Today was some of the best hiking this trip, but also some of the worst. Let’s start with the best. Right out of Hawes I had a climb up to 550m, which was exhausting, but first thing in the morning is when you want to do these things, when you have energy. Weather stayed clear and actually improved as the day progressed. Some stunning views down and across the valley.
Second half of the day was an absolute misery. The pictures are deceptive. As soon as I got to the valley floor I found the ground wet, muddy, saturated in sheep and cow poo. The signage was lacking. The trail vanished from view half the time. At some point I gave up and walked along a road running parallel to the trail, then realised I didn’t want to do this all the rest of the Way, and decided to grin and bear it, which I did.
wzhkevin