DHW8

Dales High Way- Day 8

SATURDAY 21ST JULY 2018:   Day 8 and my DHW walk –all 101 miles and 16,000 feet of ascent – is done, but the journey is not, as I need to make my way home and get back to the ‘real world’ with a flight from Leeds/Bradford airport, reached via train and bus.
I catch the 08:34 train to Leeds, but of course this is part of the Carlisle–Settle run so this is a better than average railway. For starters the train stations are all picturesque, then you have the excitement of travelling across the Ribblehead viaduct, then the passing scenery out the window.
The route passes through many areas I have walked. Stations popping up are Dent, Ribblehead and Horton-in-Ribblesdale, plus the 3 peaks make a final show. 
It is good to have one last chance to see these wonderful hills and landscapes and it is a nice little coda to the walk.
And what a walk it has been. I am a relative novice when it comes to long distance walks but this must be up there as one of the best trails in England. Many have highlights but also some ‘by the numbers’ sections, but here every day had something special, a unique feature, an achievement, an icon. 
The 3 peaks formed the main event, but the appetizer was the Malham area and the dessert the Howgill Fells. That’s a sumptuous 3 courses!
Add in the always wonderful setting of the Yorkshire Dales, with its moors and crags, hills and dales, the big space, the dry-stone walls, the quaint villages and rustic Northern towns, the friendly people, the good pubs & lodging, the sheep (and lack of cows!) and (for me) some decent and varied weather…and you have something to treasure. A flat-out memory factory.

Just a few of those memory moments:
  • That feeling of anticipation with my first steps up the hill out of Ilkley
  • My excitement on spotting my first DHW way-point sign
  • I’m “On Ilkla Moor Baht 'at”!
  • Sat on the side of the ‘Roman Road’ feeling the space, heat & solitude around me
  • Skipton canal on a balmy evening
  • The approach to Sharp Haw on a glorious morning & then sitting on the summit bench
  • Taking a break from the heat with lunch at the Angel Inn, Hetton
  • Standing at Weets Top looking back to Sharp Haw & forward to Gordale Scar & chatting to other walkers
  • People (including rock climbers) watching at Gordale Scar
  • The amazing Malham Cove (both when sunny & busy and grey & deserted)
  • Arriving at Malham with my room key from Skipton & the manager of Lister Arms returning it for me (what a star!)
  • Everything about PYG – that long, tantalizing approach, the scramble up, the feeling of height, the satisfaction on reaching the trig point, skipping down the big steps, sitting and contemplating stuff on a mountain, the scale – finishing with my ‘drunken’ walk into HOR
  • Looking at PYG and thinking “I was up there”
  • Hunkered down in the mist on top of Ingleborough, 
  • The ridgewalk in that amphitheatre
  • The iconic Ribblehead viaduct
  • The meal at the Old Hill Inn swapping stories with other walkers, then walking back in the evening sunshine, Ingleborough framed against blue sky
  • Standing on top of Whernside, the satisfaction of reaching all 3 peak summits (you plan these things but you never know what is going to happen)
  • The reluctance to leave behind the 3 peaks amphitheatre (just one more look!)
  • My sandwich lunch overlooking Dent valley
  • Everything about the Howgills, a really different experience – the steep climb up, biccies at The Calf, THAT ridgewalk, ambling along the road to Newbiggin, basking in the sun, knowing that I had just experienced something special
  • Loving Brownber Hall, especially drinking tea, eating lemon drizzle cake & reading the newspaper & next day the breakfast toast & marmalade
  • The wind-down feeling, the relaxed and contemplative mood of the last day
  • Taking shelter from the rain under a tree by the river for snacks
  • Charging through overgrown paths in wet weather gear
  • Remembering what it is like to walk though fields of cows
  • Seeing Appleby appear over the hill
  • Signing the book
  • The end

THANKS 
A Dales High Way is only possible and enjoyable because of people. 
From those I met on my walk to those who create, maintain and promote the Way, I give my thanks.
The guidebooks and of course the dedicated website were an endless source of knowledge and inspiration.
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