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Contents :: PENNINE WAY :: Day 9                       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 9 :: On My Own :: High Force to Bowes :: 15 miles           I awoke with horror.  Upon looking out of my bedroom window I thought the window pane had been misted up in the night, as it had the night before in my previous accommodation when the windows had been nailed shut.  I then realised that my windows were wide open.  Outside the mist hung like a huge dark drape, not only over the mountains but lying low in all the valleys.  I felt sick inside.  I never relish the thought of running (or walking) in mist and the last two days had given me quite an experience of mist.  Today I would be running alone, however, and although my route today was not a difficult one I nevertheless hoped for a clear view. I prayed for the mist to go and I prepared in my usual way.  Although my sister was leaving today she came to my room and did yoga with me.  She was sad to be parting and I was sad too.  After yoga we packed and breakfasted and it was then time for farewells.  Rachel was confident she could find the Otter Trust, which is almost opposite the point where the Pennine Way meets the A66 near Bowes.  This would be a convenient place to meet at the end of today’s run. My route today would take me along the River Tees to Middleton and then over Intake Hill, Harter Fell and Wythes Hill to descend to Lunedale where I would cross the dam of Grassholme Reservoir, pass Brownberry Forest and make my way across Kelton Bottom and Hazlegarth Rig to Blackton Reservoir and from thence onto the Cotherstone Moor and down to cross the A66 via an underpass.  The Otter Trust lay just off the intersection of the Pennine Way and the A66, and I would there meet Rachel. By the time we had said our goodbyes and I was ready to leave the mist had risen considerably.  I crossed the road at High Force and made my way to the small wooden gate and the path to the River Tees and took the footbridge back to the Pennine Way where I had left it yesterday, near to Holwick Head.  This was a good path and I was able to run it with good pace.  The views along the Tees were beautiful.  I was apprehensive today, however, because I was worried that Rachel might not find our agreed meeting place and I was worried in case the mist returned while I was on the moors, particularly Cotherstone Moor, which is higher and more remote than the other areas on my route today. I passed Low Force and the Wynch Bridge and then a camping and caravan site.  I received some strange looks here as the path crossed the end of the site’s field, which was full of campers still breakfasting.  The aromas of their cooking started the juices flowing in my stomach, but there was no time to dwell on that now.  I had a long way to run before I could eat today.               Bridge over Easter Beck in Park End Wood   Pennine Way near Middleton Quarry           I left the banks of the River Tees at Park End Wood, cutting across two loops of the Tees and crossing Knot Hill.  I had noticed many dead rabbits on the path as I was running and now I saw two men with bluish grey dogs.  I then saw a rabbit dart from cover and one of the dogs sped after it, swiftly catching and killing it and then carrying it back to its master.  A sickening sight to behold from a public footpath.  I always hold that life is valuable and that man does not have the right to decide which creatures shall live and which shall die, just for his pleasure.  Man ought to have a greater respect for his stewardship over the animal kingdom. It was at Knott Hill that I lost my path on my preparatory run here.  I did not, however, make the same blunder this time.  The Pennine Way rejoined the River Tees after Knott Hill and stayed with it until Middleton, where the path then joined the B6276 for a few hundred yards, before leaving it at a bend by a small cluster of domiciles at a Pennine Way sign which took me up, via Intake Hill, onto Crossthwaite Common. The path was a little confusing where it divides near a disused quarry but I more or less managed to keep to the Pennine Way by keeping to the right of a proud stand of evergreen trees on the dome of the hill at Kirkcarrion.  The moor soon turned to pasture land and I passed from gate to gate and descended to another section of the B6276 just short of Wythes Hill, by following a path down to Thorngarth Pasture and Carl Beck House.  I had veered off the Pennine Way, inadvertently, just before Collin Hill, although no harm was done as I was able to regain the Pennine Way after running just 400 metres along the road to Wythes Hill.             