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Contents :: PENNINE WAY :: Day 8                       INTRODUCTION DAY 4 DAY 9 DAY 14   PREPARATION DAY 5 DAY 10 DAY 15   DAY 1 DAY 6 DAY 11 DAY 16   DAY 2 DAY 7 DAY 12 DAY 17   DAY 3 DAY 8 DAY 13 PREP RUNS                     THE PENNINE WAY FOLLOWS THE COURSE OF THE RIVER TEES     NATIONAL TRAIL GUIDES UK           Day 8 :: Lost but not for Long :: Dufton to High Force :: 17 miles           I am a fresh air fiend and I feel like I am suffocating when I have to sleep with closed windows.  The windows in my room and in Carol and Ian’s room were nailed shut and we all had a restless night, especially as last night was so hot.  Further, I was roused from my sleep at about 2 a.m. when one of the patrons returned home, not very quietly and I was aroused again at about 4 a.m. with one of the patrons clanking around the house. Thus, at the commencement of today’s run I was very tired and sleepy.  I did yoga on my own this morning as Carol would not be coming with me.  She was not too happy about missing out today.  It was very good of Ian to take her place; he was not prepared, having not anticipated taking part in the venture, and would be wearing new shoes that had not been broken in.  We would be covering 17 miles today – a long way to travel in new shoes. We agreed that where the path allowed we would run 400 metres then walk 400 metres and continue in this manner.  Today’s route would take us up High Cup, across the very boggy High Cup Plain, along Maize Beck, up and over Rasp Hill, over the River Tees below the dam of Cow Green Reservoir, down the steep rocky path of Cauldron Snout, along Falcon Clints following the River Tees which we would leave to cut across to Langdon Beck, then following the Beck to meet the Tees again and finally following the Tees to High Force. We started at the Drove Road (Town Head) and made our way uphill, the road becoming a track further up.  We passed Dod Hill where we entered mist.  This was not as severe as yesterday and our path, at least until we left High Cup, was clear and easily followed.  Near Peeping Hill, however, where there is an adjoining footpath we took the wrong path, although corrected ourselves a few minutes later, realising our mistake almost immediately. We carried on up the Narrow Gate path which runs along the rim of High Cup, overlooking a precipitous drop of several hundred feet to High Cup Gill.  The mist veiled this view from us, although the yawning abyss below was obvious, and the silence of the locale emphasised its eeriness and loneliness.  This is normally a popular route but we saw no one on it today.               Narrow Gate Path on High Cup   High Cup Nick           Strand’s Beck, which issues from Hannah’s Well just above our path and which cuts across the Narrow Gate path,  is usually crossed by a short step, but today it had to be forded, having risen substantially by the increase in rain recently.  Ian was lively and energetic, coping well with the stiff climb.  We reached Nichol Chair, a rocky domain on our path not far from High Cup Nick.  The Nick itself afforded a dramatic image more akin to far higher mountain tops.  Precipitous slopes and bluffs and solitary spikes of rock standing erect and tall rose from a deep grey chasm.  It looked dangerous, and I suppose it was. After passing High Cup Nick we lost the path, if indeed there was one.  We knew that to our right was High Cup Gill Head, a very wet and boggy morass, and that to our left was Watch Hill, another wet and boggy morass.  We were somewhere on High Cup Plain.  We also knew that Maize Beck was on our left. Out came the compass again.  We were still in mist.  The bearings written onto my OS map indicated a direction of 60 degrees and we set the compass accordingly, Ian taking charge now as he was the more experienced between us in mist navigation.  After a short while we could plainly hear the lazy murmuring of Maize Beck over to our left and this gave us a firm fix on our direction finding.  We continued walking.  We were on a grassy area between the two areas of bog, but this soon came to an end.  We continued to follow the compass, albeit over bog and eventually spotted a Pennine Way marker.  We had not been too far off course! There was still no clear path, however, and we were still having difficulty.  I then spotted a large dark cairn, and another, and another.  I thought it odd to see so many at once, and when they started moving I really thought it odd!  It is amazing how much the mist distorts things that would be readily apparent in clear air.  As we neared our moving cairns they grew into a large mare and two foals – twins.             