Day 4: Thursday, July 25th 2024
I woke up to the sound of something gently dripping. I hadn’t left a tap running, so it could only mean one thing. I pulled the curtains aside but there was nothing to see – I mean, there was nothing to see. Even the raindrops disappeared into the mist; I might have believed I’d been beamed up into a spaceship during the night if it weren’t for the smell of breakfast wafting up the stairs. The only thing that was clear was that this was the kind of rain that would soak to the skin in seconds, and this mist wasn’t going to lift any time soon. I had to make a decision, and fast.
If I hadn’t managed to get myself so terribly lost every day so far; if I hadn’t been warned that today was perhaps the trickiest in terms of wayfinding; if this wasn’t the highest point on the trail, and therefore the last to be cloud-free; if I hadn’t been especially looking forward to today, for the bleak moors giving way to gentle Wharfedale and my favourite part of the Dales, and if I was the kind of walker who doesn’t mind getting a soaking and a freezing while drifting miles off-track, then I might have just got on with it like a normal person. I felt that it would be foolhardy to risk it, and a terrible pity to miss out on the much-anticipated views. But damn, I really, really didn’t feel like giving up; I was psyched up for this segment and I had already paid for my hotel in Hubberholme. It wasn’t refundable; cancelling was out of the question. What to do?
I checked the train times: there was one to Skipton at 09:47. From there, I could catch the Dales Bus all the way to Buckden, via Grassington. I’d just have to walk the last mile or so, and I’d arrive in the early afternoon. These timings and connections just had to be fate. Disappointed, but primed to see the bright side, I went down to breakfast with a firm plan. One way or another, I was going to Hubberholme and it would be an adventure, just not the kind to require a mountain rescue callout.
Breakfast was a hive of activity, too. There were a lot of young children rolling around on the floor, and a rather miserable-looking, older couple sitting at the table next to me. Nobody spoke; I observed. The waitress took the breakfast orders; there were beans, mushrooms and hash browns along with a vegan sausage. I could eat all of it this morning without worrying about weighing myself down or taking it as my packed lunch. The man at the next table muttered under his breath about everything being so salty. He would have the mushrooms, but please! no salt added. He’d have scrambled egg, and could they leave the salt out of that, too? Poor man, I thought, he must have high blood pressure. He then completed his order by requesting extra bacon. I kept my eye-roll to myself as I sprinkled my hash browns generously.
There was no commentary on the train this time, but then, there was nothing to see in any case. By the time I reached Grassington the weather had brightened up considerably and I strolled into the village centre for a coffee, dodging an extraordinary number of non-walking tourists, until it was time for the Buckden bus. I wondered if the sun was out in Upper Wharfedale and if I might have descended into it, if only I had forged ahead, and had a little faith in myself. Selfishly, I hoped not.
The riverside ramble from Buckden to Hubberholme was very pretty, and not so far that I would mind repeating it the next morning. After settling into my beamed, creaky-floored, king-sized bedded room at The George Inn, I ditched my pack and took a glorious stroll further up the river as far as Yockenthwaite, so I at least felt I’d done something. It was such a quiet area, the peace broken only by the tinkle of an ice-cream van, higher up the Dale. Where were his customers?
It was secretly quite nice to have a bit of a rest day, and I embraced it in the knowledge I’d be fresh and raring to go again the following day.
Official distance: 13 miles
Miles skipped: 13
Miles added: 4½ (on purpose for a change)
Official time: 6 hours
Time spent being lost: None!
Time saved by cheating: 4 hours
Total time taken: n/a
Difficulty rating: Blissfully easy, apart from the guilt factor.