Well the big question for the day was not whether or not I was going to get wet but rather how wet was I going to get. The forecast indicated “light rain” starting in Reeth around 11am with “heavy rain” an hour later and almost the same was forecast for Richmond, the day’s destination. The walk was approximately 11 miles so there was no doubt that “rain” was going to feature in the day’s adventure for everyone. Knowing what to expect I was resigned to the inevitable, that I was going to have an uncomfortable, soggy day, but still was optimistic that I could get to Richmond quickly and minimize my exposure to “heavy rain”. Really I had no idea what “heavy rain” meant in terms of an English forecast. When I lived in Houston, it meant “torrential, and raining horizontally” and even in DC, where I know live, I picture a healthy deluge when the forecast says “heavy rain”. I was hoping that the definition of “heavy rain” in England was different. Maybe they had fifty different descriptions for “rain” in the same manner that the Eskimos have reputedly fifty different names for “ice”. Hence the source of my optimism.

I was able to start the day with dry boots due to the “boot dryer”. What a great concept!!

I had hoped to get off early, maybe around 8am but it did not work out that way. Cambridge House, the B&B in Reeth I stayed at, was having “American night” as all the guests were from the US. We ended up eating breakfast together and chatted with our hosts a bit before getting started. Today was not an ambling, meandering kind of day, but one of those days where my goal was to get as fast as possible from point A to point B. By 8:30 am I was moving quickly out of Reeth, with not another soul on the path. The day was overcast, which was no surprise, but no rain yet. Even though it was gray and bleary the scenery was beautiful, if a bit subdued. Part of the path was along a stream (the rock walls would come later!) and it was very peaceful, even though I was not stopping to take it all in as I might have in better weather.

Saying good-bye to Reeth. Looking back over the town square. Nice place to stay with a great bakery!

About 45 minutes out of Reeth is an old abbey converted to some sort of a school. While it is not possible to go in they don’t mind people coming on the grounds to take pictures so I did pause to take a look. Then I was climbing up and away from the abbey on the “nun’s steps” which the nuns who inhabited the structure in the 1700’s constructed to get up and down the hill easily. The path was overgrown with trees and the dark, gloomy day only seemed gloomier as they blocked out what little light there was. Crossing a few more pastures I came to a ruin of a barn where I stopped to put on my rain gear because after 75 minutes on the trail (and lots more to go!) the rain was starting. At this point it was more of a light mist – trying to turn into a drizzle – but looking at the sky I could see the clouds promised more, and soon.

The old abbey just out of Reeth, now an “outdoor education center”

It was not really all the unpleasant walking through the pastures in full rain gear accompanied by a determined continuous drizzle, which the list mist developed into shortly. The intensity was not enough to really be annoying expect for the occasional splash that ended up on my glasses. About this time Peter and Annette, from Germany, caught up to me. I had met them two days ago in Keld and they were also at the pub last night with the whole gang at dinner. The three of us ended up walking together, more or less, for the rest of the day. In actuality we formed a bit of a human slinky as we made our way towards Richmond. They would get 50-75 yards in front of me, come to a gate or a stile that would slow them down, and I would catch up. At that point Peter and I would compare notes about the map and the three of us would start out again, with them slowly getting ahead of me again. Repeat at the next obstacle. Since we were constantly going through pastures, which meant lots of gates, stiles, and obstacles we ended up staying more or less together.

Path near the start of the day. The wildflowers were everywhere and really pretty.

We chatted a little but it is hard to carry on a conversation when you are shrouded in rain gear, including ponchos, walking single file, and looking at the ground. Also my walk today was rather noisy. The swish-swish of my rain pants as I walked, the constant pitter-patter of rain hitting my hoods (I had both my rain jacket and poncho hoods up), and the flapping of my poncho in the occasionally breeze was a constant symphony that drowned out anything else. I could hear Peter and Annette talking from time to time (in German) but not loud enough to make out any words. It was actually a companionable walk, I think, because we were sharing the almost- but-not-quite misery of trudging along in the rain. The rain, by the way, kept changing from a determined drizzle to a steady stream of what I would call medium downpour. What the English forecasters would call it, I am not sure. I was hoping, however, that this was their “heavy rain” and it would not get worse.

Following behind Peter and Annette through a pasture, one of the many we crossed today.

Still following Peter and Annette. I have not yet figured out how they get the dark green stripe through the pasture. This stripe marks the public pathway from gate to gate or stile to stile.