Pony and Foel on Watch Hill   Looking towards Maize Beck bridge           I desired to take a photograph for my youngest daughter, Haley, who is very fond of ponies. Ian tried to coax them nearer to me, but all he could do was to chase them further away.  But I did get some photographs.  We were walking in the same direction as the ponies, who obviously knew our path better than we.  We then spotted another Pennine Way marker and our path began to become clearer. As our path gradually descended the mist started to clear and we were able to make out Maize Beck and the bridge some distance across to our left.  From High Cup there is a choice of two routes to Rasp Hill – either left to cross Maize Beck on the bridge and follow the beck to Rasp Hill; or we could take the right path between High Gill Head and Watch Hill and keep to the right bank of Maize Beck which I knew to be relatively dry from a previous visit, and we could ford the beck just before Rasp Hill.  We took the latter route. Our path was now running on the opposite bank to the alternative path on the other side of Maize Beck, below Dobson Mere Foot, and was edging toward the ford.  At the ford there were Pennine Way marker stones on each side.  The water was considerably higher than I had seen it before, but we forded it with comparative ease.  We had been walking in drizzle for some time now and were wet through anyway.  The water of the beck, made very little difference to us.               Ponies on Pennine Way near Dobson Mere Foot   Pennine Way and ford over Maize Beck           Looking back towards High Cup we noted that the mist was again descending, and we pressed on hastily, both running and walking.  Shortly after the ford Ian and I  left the beck to climb Rasp Hill.  This was not too steep and the many sikes that cut through it had duck-boarding over them, save for one where the duck-boarding had been destroyed.  The largest of these sikes were Horseman Sike and Stoneymea Sike. After reaching the top of Rasp Hill (or rather, the highest part of the Pennine Way on the Hill) and after trudging along the cloying muddy track for some distance we began to descend towards Moss Shop, the disused mine on Rasp Hill.  The Pennine Way follows part of the miner’s track here, which is very stony. After the descent we came to an attractive footbridge over Grain Beck, and then to Birkdale Farm.  As we made our way from the farm toward Cauldron Snout, the waterfall below the dam of Cow Green Reservoir, I chanced to look back at the Beck and was pleasantly surprised to see a waterfall on the section we had cut across while on Rasp Hill. This waterfall had not been visible from our route and from our present vantage appeared very attractive. We soon arrived at the Snout, where we stopped for a drink and an energy bar.  The water in Cow Green Reservoir is from the River Tees, which begins its journey where Carol and I were yesterday at Tees Head in the saddle between Cross Fell and Little Dun Fell.  Thus the Snout is in fact the River Tees.  This is crossed either via the dam road higher up or on the bridge (following the Pennine Way) lower down (and nearer).  We crossed via the bridge. It was then necessary to descend one of the flanks of Falcon Clints, which is the name given to the cliff face of Widdybank Fell where it falls to the Tees.  Along the edge of the huge cascading waters of the Snout we now had to pass.  This is fine when the rocks are dry, but today they were wet and slippy and this made the path very dangerous.  If Carol had been here today I do not believe she would have passed this hurdle.  She struggled on the steep stone steps of Hadrian’s Wall.  This would be very difficult in comparison and very dangerous for her, and I knew of no alternative route. At the bottom of the Snout it is necessary to traverse a narrow path on the edge of the Tees, pressing up tightly against the Clints, for about 2 miles.  The path is hard to traverse because it is strewn with large boulders and there is a high risk of ankle, knee and back injury.  Around  Lingy Holm, a small stretch of moss coming out from the Clints, there is a welcome reprieve from the Clints where the moss becomes very boggy and is traveled by means of duck-boarding.  This made for good running and we took full advantage of it.               Pennine Way along Falcon Clints opposite Black Hill   Pennine Way along Falcon Clins at Lingy Holm           As we ran (when we could) and walked along the Clints, all awhile the Tees flowed beside us and the murmuring and tinkling sounds of its waters were a joy to listen to.  Once in a while we would hear the solitary call of a teal or the like as it skimmed over the water’s surface catching flies.  