My goal for today was to walk slow- no more than two miles per hour. My next stop was only 8.5 miles away and so there was plenty of time to make my way there. In addition, of all the various landscapes I have walked through on this trip, I like the moors the best and today the whole route meandered gently through the North Yorkshire National Park. The weather was looking favorable. As it had for the past few days the rain was not expected until late in the afternoon long past when I expected to be at the Lion’s Inn, my hotel for the evening. The Lion’s Inn stands alone at a pass through the park and is popular for walkers and motorists traversing the park. It has the distinction of being the fourth highest hotel/pub in England as well as a building that is several hundred years old.

Looking back at the start of the trek this morning I could see the three main cliffs I had traversed yesterday.

The hotel in Great Broughton dropped me off at the trail head where they picked me up yesterday at 8:30am and I was on my way. For the first hour or so I had the trail to myself which was spectacular. I suspected and hoped this would happen as the relatively short distance would encourage people doing the coast to coast to start late and it being Monday, the locals would not be out in force they way they were yesterday. The moor was quite and peaceful and I enjoyed the solitude. It was a bit windy but not too cold and I lingered in various places enjoying the view. After about an hour, though, other people showed up on the trail. An older British couple passed me. They were going to lunch at the Lion Inn and then walk another nine miles beyond that before stopping for the day, so they set a fast pace. Shortly after a woman ran by and I later found out that she is running the whole coast to coast route in ten days! My new Australian acquaintances, Kim, Clare, and Helen caught up with me and we chatted a bit but did not walk together- they fell behind me by about 30 minutes. That really was as crowded as it got for the day, however, and I was happy to have the landscape more or less to myself.

When the Australians caught up to me Kim offered to take my picture, so I took him up on it.

The sun was playing hide and seek with the clouds and as the lighting changed the landscape changed character. Because the path was smooth, basically a well defined lane, I was able to look around a lot and enjoy the colors and textures of the moor. It was incredible- a rainbow of color of green, reds and purples, the occasional white flowers, and the blue sky covering it all. I took a ton of pictures, trying to capture the magic of it and will share some in this post. I am not sure that words can do it justice! Despite my best efforts I reached the Lion Inn after about four hours which turned out OK since I was actually hungry.

Some of the beautiful scenery along the trail.

More scenery. The textures and colors were fantastic!

The Australians reached the Inn just as I was sitting down with a beer to wait for my lunch, as well as my luggage which had not yet been delivered. They were staying a few miles off and lingered at the Lion’s Inn for a late lunch so we sat outside and chatted for a while. It was a pleasant way to spend a couple of hours. Finally my luggage arrived and I said good-bye to them to go get cleaned up and warm. They were ready to get on the road to hike the two miles to their stop for the evening, too. After cleaning up I wandered back down to the pub/common room to log on to wi-fi and ran into a table consisting of the Canadian couple and Marie from the B&B at Ingleby Cross and a few other people that I knew, so I sat down to chat with them for a few hours. Finally everyone went to clean up and I have a chance to get this posted.

More scenery!

What has been pretty fun and amazing about this whole trip is that there is, for all practical purposes, a community that has formed and is moving together across the country. Because of the different paces that people move at it seems that if someone is moving a day or two ahead or behind you, it is likely you know each other or of each other. It is rare that I have gone into a pub, hotel, inn, or B&B and I not known someone or at least recognized them from the trail, even if I had not talked to them yet. To a person, everyone is friendly and welcoming and interested in meeting others. This goes for all of the local people I have encountered as well. When I was planning to do this trip alone, I had a lot of people question the fact that I was going solo. I told them, and it has been proven true, that “I am not going to be alone”!

…and some more, moorland!

And another shot.

What is really fascinating and would be a great social experiment is to study the gossip and communication lines that form around such an amorphous group. It seems that, despite everyone not knowing each other well, everyone knows of everyone else, so I would hazard a guess that there is pretty effective transmission of information. Humans build communities no matter what the form, it seems. It has been a lot of fun.

My favorite shot of the moor from today.

Since I tend to be a goal-oriented, focussed person I caught myself yesterday thinking about the end of the hike and the importance of finishing at Robin’s Hood Bay. I had to stop and remind myself to enjoy the last portion of the trip and realize I’ll get there when I get there. That was another motivation for moving slowly today- to focus on the “now”. Two more days to go and I am going to concentrate on enjoying my last hikes through the English countryside and not focus on the goal of reaching the North Sea. I will arrive when I arrive.

I managed to get this fantastic shot of the sky and had to share it.

The Lion Inn, in the distance, about a 45 minute walk away yet. Isolated up on a pass, right on the trail and my destination for tonight.