Author Topic: Most tedious bit of Trail  (Read 7854 times)

jimbob

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Most tedious bit of Trail
« on: 14:31:15, 17/08/16 »
Hi,
I recently did another section of the Pennine Way, Middleton to Alston. ( Having repeated the Middleton to Langdale bit because it is just so good.). Never had to use navigation skills at any time the path was so well defined. However I do have Sussamb's GPS route and as usual it was spot on. I use (in this case, never looked at )an Etrex Venture and smartphone Viewranger.  With hindsight I was able to check my actual route with his data. ( For the purists, somewhere in my backpack there is an A-Z ordinance survey map of the Pennine way and a Silva.)

I got my first ever blister under the crook of my big toe?

I think this was due to the trek down to Garrigill from Cross Fell. So far the absolute worst bit of the trail was the eight miles from Greg's hut to Garrigill. Absolute pain in the first degree. Weather was great so I should have been able to enjoy it, but I found that the roughness of the track was such that for a good stretch of the way that I had to watch every step. Talking to others, and there were a lot of people walking that day, they mainly felt the same.

Oh and the pub in Garrigill is shut on Mondays and Tuesdays and is up for sale. I stayed just around the corner at St. John House , a newish B&B who have applied for a drinks license. They popped into Alston to get me a meal when they realised I was unable to get a meal. (They also have a swimming pool and Jacuzzi which guests can use).

Do others have particularly bad memories of other sections of LDWs.
Too little, too late, too bad......

Islandplodder

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Re: Most tedious bit of Trail
« Reply #1 on: 14:52:09, 17/08/16 »
I still have the hole in the knee of my walking trousers from falling on that stretch into Garrigill;  I agree it did go on a bit.  But I think the booby prize goes to all that boggy forest between Hadrian's wall and Bellingham.

tonyk

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Re: Most tedious bit of Trail
« Reply #2 on: 15:03:32, 17/08/16 »
 
Quote
So far the absolute worst bit of the trail was the eight miles from Greg's hut to Garrigill.

 The road to hell.I have walked down that path numerous times and have never enjoyed it.It was easier going up it when I walked N-S.There is a similar stretch on the Cleveland Way,just before Killdale.

pmerryman

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Re: Most tedious bit of Trail
« Reply #3 on: 19:01:43, 17/08/16 »
I'm with you on this one, hated that part myself. Also the stretch of Hadrian's Wall, up, down, up, down.
Paul

JohnnieT

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Re: Most tedious bit of Trail
« Reply #4 on: 07:17:19, 18/08/16 »

 The road to hell.I have walked down that path numerous times and have never enjoyed it.It was easier going up it when I walked N-S.There is a similar stretch on the Cleveland Way,just before Killdale.




Your right. Indeed it was a road to hell! For some people. It's an old corpse road from Garrigill to Kirkland.

youradvocate

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Re: Most tedious bit of Trail
« Reply #5 on: 11:23:46, 18/08/16 »
Greg's hut to Garrigill. Is it really 8 miles?

For me the hard bits are the beginning day and the end day, especially that last mile into Edale, it goes uphill a bit. Still the pub makes up for it. Walking alongside those reserviours are a bit of a chore as well!

jimbob

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Re: Most tedious bit of Trail
« Reply #6 on: 12:40:19, 18/08/16 »
According to GPS waypoints it is 8 miles and according to viewranger track walked also 8 miles. To be honest I was pig sick of it by the end , or did I make that plain enough in my first posting.
Too little, too late, too bad......

youradvocate

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Re: Most tedious bit of Trail
« Reply #7 on: 13:43:47, 18/08/16 »
You did indeed

Mick wmexile

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Re: Most tedious bit of Trail
« Reply #8 on: 14:17:55, 18/08/16 »
Agree with what others have put, Corpse road, forest mud tracks to Bellingham etc, but for sheer agony underfoot was the tracks in and out of Horton in Ribblesdale, also a stretch of track after Great Shunner Fell leading down to Thwaite. Horrible rubble of all sizes, like walking over hardcore before tarmacs put down
I never get lost, just don't always know where I am!

Islandplodder

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Re: Most tedious bit of Trail
« Reply #9 on: 16:15:57, 18/08/16 »
I'd forgotten that bit going down into Thwaite.  I just tried to concentrate on Thwaite and the scone I was going to have, and not think about what it was doing to my feet.

Yorkshiremarv

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Re: Most tedious bit of Trail
« Reply #10 on: 19:50:43, 18/08/16 »
didnt like the rock hopping bit just before couldron snout, not with a big full rucksack! easily the worst bit was the bog section between bellingham and byrness, had me shouting out in sheer anger at no one in particular.

"if in doubt, flat out"

rambling minster

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Re: Most tedious bit of Trail
« Reply #11 on: 20:07:49, 19/08/16 »
easily the worst bit was the bog section between bellingham and byrness, had me shouting out in sheer anger at no one in particular.


i haven't walked all of the pennine way but have to agree that the path from bellingham to byrness has little of interest

youradvocate

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Re: Most tedious bit of Trail
« Reply #12 on: 10:35:21, 20/08/16 »
We are all different and I know at first glance the route doesn't have much to offer. The last time I did that section (Byrness to Bellingham) I had wet feet (my boots leaked) but it was good day. I had a hangover, the weather was good, a clear sunny sky and no wind whatsoever. I had already resolved to bypass the Padon Hill route (horiible wet place) and so walked past Gibshiel instead. It was a good choice, I was completely alone for the whole section of the route and the silence was total. I walked on and across the moor to Bellingham. It was an easy day. Once there I pitched my tent and popped over the road for a pint and a meal.

jimbob

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Re: Most tedious bit of Trail
« Reply #13 on: 15:20:57, 28/08/16 »
Ah so what you're saying is that on my next section I will find another tedious bit of trail on the PW on the way up to Bellingham and just beyond.......

I had to give up this stage after Alston even though I intended to get to Greenhead.

Then off to Whitby for a week.(51st Whitby Folk Week)  On one of my days off, I caught the bus to Saltburn and walked back, great day for walking, quite warm with a breeze. This is one of the nicest sections on the Cleveland way with lots of chances to get fed and watered, Staithes is a jewel coming in from Boulby, though I do wonder why they took the 90 degree bend down the side of the hill before Boulby rather than following an old track gradually & diagonally down the hill and directly into Boulby from quite high up. (it may not be a ROW?)

I did this walk without my poles and realised I was walking a deal faster than normal (for me) I did manage the walk in a little over 2mph, which was great for me. It could be that either I'm getting fitter or sadly the poles slow me down.

Too little, too late, too bad......

rural roamer

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Re: Most tedious bit of Trail
« Reply #14 on: 19:14:07, 28/08/16 »
I agree the tracks can be quite tedious - Gregs Hut to Garrigill, down into Horton and Thwaite and part of the forest track before Byrness. But although the boggy bits are not exactly fun I wouldn't exactly call them tedious or boring. And I thought the rock hopping before Cauldron Snout (Falcon Clints?) was quite fun!

 

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