Well, the BnB room was definitely a good shout, as it certainly poured it down last night with strong winds. Checking out other walkers that turned up, all wet, with their tents being blown about, we felt quietly smug about our decision; and not too guilty as there was still one room left when we arrived (which we later overheard another couple took over camping too!) There was a big group of hikers though, who had no other choice, but used the warmth and electricity of the pub well, sharing their stories whilst eating the delicious food; turns out they were all solo hikers but have been roughly the same pacing and timing as each other since Ennerdale near the start.
Still windy and foggy this morning, we set off just after this larger group, following them along the road, using head torches on our packs to try and be safer with the fast cars. Thankfully, it veered off onto moorland tracks and quieter roads the rest of the day, and was quite an interesting and varied walk; high in the moors at the start, before dropping down into villages, through old woodland and along rivers.
of the group early on (shin trouble) we then, surprisingly, caught up with another couple of them. Turns out, they had GoPros and were taking lots of videos, for, as we found out later, their YouTube channels! Yes, thats right, we ended up walking and chatting with this group today on bits of the trail, and so we may now be YouTube stars ?
Stopping to check out the massive church in Egton, (had an impressive ceiling!) whilst they rambled on, we the stopped at Grosmont to check out the steam train and found a lovely cafe for a coffee and cake. The owner was also really friendly and joined us outside to chat and give us local tips of things to see and places to walk when we have our week off here after finishing the trail. We then hit the steep climb of the day, and, thankfully at the top, bumped into the merger group again! And even though we went a slightly different route (to avoid road) we found them yet again, as we arrived at Intake Farm, in Littlebeck.
I think she was a bit surprised at the big turn out, but still made lots of of cups of tea and handed out plates of cake, wanting to know everyones stories. To top it off, she even made us dinner; an amazing & kind lady and family. This also meant we ate with two other older couples, one American couple (who weve met a few times in the trail, and are loudly nice) and one English couple (just having a one week holiday to relax - and obviously Tory). This made for a fun evening, particularly as conversation turned to politics!
