Author Topic: TR - Pennine Way  (Read 12970 times)

Ridge

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TR - Pennine Way
« on: 09:26:56, 13/09/20 »
Here is the trip report from our Pennine Way walk this summer.

I’m going to post a few lines and pictures from each day. For anyone new to the forum then you can find out more about the walk and why we are raising money for the Teenage Cancer Trust here;
http://www.walkingforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=39958.0http://www.walkingforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=39958.0
I must mention the huge support I felt from the forum when my son was ill and also your generosity in donating. I cannot overstate how touched I have been by the kindness of people I had never met.
Having had to cancel our plans in 2016 and then again in June 2020 we were determined, somehow, to manage to do the walk this year. Particularly after so many people had already given so generously. We talked about camping some of the nights if no other accommodation was available but with long days to walk I hoped, if at all possible, to avoid carrying camping gear. In the end we managed to book places to stay all the way through though, right to the end, I was worried about somewhere cancelling on us. With all but one of the YHAs closed it also became quite an expensive expedition. It is a once in a lifetime experience, I tried not to think about the cost.


With the covid restrictions we also had to arrange places to eat each evening as many pubs were only working on bookings. I ended up with an excel spread sheet showing where we were staying, eating and going to buy lunch.
The majority of our preparation was logistics, we bought no new kit and, apart from sometimes deliberately walking further than 20 miles in a day, did no particular training.


I’ve used the distance figures which my son recorded on Strava for each day. They are generally further than we expected. Sometimes, though not always, this is due to the distance we walked off the path for accommodation. I have yet to see a list of measurements for each stage which adds up to the 268 miles which everywhere quotes as the length of the Pennine Way.


Ridge

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Re: TR - Pennine Way
« Reply #1 on: 09:31:49, 13/09/20 »
DAY 1 - 23rd August 2020
Edale to Crowden
20.3 miles 32.67km
8.50am to 5.20pm

I don’t know when I really accepted that we were actually, eventually, walking the Pennine Way but it certainly wasn’t on the first day as my Dad drove us from the home I grew up in along the familiar lanes to Edale. This is a section of the PW which I have walked many times before and, as there was no accommodation open in Crowden I would be back in my old bedroom that evening too.
We took the obligatory photo outside the Nags Head and set off in short sleeves.





The clouds were low and by the time we got to the bottom of Jacobs Ladder we were in full waterproofs and it should more accurately have been renamed Jacobs River.
As we ascended Kinder we disappeared in to the cloud. Had we walked on our intended dates earlier in the year we would have been sweltering in a heat wave and complaining about being too hot, today we were getting the full PW experience.



There were quite a few people about and far too many of them were not dressed for the conditions. We met a family who looked like they were taking their dog for a walk round the local park talking to a man in full camo gear. Clearly they were not happy and we stopped to see if we could help. The family had nothing with them and were trying to get back to Edale. We pointed them in the right direction and encouraged them to ask people as they went.

The paths were like streams and, crossing on to Bleaklow, the streams were rivers.



Crossing the rivers became a major obstacle. Later in the walk we met someone who had gone thigh deep in here.



Coming down towards Crowden we dropped out of the cloud only to discover that the path across the dam wall at Torside reservoir was closed and we had just over 2 miles extra to walk which felt like a long way at the end of a tough days walking.

Ridge

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Re: TR - Pennine Way
« Reply #2 on: 09:44:02, 13/09/20 »
I'm going to post a day or two at a time so you can either wait to the end to read it all or comment as we go, whichever you prefer.

pleb

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Re: TR - Pennine Way
« Reply #3 on: 10:00:04, 13/09/20 »
When was this, I didn't know you had been anywhere?
Top marks, this already puts my trip reports to shame  :-[
Whinging Moaning Old Fart

sussamb

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Re: TR - Pennine Way
« Reply #4 on: 10:53:40, 13/09/20 »
Good to see some more pics and hear more about your trip, looking forward to reading them all :)


I'm not sure how the distance is calculated to be 268 miles.  I know the routes I plan in Garmin's BaseCamp program never add up exactly to 268, although the first time I did it my GPS gave an overall total of 266.

