If this is the first of my UK Coast to Coast Adventure Journal posts you are reading, please do consider going back to the beginning for the full story.
Having been unable to find somewhere to stay in Keld due to seasonal closures, we were starting day eight of our coast to coast hike down in the Swaledale valley at Usha Gap near Muker. We could either have headed back up the hill we’d walked down the previous afternoon, cross Melbecks Moor, and follow the ridge line to Reeth. Or, we could stay down in the valley and follow the River Swale instead.
Both are considered “official” coast to coast paths, and both are signposted as such. Each has its own charm, and the Trailblazer guidebook we were following complemented them both. The high route would command long views and plenty of history. But the valley route would be green and lush and full of wildlife.
Staying Low
With a full week of hiking under our belts and only being halfway done, I don’t mind admitting that I was content with our decision to stay low. Eventually. I mean, I was disappointed we weren’t walking along the ridge, that’s certainly true. But I wasn’t upset about being in the valley.
Our excuse – reason – at the time was because we woke up to rain (oh the joy), and there was low cloud base with an ominous forecast, and some very dark skies. Complete with rainbow after rainbow. In reality, we were just both very tired and more than ready for an easier day on our feet. We’d have been fine up on the top, and we could have done it if we’d wanted to, but we just didn’t. And you know, that was okay. Okay enough.
Staying low meant we had 10 or 11 very nearly flat miles to walk along what would prove to be an easy-to-follow path, with river views the vast majority of the way. It also meant we were at Reeth in the early afternoon, sitting in a little café for a hot carb-filled lunch, with a surprise visitor…
UK COAST TO COAST HIKE ADVENTURE JOURNAL
Day 8 | Sunday 17 October | Muker to Reeth
It rained quite a bit in the night but stopped for long enough first thing in the morning for us to get packed away with little more than a bit of drizzle. Jenni was up and pretty much packed up by 7am… I was a lot slower, finding it hard to persuade my body and mind that it was time to get going. I’ve mentioned in a few of these adventure journal posts that the dark mornings were a struggle for me, and on this particular wake-up at Usha Gap campsite, I guess I decided to embrace it.
I did eventually get up and sorted, with everything going away dry except my tent – back to normal, then. Rather than sit at an empty pitch getting drizzled on, we headed into the campsite courtyard to sort breakfast, close to the warm amenities block. This, for me, consisted of tea and a slightly-too-brown banana, I could have done better, but never mind. We eventually were ready to leave the site at around 8.30am, which wasn’t bad considering how I’d given in to the morning lethargy.
Grumpy Beginnings
Having decided to stay low, neither of us sure whether we were happy with that or not at this stage in the day, we started off by heading back to the village of Muker.
I think it’s fair to note that we were both feeling a little grumpy, doing our best to feign pleasure as we tried to find the right path through the village. We failed, on both counts; some of the green dotted lines on the OS Map just didn’t seem to exist in reality, which we definitely found more frustrating than we should have done.
I’ve no tales of proper arguments or failed friendships here, it was nothing more than two tired ladies not quite managing to find happiness that morning. But you know, it’s perhaps worth pointing out that we didn’t jump out of bed every morning bright eyed and bushy tailed, ready to face the hiking with a spring in our step and a smile on our face… Show me someone who does.
Squeezing Through Swaledale
Back tracking further than we had hoped, we walked over a long and narrow wooden foot bridge to cross the river. There we picked up “A Pennine Journey”, one of Wainwright’s other long-distance hikes; this one making a large 211-mile circle of the Pennines.
We were well into into Swaledale country here. With some angry clouds following us, we kept the river to our right, being sure to keep to the path as we crossed field after field. Our route took us across meadows and pastures, gave us opportunity to say hi to sheep and a few cows, and had us squeeze through far too many of those very-Swaledale slot stiles to get through the stone walls.
Honestly, those narrow stile things are ridiculous, aren’t they? I’m not particularly wide (no comments, please), and I struggled to get through some of them without having to wiggle my butt in all directions, still scraping my hips on the stone. I don’t know what they do to the hinges on the gates that have been added to some of them, either. They were so strong the gates were quite the challenge to open and walk through – it took two of us sometimes.
One of the benefits of the UK Coast to Coast being made a National Trail (woohoo to that!) is that the official route should now gradually be made much more accessible. Although how they’re going to make these ancient gaps in the stone walls along this part of the path any better, I don’t know.
Ivelet Bridge and Gunnerside
Our first point of interest along the route was Ivelet Bridge. This narrow, single span, single carriageway stone bridge crosses the River Swale just south of the hamlet of Ivelet. Dated to the 16th century and with a Grade II listing, it’s a really pretty spot, quite beautiful.
