Day 5: Wuthering a Missed Turn

July 31, 2024: We didn't hit the trail until about 9:00am since Karolina, wanted to sleep in late. We weren't in a huge rush, although I had set a goal for ourselves of 13.5 miles into Ickornshaw. If we missed that goal, it wasn't the end of the world, though.

The trail climbed up, then dropped down to some nearly empty-looking reservoirs. More reservoirs! So many reservoirs around these parts.... these looked particularly low and we wondered if the area was suffering from a drought, although when we asked others about it later, they said most definitely not--there had been an unusually large amount of rain even as recently as June. June, we were told, would have been a horrible time to be hiking the trail. Rained darned near every day.

Anyhow, after passing the reservoirs, the trail climbed once again, eventually reaching some old ruins named Top Withins. For Wuthering Heights fans, you might already know all about this place since it's become somewhat of a pilgrimage site for said fans. As my guidebook describes--"thanks to its connections, in spirit if not physical description, to the eponymous residence of Wuthering Heights."

There's absolutely zero evidence that these ruins are in any way, shape or form connected to the actual story, but that hasn't stopped the hoards of Wuthering Height fans from descending onto the ruins to experience the spirit of the story. And while we had seen absolutely no day hikers before then, they showed up in droves by the time we reached the ruins. One woman even appeared to be wearing a bright white period-costume dress that looked badly out-of-place on the muddy trail leading up to the ruins.

Top Withins, channeling the Wuthering Heights spirits

We took a break in the shade of a nearby tree, and Karolina decided it was time for another nap. She does like her sleep. I spent the time reading on my Kindle and just relaxing and enjoying the commanding views. I woke Karolina up about two hours later. "We really need to keep hiking," I reminded her.

It took her another half hour to wake up and repack her bag, during which time I used to walk around the ruins and take photos. Just as we were ready to a leave, a few people with a drone showed up and I was happy to leave them behind.

A little past the ruins, I found a super-nice spring. Not just a creek, but an actual spring pouring beautiful, clear, cold water out of the ground. It was probably the reason those ruins were located where they were--close to this water source. This water was so fresh, I didn't even feel the need to treat it with the iodine tablets. I told Karolina she should fill up as well, but she seemed to feel that she already had enough water and pushed onward. I stopped to fill up, though.

I filled up a water bottle and immediately drank a half-liter of water. Then I got my hat and handkerchief wet to help cool me down on such a warm day. Then I guzzled down another half-liter of water before refilling the bottle and pushing onward, trying to catch up with Karolina again.

I could occasionally see Karolina in the distance, but as the trail started following a road, I lost sight of Karolina behind a bend in the road. After a while, I started growing increasingly annoyed that she went so far ahead of me since I hadn't seen her in so long. When the batteries on my GPS died, I had to stop, fumble around my pack for replacements, and get it started again, but I had no way to tell her I was going to be delayed because she was too far away.

The route eventually turned off the road down a steep hillside, and I was a little surprised that Karolina hadn't stopped to wait for me there. Usually, she tended to stop at intersections to make sure she was going the correct way. I actually carried both the GPS and guidebook, and if there was a junction in the trail that wasn't well marked, she'd stop to make sure she didn't wind up going the wrong way. This junction was marked, however, so I figured she just kept going knowing for certain that she was going the correct way and didn't need a confirmation from me.

The trail descended through some neighborhoods, and passed a couple of rather tricky junctions, but there was still no sign of Karolina. I was in disbelief that she would have kept going without at least waiting to see that I was still somewhat close behind her. But I pushed onward. Eventually I'd have to catch up with her!

The further I went, the more I started wondering.... what if Karolina had missed a turn herself, and she was now actually behind me? That would certainly explain her not stopping to wait for me at one of the trickier turns....

The trail finally reached the bottom of the steep hillside at the edge of a reservoir, and I followed the road around its edge and up a hill on the other side that gave me a good birds-eye view of nearly the entire reservoir, allowing me to see close to a mile of the trail behind me. There was still no sign of Karolina anywhere. At this point, I was absolutely convinced that there was no possible way she could still be ahead of me. She must have missed a turn somewhere, which was especially problematic since she had no GPS or guidebook. She hadn't even downloaded Google Maps to her phone that could help her navigate the area. How long would she walk in the wrong direction before realizing she had missed a turn? 

