We were up bright & early to get to the Youth Hostel to get a change of clothes, however we had arrived just 5 mins after our bags had been picked up, so we had another day’s walking in our stinking clothes, but it did keep the flies away! Today’s walk was much better with the sun shining all day, which meant we finally managed to dry out. We spotted our first grouse of the walk, foraging in a nearby field, this was to be the first of many encounters over the next few days.
We walked through the Cleveland Hills with the heather flowering & pleasant walks through woodland and undulating hills a big change from yesterday! The hills run north to south whilst we were walking west to east so that ended up climbing and descending some 5 hills today. We crossed several streams & fords still showing the signs of yesterday’s torrential rain.
View along Cleveland escarpment
Stream in flood
The only problems were my feet which had blistered due to walking in damp socks and footwear and Mikes thighs which had rubbed raw. We persevered with the help of vaseline & Nurofen. We got our first view of the north sea over industrial Teeside, the end is in sight!
First view of the sea
On one of the hills there was a gliding club thought he gliders were not out today thought there were some half a dozen para-gliders waiting for the thermals to build, after we had climbed the following hill they all started to take to the air.
Paraglider on Cleveland escarpment
The penultimate target for the day was the Wainstones a popular rock climbing venue & there were large numbers of climbers taking advantage of the dry weather.
Wainstones
Today was the best day’s walking since the lakes bar the pains and we finished by 4pm.
Wee count 3 total 47
Felt for you guys on that day but well done and good to see you at end in high spirits. Great to have met you both. As promised I will make a donation.