After a couple of hours we arrived in Marske, a small village along the route with an old church from the 1200’s. I was hoping to see it and indicated to Peter and Annette that I was stopping to look; they decided to stop as well. The church had signs up advertising refreshments for sale, seven days a week, with the proceeds going to the parish. It seemed like a nice place to rest for a minute and get out of the rain. We walked through the churchyard to the door only to find it locked and no one around. I don’t know if they assumed that because of the rain no one would be out or if we wandered by too early in the day. In any event we had shelter and spent a moment there checking gear, having a snack-we all had some in our backpacks, and getting a drink of water before venturing forth.

Annette and I at the bridge at Marske. Wet.

We trudged forward and I was resigned but not unhappy- I think “content” is a good description of my mood. I had expected to get wet and there I was, getting wet. My boots managed to keep a lot of the water out up until the last 45 minutes of the walk. My rain gear, not as “water proof” was claimed, nevertheless kept, for the most part, my upper body dry- the poncho probably helped with that. My rain jacketed arms, sticking out of the poncho, got wet. My rain pants kept me fairly dry but my thighs were wet. Luckily the wind was not horrible for most of the day so even though my arms and hands were cold, I was not. My glasses were spotted with water, despite the hoods, and that was probably the most annoying thing. I was seeing the world through spots the whole morning. When I started noticing that my feet were squishing inside of my boots, I was ready to be done and at that point we almost were, thank goodness. Also at that time the wind was picking up and it was starting to get chilly, so I think walking too much longer would have tripped me over past content into miserable and maybe- even a bit crabby. But we saw the Richmond sign right at that moment and that mean we were on the outskirts of the town. Yay!!

The old church in Marske, unfortunately, closed when we went by.

I am sure there was some great scenery along the way, but I really cannot describe it. The clouds were low, the day was gray and with my hoods up I really could not see much of anything unless I turned my body to do it. In addition, even though it was flat and grassy (and really quite comfortable to walk on- like hiking on a carpet all day) it was getting muddy and slick and therefore necessary to pay attention to foot placement. I tried to look around from time to time but was usually rewarded with more rain on my glasses or a gust of wind in my face. I did turn and look behind occasionally too, but I could not see any other walkers behind us, even when it was possible to see back aways along the trail. I knew there were people back there somewhere though…..but we were moving fast. When we arrived in Richmond I checked my watch and it was just over 4.5 hours from the time I left Reeth. Not bad for 11 miles in the rain!

Peter and Annette headed off to their lodging and I stopped to dig the directions to mine out of my backpack. As it was just past 1:00pm I was a little worried I had gotten there too early. I went and located the B&B and then decided, even as soaking wet as I was, that I was hungry and going to go find something to eat. I suspected that once I got dry and warm I would be reluctant to go out again. Consequently I meandered towards the city center where I had lots of choices to eat. I passed a guy out on the street corner, some kind of news crier trying to sell something, and he said to me “you did not pick a good day for walking”. I laughed and told him I had no choice but that now here, I was hungry and asked him for a recommendation. He pointed to a cafe across the town square and said it was fairly popular. So off I went. It looked like a nice place and I was a bit hesitant to go inside due to my dripping wet state, but hunger won over politeness. To their credit the waitress did not bat an eye when I stepped over the threshold looking like a drowned rat. She pointed me to an open table, but before sitting I carefully took off my poncho and rain jacket near the door so I would not drip on people as I passed by. The top of my rain pants were fairly dry and I was not worried about the bottom so they stayed on. I spent about an hour eating and warming up a bit (not drying out) and treated myself to desert, too, since I decided I had earned it. I tried a treacle tart. I had heard of them but had no idea what it was- turns out it is sugar and butter and not much else! I had been watching the weather while I sat there and once the rain had degenerated to a “mist” level, I decided it was time to go check in and get dry.

Treacle tart and ice cream, a rich (literally!) reward after a soggy, challenging, but satisfying day.

The B&B, Coderillas House, is close to the city center so I was there in no time, peeling off wet gear and getting settled in my room. Now I am sitting in my large room (largest one yet) dry and writing this. The rain is supposed to stop within the hour but I am still not motivated to go outside. It will be a toss up whether or not I go get dinner tonight, I am so comfy at the moment.

Richmond is the largest “town” on the route and has a lot of things to see and do, including a ruin of a castle, and thus a recommended stop over for those who want to take a break from the hiking. Consequently I had planned a rest day and after the trek today, I am very excited to be stationary tomorrow! I’ll check the weather and hopefully be able to do some local exploring.