I wasn't sure what to do. For the time being, I decided to stop and take a break. And think. Maybe if she caught her mistake quickly, she'd be coming up soon. I pulled out my phone and noticed that I did get a cell phone signal, so I tried calling her but it immediately went to voicemail. I tried texting. Eventually she was bound to check her phone and discover the messages from me, hopefully calling me back and letting me know where she was. At the very least, I knew she could at least get a data connection on her phone and find her way to our planned destination for the night at Ickornshaw, either by hitching a ride or calling for a taxi or something.

But how long should I wait before I gave up and kept hiking? If only she pulled out her phone and would call me back!

I'd been sitting there for about five or ten minutes, fidgeting and trying to decide what to do when I saw a figure exit the brush onto the road near the dam precisely where I had while following the Pennine Way. I couldn't see the figure clearly because it was so far away, but I detected a hint of purple on the torso and knew Karolina was wearing a shirt that included purple. It might be her. That would have been the direction she came from, and the figure fit the profile.

I saw the figure move toward the dam, starting across the dam. No! No! That's not the trail! Maybe it wasn't Karolina after all? The figure only walked in that direction for about 5 seconds before turning around and walking in the direction of the road that the Pennine Way followed. Yes! Yes! That way! Maybe it was Karolina after all?

I pulled out my fancy camera with the 40x optical zoom lens and pointed it at the still-unclear figure and the figure snapped into focus. It was definitely Karolina. Whew! I had finally found her.

I watched her hiking down the road for several minutes before she looked up and noticed me watching and waved. Now she knew where I was too.

It took another ten or fifteen minutes for her to reach my location, and she confirmed my suspicions that she had missed a turn. It was actually the first turn down the steep hillside that left the road walk that she missed, continuing down the road further. She had reached a junction--unmarked, as it turned out, because she wasn't actually on the trail anymore but hadn't realized that yet--and stopped to wait for me to point the correct way. Except... I never arrived. 

After waiting for me for 10 minutes, Karolina grew suspicious that maybe she had missed a turn and that I was now blundering around ahead of her completely oblivious to the fact that I was now ahead of her. Which, as it turned out, was precisely the case.

She hadn't actually gone very far off the trail, but it was just out of view of the trail which was just enough for me to walk by without knowing that I was now in the lead.

Anyhow, I was relieved that we had managed to reconnect and were back together again. I didn't have to sit around waiting anymore, and didn't have to worry about her being lost or injured without knowing what happened to her.

The rest of the day's hike was thankfully uneventful. The trail was steep in sections, and the afternoon heat was brutal, but we pushed onward eventually reaching the small hamlet of Ickornshaw where we planned to camp at the Winterhouse Barn.

The campground was behind this building, and the summerhouse behind it and to the left.

When we arrived, however, the host--Tony--told us that the summerhouse was available, which cost a mere 15 pounds per person. Yeah, that sounded great!

So we got ourselves settled into the little structure the size of a shed. Inside, we had access to electricity and even a small micro-fridge. And when I say a micro-fridge, I mean micro. The fridge was the size of a big dictionary, but it included a glass with milk. There were two cots inside, and barely enough space for us to set our gear down, but it would be our home for the night. It was expected to rain during the night, so we were happy to have a place to get out of the rain, and the electrical outlets were a godsend since it was the first time we could fully recharge all of our devices and batteries.

Tony also offered us a glass of homemade wine, which Karolina was happy to accept.

There was nowhere to get food nearby, but Tony also offered to drive us to a restaurant in a nearby town, which is how we found ourselves in his car heading to the Dog and Gun restaurant/bar, where I ordered the BBQ burger with bacon and cheese. It also gave us a chance to get on the wi-fi connection there and catch up with some online stuff before I gave Tony a call to pick us up as the restaurant started closing.

Thus ended another day on the trail.....

Watch out for the squirrels at the Dog and Gun restaurant!

My dinner was delicious!

I always loved that the "notices" in England were always "polite." Much better than those pesky rude notices!

We thought the reservoirs often seemed quite low, but we were assured that there was definitely no drought in progress!

That's the ruins of Top Withins in the distance, and Karolina would take a two-hour nap under those two trees which were casting the only shade around!

OMG! There are still people who do this?! This is SO CUTE!

That just reeks like something from out of a horror story!

It wasn't until I pulled out my 40x zoom lens that I could see enough detail to confirm that that was Karolina I saw walking along the road by the reservoir. (The reservoir is just out of view, below the photo.)