Kirkcarriion   Middleton and Mickleton from Harter Fell           Here the Pennine Way cut across fields toward Grassholme Farm.  On my preparatory run here I had become quite lost in one of these fields and had traveled considerably out of my way.  I had no intention of doing so again, and was more cautious, although in any event, the path was easier to follow now, the grass being longer and the path more clearly trodden into the field. I soon arrived at Grassholme Farm and there joined the minor road which took me over the dam of Grassholme Reservoir and up to another minor road fronting Brownberry Forest.  In the distance, on the Reservoir, I could see signs of people boating.  This was a comforting feeling, for I knew that I was not entirely alone and that other people were about if I needed assistance, albeit some way off.  It was strange being able to observe so much human activity, but not being able to hear it, for the boats were far off.  I did, however, imagine the sound of the sails blowing, the swishing of the waves across the hulls of the boats and the excited cries of young children at play. At Brownberry the Pennine Way cut across the moor once again, at an angle from the forest.  Although the path was wet and muddy it was easy to follow, crossing a number of stone walls until Beck Head and then progressing downhill and up again, taking a marshy route across Kelton Bottom to the fringe of Kelton Hill.  I then ran over Hazlegarth Rig and descended to a minor road which I crossed.  The path from the road led to Birk Hall, an attractive nature reserve on the Blackton Reservoir.  I ran towards the Hall, passing a beautiful wildflower meadow on the way.               Pennine Way near Grassholme, looking towards Grassholme Reservoir   Pennine Way towards Brownberry Forest           The reserve takes in the reedy area at the end of Blackton Reservoir, beneath the dam of Balderhead Reservoir and is inhabited by a bounty of freshwater birds that seem at peace in this habitat.  As I found my way uphill again I passed through Clove Lodge and by-passed a barn with a store of manure rolled into black plastic bags.  I love the smell of the drying manure that now pervaded the air. All too soon it was time to cross Cotherstone Moor.  I had dreaded this all day, but the weather continued to improve and there was no mist.  The track was far easier to follow than I remembered it to be and I made by way over Peatbrig Hill to Race Yate Rig, over the Knotts Hills and down to Deepdale Beck.  Until reaching Deepdale Beck I was not too certain where I was.  Looking at the map after finishing the run it was quite easy to tell by the contours exactly where I was, but in the heat of the moment, without stopping to scrutinise the map, I could not identify my locus with certainty.               Blackton Reserve   Clove Lodge           From the Beck I ascended to Ravock Castle, where all the heather had been scorched, and continued across Ravock to meet the A66.  Well before the A66 came into view the reverberating of the heavy traffic on it could be clearly heard in this otherwise quiet and peaceful moorland.  I found the underpass and used it to cross the A66.  I then had to scramble up the embankment and run to the Otter Trust, about 400 metres away along the A66.  This was a very unpleasant part of the run.  The fast moving traffic thundered past, buffeting me with the vortices created by its rapid motion.  The continuous noise of approaching and receding traffic magnified the Doppler effect in my ears for the duration of my run along this busy road. I had been worried that Rachel would not find the Trust.  As I approached I could observe the car park but could see no sign of our car.  My stomach was knotting.  But suddenly Rachel appeared.  She had been watching out for me and was walking in my direction.  I felt immensely relieved, and was overjoyed to see her. We made our way to the car, at the side of which I stretched for 10 minutes, much to the amusement of many of the car park users.  I was so thirsty that I drank bottled spring water for ages, until I could consume no more.  We then had a drink of hot chocolate at the Otter Trust cafe and some ices. It took us some time to find our overnight accommodation at East Mellwaters, but when we found it we were pleasantly surprised.  Its location was idyllic.  Rachel and I, after unpacking, found our way to the Sleightholme Beck where I made several sound recordings.  We found a beautiful quiet spot where the sound of the nearby A66 traffic could not be heard.               Deepdale Beck   Carin on Pennine Way at Ravock Castle               Day 8 Day 10       Author - Roy McKee Copyright © Roy McKee 2006