86 Miles Down - 106 Left to Go
- Jen Allred
- May 10, 2022
- 2 min read
Kirkby Stephen to Keld, 11 miles
We had a spectacular day in the North Yorkshire Dales in spite of the horizontal rain and hurricane-force winds. Before I get into details about the day’s walk, let’s begin with our stay in Kirkby Stephen.
Our B&B was built in 1833, quite young by English standards. It was originally the home of a gentleman farmer. The interior was gorgeous.
After a very filling breakfast, we stopped by a well-stocked outdoor store for gaiters and then hit the trail.
The first major landmark we encountered was the Nine Standards Rigg, which are nine enormous stone pillars that formed an old county line and date back to the early 1500’s. We crossed the country’s watershed near this point (similar to the Continental Divide in the US).
Beyond that, we crossed the very impressive and expansive peat bogs. We passed relatively unscathed and without too much mud on our boots and pants (thanks to those newly procured gaiters). Some of our Trail Friends didn’t fare as well, and ended up in thigh-deep muck.
There’s a conservation concern with the peat bogs being trampled by hikers, so they control foot traffic through use of different trails at different times of year.
After the bog, we made our way to Ravenseat Farm and enjoyed a picnic lunch with Trail Friends. In the UK, there’s some fanfare associated with Ravenseat Farm, as the owner is a well known female shepardess and mother of 9. We didn’t meet her, but Google “The Yorkshire Shepardess”.
The last leg of our trip was very pleasant as we made our way into Keld. The hillside is dotted with old stone farmhouses. It is truly a postcard in every direction.
Our home for the night is very unique for the Dales… we’re staying in a yurt! It’s incredibly quaint and cozy. I’ll talk more about it in tomorrow’s post.
We enjoyed dinner at a wonderful restaurant a short walk away and shared drinks and stories with Trail Friends before retiring to our yurt.
See Day 7 in the Gallery for a selection of todays pics.
Good night to all!
Your travel blog is our new addiction! We love the descriptions, both historic and hysterical. Tonight we occupied the minutes before the posting to read the IiPhone lost in Japan story. Keep posting! You have enthusiastic armchair followers. Rest well in the yurt.