of course, the wind was blowing like crazy now. I started up the way I thought we had gone before but it looked like the way was blocked so then I backed down and opted for the narrow path right on the edge that looked like it went around. After we got around the stones, the path looked like it kept going but I knew we had to be up higher, I could see the trail, and I could see where others have climbed up to it. Using their footholds, I scrambled up on all fours. The wind made me decidedly nervous. When I got to the top, I looked back to see Nancy walking up the last part. I was so relieved to be back on the trail though. We could see the passage we had finished on in 2015 and Nancy said she remembered having to scramble through a narrow passage so we probably could have got through the way I first started. At the pub tonight, the girl from Vermont that is on her own now said she went the same way we did because she didn’t know you could go through it. She also said she didn’t like the wind and thought to herself “If I fall off a cliff, this is where it happens!” I wasn’t thinking that, but I knew I wanted out of the wind and off that path!

The rest of the day was uneventful as we finished our walk by 5:00 and the man from the hotel came and picked us up immediately. We were relieved to hear our bags had arrived (Which is a whole other story!) We had dinner at the hotel and were pleased to see a couple and the girl from Vermont that we have talked to quite a bit. We were behind all of them and hadn’t seen them on the trail today. (In fact we saw very few people today.) We were sad to say goodbye to them because they are all finishing up their walks by Sunday and Monday. I’m tired tonight and my knees are telling me I may not be as spry as I think I am, but Nancy and I had a good time, got through safely, and shared many a laugh. All in all, I call that a great day!