Day 7 Keld to Reeth 11.2 miles

Another reasonably short day planned for today so we had a bit of a lay in, we had a nice relaxed breakfast of bacon rolls, and with a packed lunch from Heather we set off around 10:00am set for the small village of Reeth.

The day started much better with no rain, although over cast. Me and Sarah walked with Martin whilst Sharon headed off to run the route today, with just over 11 miles to cover and better conditions we were in confidant mood and Sarah’s feet problems now seemed a thing of the past as she was starting to pick up and set the pace. We were in the zone which Martin called “the golden hour” after a good sleep, an hour or so after breakfast and the daily dose of 600miligams of Ibuprofen was kicking in we felt good.

 We got some great scenery as we followed the very swollen River Swale through the Swale Dale Valley. We decided to avoid the high route again as the forecast was again poor. We arrived in the village of Muker after about 2 hours walking, although very nice there was not much to offer the passing walker and after a few photos we pressed on to the slightly bigger village of Gunnerside with the hope of a tea room on offer.

We arrived in Gunnerside to find the tea room opening times were the 1^st and 3^rd Monday of the month from 6 – 7:30pm, great, so it was a coffee from the flask once again. Kerry, Paul & Pedro the dog Martins support team arrived and we had some lunch in Gunnerside none the less.

As we pressed on after lunch to Reeth my knee started to play up again and right on cue arrived a rumble of thunder from behind us as thunder showers chased us down the Swale dale valley toward Reeth. Myself and Martin arrived in Reeth in a bit of a state as my Knee was now causing me real worry, and likewise Martins knee was also playing up, it was like a scene from dawn of the dead as we hobbled in to Reeth & now well and truly out of the “golden hour”.

the lovely caravan the nice man at orchard holiday park let us use

We checked in to camp at the orchid caravan park, only to find the very nice chap Peter who ran the park said we could use one of the old caravans instead of camping owing to the poor weather……fantastic!! It may not have been much but it meant the world to us, and for just £5pp we were very grateful, another example of the amazing kindness and people we met along this walk.

With no tent to set up Sarah worked out the Kripton Factor puzzle of converting the caravan sofa in to a bed and we then freshened up and walked into the village. We were glad to see Joyce and John, and so had a pint and a catch up with them on a very much weather orientated chat in the Black Bull Pub. After I rustled us up some chicken and spicy rice back at the caravan for tea, Paul and Martin invited us over to their caravan to watch a DVD on Paul’s portable DVD player, armed with a few cans of beer for me and rose wine for Sarah we headed over for a good laugh and chat, good times to look back on I was beginning to feel.

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