The book suggested we might see otters in the River Swale along this stretch, so we kept our eyes open as we walked from Ivelet Bridge to Gunnerside. Whilst we didn’t catch a glimpse of otters (quite disappointing!), we did spot kingfisher and dipper, which was pretty nice.
We were rather hoping for a cup of tea in Gunnerside, but neither of the two cafes, nor the pub, marked on the map or mentioned in the book were open. We checked online and one should have opened at 10.30am according to their website, so we wandered around for a bit until 10.40am before giving in and spending 20p each to use the public toilet and continuing on our way.
Our route continued to follow the river but became a little more varied as we got nearer Reeth. There were still plenty of meadows to cross, separated by more silly narrow slot stiles, along with some woodland walking, darting along a busier-than-we’d-have-liked country lane, and even a path which felt like we were walking on top of a wall. It was all beautiful, even with the occasional dilapidated caravan, and I enjoyed a most pleasant few miles.
A Surprise Visitor
Those evil looking clouds that were gathering over Usha Gap that morning seemed to be stuck a bit further up the valley, and other than a bit of drizzle on occasion which kept our waterproof jackets on us, the weather was actually reasonably kind. And with no sign of any boggy ground, no significant ascents or descents, and no need to check the map thanks to the simple “follow the river” instruction and some excellent coast to coast way marking, it was a very straight forward and easy-going half-day hike.
Dave, Jenni’s husband, had messaged me earlier to say he was driving over to meet us in Reeth, and would try to time his journey so he could walk to meet us. It would be a nice surprise for Jenni, and as we got closer to Reeth the excitement was bubbling as I knew she would not be expecting him to come at us from the other direction. He’d only messaged me to check which route we were walking and so he could work out what time to leave; it was fun being a small part of the set up.
We were probably a mile from Reeth when Dave came through a gate into the field we were walking through. I don’t know if you have a partner, but you can tell if a figure is them even without needing to see them closely – their general shape and the way they walk are a giveaway. It was so nice to hear Jenni exclaim “Dave?!” as the gate shut behind him. Such a nice moment.
We walked into Reeth together and sat in a lovely little café for lunch. I ate a delicious cheese and baked bean toastie (yes, yes I did), followed by a large slice of Victoria sponge, and drank my way through all the tea. We might have had a very slow and gentle amble along the River Swale, but we were still done before 1pm, and so had the whole afternoon to ourselves. It could have been any lovely outdoorsy Sunday in October – a decent and pretty walk in the morning, followed by all the food and sitting down in the afternoon!
Orchard Caravan Park
Mine was the only tent pitched at Orchard Caravan Park that night. Dave had brought the Umm over (that’s right, Jenni has an amazing self-converted orange camper van on steroids), so I pitched my little Vango Banshee at the end of the field with a great view of the whole site.
We’d booked this site based on reviews from other coast to coasters, it seems most people camping along the route stop here, but I was definitely a little sceptical if we would fit in. I mean, this was a caravan park, where people clearly left their caravans all year round. But it was a great site, we had such a lovely welcome from site manager Ian, and it cost me an about-right £8 for the night.
After our leisurely lunch we had an even more leisurely time pitching up, showering (this was the only site where we had to pay for hot water, but we knew in advance and had come armed with 20ps), and chatting the afternoon away.
We were a bit sad that the King’s Arms in Reeth had run out of their (apparently famous) mop-up roast specials that evening, but I had fish pie followed by apple pie, which were both delicious – and huge. It really was an excellent Sunday for food! The inn was part gastro pub and part locals joint, so our hearty home cooked food was accompanied by sport on the big tv, cheesy music playing on the speakers, and slot machines dinging in the corner.
We whiled away the evening eating and chatting, telling Dave all about our hike so far, and planning the next couple of days, before heading back to our campsite for a long and much needed sleep.
Reflections on Day Eight
Day eight of our UK coast to coast hike was quite simply a beautiful stroll in the Yorkshire countryside. We might have started the day feeling a bit grumpy, and that we were missing out on the high route thanks to our tiredness and the ominous weather, but it didn’t take us long to get into the swing of things and enjoy a slower and easier pace.
When we planned our coast to coast hike, we did so within a confined two-week period, so we didn’t need to take too much time off work. While that meant we didn’t have a whole day off our feet, spending our middle Sunday hiking just 10 or 11 miles on reasonably flat and uncomplicated terrain, acted as a much-needed rest day. The straightforward navigation also gave our brains a rest, which I certainly welcomed.
Swaledale is simply stunning. I haven’t spent much time here, yet, but I can see why people flock to this area for day hikes and weeks away. It was a beautiful walk, providing an opportunity to slow down, take stock, and recover. A most excellent way to spend a Sunday.
