Another Long Walk: Day 10: Revisiting the Pennine Way

September 3, 2024: I woke up and hit the trail relatively early, at about 7:15am. It was still annoyingly dark out, partly due to the early time, but also due to the clouds that blocked the sun.

There trail split into three routes through this section, and they ask that you follow the route based on what time of year it is. I'd never seen that before with a trail, but apparently erosion from so many hikers had been problematic, so they try to spread out the usage by asking people to hike different routes depending on what month of the year it is and use routes that are less impacted at that time of the year.

I decided to hike the green route, not because it was the green route that was recommended in September, but rather because it was foggy on the mountaintops and therefore there would be no views from them. So I preferred staying on the low, winter route--which was the green route. On a clear day, it would be the least scenic of the bunch, but it definitely was not clear today!

What I did not realize, however, was that there was a several mile section of the green route that followed a paved road. That did not please me. Fortunately, it wasn't a particularly busy road, but it wasn't a pleasant section to walk either. Had I realized there was such a lengthy road walk, I likely would have taken the recommended route. But it was too late to do anything about that by the time I realized I had overlooked it. Oh, well!

In September, they ask that people take the blue route, but I decided to take the green route since the red and blue routes were in the fog.

I eventually made it to Keld, at which point the fog had finally lifted and the skies were blue and sunny. Keld not only marks the rough halfway point of the Coast to Coast Walk, but it is also where the Pennine Way intersects the route. Well, just on the far edge of town.

Getting to town so early, I was excited to get something for lunch, but the first two places I came across were closed. Argh! The one was closed on Tuesdays, and today was Tuesday, and the second one didn't start serving food until later in the afternoon.

The campsite in town had a small store, however, where I was able to buy a few food related items. I can't really call it a meal because it definitely was not that, but I bought a couple of bananas, a slice of lemon cake and a Coke.

Keld roughly marks the halfway point of the Coast to Coast Walk

I took a seat outside in the sun and rest and eat. Although the sun was out, the air itself and the windchill was really quite cool, so direct sunlight was necessary just for me to stay at a comfortably warm temperature.

Then.... I rested for three hours! I had estimated that I had about 2 hours to reach the place where I wanted to wild camp, and I didn't want to arrive too early in the afternoon to set up camp. So I lingered at the campground for three hours reading my Kindle and surfing the web on my phone.

But I finally packed up and left at 5:00pm. Perhaps 5 minutes later, the trail intersected with the Pennine Way and I was once again walking on the same section that I had passed through on August 6th, almost a month earlier. I was particularly excited about reaching this point because it now meant that all of my steps on all three trails were fully connected. I don't know why, and it's totally not rational, but I like knowing that all of my steps are interconnected. Even though I never walked from this point to Newcastle (for instance), I have now walked the entire path that would connect this point to Newcastle. I know and have experienced every step of the way.

The Coast to Coast and Pennine Way overlap for all of about 5 minutes before they split into their separate directions. The trail slowly climbed to some old lead mining ruins, then beyond them to a plateau before descending to another set of ruins where I hoped to set up camp.

Lead mine ruins

I eventually reached the Blakethwaite ruins where lead was smelted. This was where I thought might be a good place to wild camp and I dropped my pack and pulled out the tent, ready to set it up, when a woman on a mountain bike came out of nowhere and stopped to chat.

She warned me that wardens patrol this area, and that technically speaking, it was illegal for me to camp there. But also that she didn't really care herself--lots of Coast to Coast hikers stop there to camp. Why was she telling me all this? Was she trying to freak me out? At this point, it was much too late for me to hike somewhere else to camp.

I doubted it would be an issue, though. It's one of the reasons I like to set up camp near sunset then leave immediately in the morning at sunrise. Less chance of being caught camping. Even when I'm camping legally, I generally prefer stealthier sites where nobody would ever know I camped. I was a little bummed this woman hadn't passed by 5 or 10 minutes earlier and she would have missed me completely.

Anyhow, she eventually continued on her way, and I finished setting up the tent and throwing myself and my gear into it and settling in for the night, hoping no wardens would show up with flashlights in the middle of the night asking what I was doing there.

And thus ended another day on the trail.....