Often, high above us we could see the silhouette of several large birds of prey, but from so far below we could not identify them. While traversing the Clints Ian slipped and wrenched his back.  The continuing twisting and turning over the boulders strained his back more and more and he was in considerable pain.  Improvising he tightened the bum-bag he was wearing, which acted as a support for his back (to a limited extent, admittedly).  Further running was now out of the question.  Ian had no other choice than to grit his teeth and carry on, although the traverse over the rest of the Clints must have caused him considerable pain.  The Clints seemed to come to an end a number of times, only to continue again a few minutes later.  This was very disheartening and frustrating for him. Eventually, however, we did leave Falcon Clints behind and entered a smooth grassy tract of land known as Homewath, opposite to Raven Scar, one of the cliffs below Cronkley Fell.  Soon after we walked through Widdy Bank Farm, after which we inadvertently left our path by staying on the good track we were on instead of turning off it.  We had to make good our error by joining the road from Cow Green Reservoir to Langdon.  This took us a mile or so out of our way.  From Langdon we followed a footpath beside the Harwood Beck to rejoin the Pennine Way, passing through Intake Farm where we met some delightful and friendly foals. We rejoined the Way at Saur Hill bridge.  The banks of the Beck here were gloriously adorned with a most diverse selection of wild meadow flowers, all blooming at once.  The colours provided an iridescent sheen to the gloom of the day. The water was turbulent and boiling at Haugh Hill where the River Tees and the Harwood Beck ally themselves.  We crossed the Tees via Cronkley bridge (many of the timbers of which had rotted dangerously) and made our way through Cronkley Farm and up Bracken Rig, which contains a vast stretch of wild juniper.               Wheysike House and the River Tees   River Tees from Bracken Ridge           At this point, without checking our map we followed a group of 4 people who appeared in front of us. We assumed they were walking the Pennine Way and knew where they were going.  They in fact had inadvertently taken the wrong path.  After 400 yards or so I realised the error and corrected them.  Without retracing our steps this would mean cutting across a small bog and crossing a fence.  Ian’s back was worsening and this did not help very much.  But we did not have far left to travel now.  Once back on the path we beheld breathtaking views down to the Tees and along its valley.  We now wound down to its banks, shortly after which we came upon the unsightly quarry I have seen once before, immediately abutting the Tees on its far bank.  I was pleased to note, however, intense landscaping activity in progress. Immediately opposite to the quarry is Bleabeck Force, a very attractive waterfall located on the Blea Beck. We soon entered another large juniper wood, through which the Pennine Way wound, and below us lay High Force, its thunderous waters discernible some considerable distance before we were able to see them.  We did not stop for long to admire the view.  Ian wanted to reach the High Force Hotel as quickly as possible so that he could lie down and ease his back pain.  Unfortunately the hotel was on the opposite side of the Tees and so we passed the Hotel and made our way to a bridge near Holwick Head House (about a mile further on) to cross the Tees and from where we headed back towards the Hotel.               Bleabeck Force   Pennine Way cutting through juniper forest above High Force           I was pleasantly surprised to see Rachel, my eldest daughter, waiting there with my sister.  Rachel was to be my new companion and transport support as from tomorrow, when Carol and Ian were to return home.  It would be sad to part company with them, but I was glad to be with Rachel. Later, after stretching and eating I drove Rachel to Langdon Beck where I made a sound recording of the Beck, and after eating I returned in the twilight to High Force and made another sound recording. My cousin Barry and his wife Julie came to visit us for the evening and it was pleasant to be in familiar company again.  Barry joined Rachel and I to make the sound recording of High Force.  It was very relaxing just sitting there listening silently to the water, although the midges were biting quite frenetically. My wife, Carol, rang later and I was grateful to be able to speak to her. I had really looked forward to her call.         Day 7 Day 9       Author - Roy McKee Copyright © Roy McKee 2006