This would be the first day that I woke up and wasn't in a rush to get away as the 17 mile walk today would be a lot less than most of my days so far. I picked up a few things from the local shop for my lunch and for the evening, I'd be staying at the Tan Hill Inn and apparantly there would be a music festival on so the pub would be mobbed and the chances of a quiet pint and meal virtually non existant so I got some food to take with me for my tea.
Todays paths would be much nicer than some days and not as many fields but there was plenty of water about on the paths from the recent rainfall, some of the paths being like little rivers. The walk to Great Shunner Fell was easier than I expected, possibly because the paths were quite good and it wasn't that steep an ascent or maybe I was just getting fitter as the days went past. I was at the summit two and a half hours after leaving Hawes so I had a sit down at the summit shelter and had a snack before descending the 3 or 4 miles down to Thwaite, the path being a bit wetter underfoot but the views along the valley towards Thwaite were nice. After a while I looked up and could no longer see Thwaite due to a big rain cloud coming my way, I just had enough time to quickly put the waterproofs on before the rain came down.
It was still raining when I got down to the village so I walked past the cafe in the village and decided to go to the one in Keld a couple of miles further on, hopefully it would have stopped raining by then. At this point many people just follow the road to Keld instead of following the path round Kisdon Hill as the path can be a bit rocky. I followed the path and didn't think it was that rocky, my only complaint was that in places the ferns had overgrown the path and they were soaking wet but at least they kind of washed my waterproofs. The rain had gone of by the time I got to Keld so I detoured slightly off the path to go into the small village and stop off at the little cafe for a cold drink and some cake and a sit down.
Keld was quite a busy place as it was a Saturday so there were many day walkers about plus it's also on the Coast To Coast path. Tan Hill was only about 4 miles away from Keld and although it was uphill, there wasn't anything really difficult about it, there's a road from Keld if the weather is bad but it had brightened up again as I left Keld so the waterproofs came off and I hoped I wouldn't need them again that day. As I got nearer the Inn, the sky got darker and I could see rain on surrounding hills and valleys and hoped I'd get to the Inn before it started. Luckily for me it held off but it started to get misty as I approached the pub, it would start raining shortly afterwards.
The bunkhouse where I was staying the night was pretty basic but I guess it would do the night as I was only wanting a place to sleep. I was told I was sharing with 2 people but it wasn't pointed out to me that it would be a mixed dorm as I found out after coming back from the toilet to find a woman getting changed, maybe the people behind the bar could have told me that so I'd have been prepared. I went to get a meal but was told there would be an hours wait but as I looked around, it was packed and I couldn't see where I was going to get a seat for something to eat so I just went back to the room and made some sandwiches.
I had the worst sleep here of the whole walk, mainly due tio the folk festival that went on until the early hours and then musicians in the pub which was directly below my room, still playing (badly) musical instruments at 3am. I wouldn't have booked here if I knew there was a festival but this had been arranged after I booked my bed so I just had to try and get a sleep and hope it wouldn't affect me next day.
