(With apologies for the ‘text’ speak on the first two days – it’s probably as good as it’s going to get from my phone. I’ll mostly leave the words ‘as was’ with only a few minor edits to make it readable ).
Day 1: Scary drive to Hawes in the snow. Then I realised I’d left my wallet at home! So I first phoned Keld Lodge and agreed alternative payment method. Then I decided, given the atrocious snow conditions, to avoid hills and stick to roads.
Even then over Buttertubs Pass (road closed to traffic) the snow was often 1ft deep, with the odd localised drift up to 4ft – but the total distance covered was only 8 miles so a short day overall. I was quite anxious at times – hence very few photos – I wished I had brought my epirb. Views were mostly poor else close to nil in whiteouts. Only 4 guests made it to KL and one of those due to a stranded car! Black Sheep beer going down well. Low route to Reeth for Grinton tomorrow.
Day 2: tough going initially through the snow (frequently with viscous headwind) on the low route through Swaledale valley.
I reverted to the roads after Gunnerside – too many snow drifts to make me want to take on the smaller fields. Realised needed to save last remaining dosh (coins) for possible day 3 bus use, so no pubs or cafes today – gutted! Road up to Grinton YH still blocked to cars but a few more people here tonight, but mainly a school party. Impressive refurb since last I was here. Earlier start tomorrow but if I’m forced back onto roads again I may catch bus at Askrigg back to Hawes. At least walking part will be partially downwind! Took a few more photos today; will upload when home. Kit working well; body ok, just tired. Overall I can’t really claim I’m walking the HW, it’s more like just the roads around it. The only sensible option really though.
Day 3: fearful of the conditions on the moor crossing from Swaledale to Wensleydale, I made an early start from Grinton.
Again I attempted to follow the nearest road, albeit in some places this was quite hard as the snow hid it pretty well – as per Day 1 this was another road obviously closed to traffic. In most cases the wind had blown snow off either the road itself or off at least one of its grassy verges / banks, so much of the walking was on reasonably solid ground. However in other places I couldn’t avoid deeper snow, and so frequently had to plough through extended drifts roughly a foot deep. And in a few localised depressions it was very much deeper than that, and I typically then resorted to making progress on hands and knees (!) – it avoided me sinking in – I probably covered about 100m in total that way.
In other areas the snow was fortunately crusty enough that it supported my weight. This was all pretty hard going, and again I wasn’t happy enough to stop and take decent photos. The security of the lower slopes and semi-clear roads was achieved about 10:30 – so at least daylight was never a factor. I did latterly keep inspecting the ‘proper’ HW route (paths) where they intersected the roads, but I kept deciding the drifts looked too deep. In the end I made it to Aysgarth just before midday.
At this point I’d decided I’d used up my bucket of luck, and with the weather again closing in (more snow), I decided to bus it back to the car in Hawes, and hence achieve an uneventful daylight drive home. Needless to say the bus fare was less than allowed for, so I could and should have spent the hour waiting for it enjoying a pint in the pub.
Overall: as a training event for the CtoC I’m not sure I’ve achieved much other than to have a bit more confidence in my abilities to ‘get through’ – I certainly didn’t cover the distances or ascents I’d hoped for. Nor can I say I overly enjoyed the walking parts of the experience – conditions were too bad for that – I definitely didn’t feel able to linger and better enjoy the surroundings. The main enjoyment I derived was knowing I’d look back on these 3 days as providing memories which will stick for a lifetime. I’m not desperately proud of some of the decisions I made – as a solo walker the more sensible thing would have been not to go at all – and even the benefit of hindsight won’t entirely take that thought away. Much respect to those who take on these sorts of wintry challenges as their norms! Finally, I promised in an earlier post that I’d tell you how I got on with Stuart Greig’s HW guidebook – well the simple truth was that it never came out of my pack! I’d pre-downloaded the GPS route plus OS 1:25K maps on my smartphone, and on the brief occasions when I was actually faithful to the route, that worked flawlessly. For the rest of my travels, I’d have managed with even a basic road map.
Wow, looks like a serious endeavour!
Possibly the worst conditions I’ve seen along the Herriot Way route.
Enjoyed the report, sat at home with an injured foot means I haven’t been out in any of the snow over the last couple of months!
Thanks Stuart, and yes the weather obviously wasn’t what i was hoping for! I’ve managed a quick re-read today of some of the previous HW blogs on Walking Places – at least one was in early April and their pics made it look like mid summer! My fingers are clearly firmly crossed for a big improvement in the weather before my CtoC starting April 19th!
I hope the foot sorts itself out before your SUW.
(PS I’ve sorted out more piccies since your comment was posted).