Date: Monday 1 June 2015

Walked from: Langdon Beck, County Durham 

Walked to: Dufton, Cumbria 

Distance: 13 miles

Stayed: Brow Farm B&B

Weather: Windy. Bit of rain.

For the second day in a row we’ve walked in strong headwinds, and it’s pretty knackering. When it started to hail, it felt as if a legion of needles were attacking my face, and it made the long walk up a gravel track (so hard on the now quite tender soles of my feet) a long slog. That said, we saw some wonderful sights today, including the extraordinary, huge glacial valley of High Cup. I don’t really have the words to describe it, and the picture below doesn’t do it justice, but it is quite lovely. The point where we finally left the banks of the rock strewn path of the River Tees – Cauldron Snout – was also great fun. The author of my walking book describes the climb up it towards Cow Green Reservoir (yup, another one) as ‘Rocky scramble besides the thundering falls. Very exciting’. Entirely accurate and a real leg stretcher! 

Had a great value (£8.50!) three course meal in Dufton’s lovely YHA as the village doesn’t seem to want to eat on a Monday night, and a fairly early night – for tomorrow we tackle the highest point on the Pennine Way; Cross Fell. And it’s going to be another windy day. Gulp…

Photos: River Tees / Cauldron Snout / Wild horse and foal on the approach to High Cup / High Cup