(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.

Road from Hawes to Thwaite & Keld

Road from Hawes to Thwaite & Keld

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.

View from Keld Footbridge

View from Keld Footbridge

Upper Swaledale

Upper Swaledale

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.

Footpath up to Grinton YHA - I didn't Risk It!

Footpath up to Grinton YHA – I didn’t Risk It!

Random Drift up the Hill to Grinton

Random Snowdrift up the Hill to Grinton

Day 3: fearful of the conditions on the moor crossing from Swaledale to Wensleydale, I made an early start from Grinton.

Road up the Moor from Grinton

Road up the Moor 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.

'Round the Bend - a Metaphor for Me Being There?

‘Round the Bend – a Metaphor for Me Simply Being There?

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.

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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.

This entry was posted on Sunday, March 24th, 2013 at 19:17 and is filed under Herriot Way. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

2 Responses to “(Not the) Herriot Way”

  1. Lonewalker on March 26th, 2013 at 18:25

    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! :(

  2. Neil on March 26th, 2013 at 19:50

    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).