Where there's a will ...

harland

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Re: TR - Pennine Way
« Reply #5 on: 11:14:57, 13/09/20 »
the first time I did it my GPS gave an overall total of 266.
You obviously cheated and took a short cut so you will have claimed your free pint under false pretentions! ;D

Ridge

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Re: TR - Pennine Way
« Reply #6 on: 12:15:27, 13/09/20 »
I'm not sure how the distance is calculated to be 268 miles.  I know the routes I plan in Garmin's BaseCamp program never add up exactly to 268, although the first time I did it my GPS gave an overall total of 266.
I think any way of measuring it is going to have discrepancies, Strava put us in the middle of a reservoir on one occasion. I know the paths were boggy but I'm sure I would have noticed. There are also alternative routes at times so it depends which way you go. The distances I was working from I had found on line and they added up to 262.6miles but according to Strava we actually walked 278miles.

harland

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Re: TR - Pennine Way
« Reply #7 on: 12:40:27, 13/09/20 »
Wainwright shows 270 miles via Grindsbrook Clough (although that is 1 1/2 miles shorter than via Upper Booth) but includes up & down of The Cheviot.

sussamb

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Re: TR - Pennine Way
« Reply #8 on: 12:43:43, 13/09/20 »
That's the way I went when my GPS measured 266 so i even took more of a shortcut  ;D
Where there's a will ...

harland

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Re: TR - Pennine Way
« Reply #9 on: 12:48:38, 13/09/20 »
That's the way I went when my GPS measured 266 so i even took more of a shortcut  ;D
Not that I am religious but I think that you need to walk the Camino and ask for absolution! It is also a good excuse to get away for 5 weeks

richardh1905

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Re: TR - Pennine Way
« Reply #10 on: 13:21:55, 13/09/20 »
Your pictures certainly catch the conditions that you encountered!
Keep the reports coming.
WildAboutWalking - Join me on my walks through the wilder parts of Britain

Ridge

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Re: TR - Pennine Way
« Reply #11 on: 15:13:27, 13/09/20 »
DAY 2 – 24th August 2020
Crowden to Diggle
12.6 miles 20.27km
8.50am to 3.15pm


My Dad dropped us where he had picked us up the night before in Crowden. But something felt wrong, we looked up, nice weather, blue sky, a cooling breeze. Perfect walking conditions!



Looking back at Bleaklow, we could see it.



There were a number of birdwatchers as we climbed up the valley and eventually I had to ask one of them why they were all there. A bearded vulture from Spain had failed with his map and compass work and was slowly heading north across the UK getting birdwatches very excited as he went.

River crossings still tricky.



This was by far our shortest day, due to where there were places to stay, and we took it at a leisurely pace.




On the top of Black Hill we met 2 men also walking the PW and continued to see them on and off throughout the day. They were taking our day 2 and 3 as one stage so had 28 miles to do that day, we calculated that they would be walking until at least 9.30pm.








That night in the pub we did what came to be called our ‘homework’, going inch by inch over the route for the next day.

richardh1905

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Re: TR - Pennine Way
« Reply #12 on: 17:05:20, 13/09/20 »
Excellent stuff - keep them coming!
WildAboutWalking - Join me on my walks through the wilder parts of Britain

sussamb

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Re: TR - Pennine Way
« Reply #13 on: 18:56:14, 13/09/20 »
That night in the pub we did what came to be called our ‘homework’, going inch by inch over the route for the next day.


That's my routine too, always best to be prepared  O0
Where there's a will ...

Ridge

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Re: TR - Pennine Way
« Reply #14 on: 19:19:40, 13/09/20 »

That's my routine too, always best to be prepared  O0
We did have strict standards. I would post on the forum and Rob update Justgiving as soon as we got the chance but 'homework' (going over the map) only happened after we had eaten and were on to drink 2.

 

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