Eric and I have hiked some beautiful places, each with their own unique charm, but there was one particular day on our recent Muddy Boots walking holiday where the transcendent beauty of the Yorkshire Dales grabbed hold of me. The magic of this place is subtle, it doesn’t wham into you like an epic mountain range or strip you bare like a desert. It folds you into a comfortable green space then delights you with little surprises.
Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Hiking Linton to Kettlewell
This part of our trip had the longest and most challenging hikes, beginning with a 9 mile walk from Linton to Kettlewell. This walk began as an easy jaunt following a river, where we stopped to chat with a man fishing for trout. Then a respite from the blazing sun as the path took us through forests (a rare treat in the UK). Coming out of the forest was jarring, not only because we were at the mercy of the blazing sun but because the terrain had magically shifted into a deep valley with limestone cliffs and sweeping views. In the blink of an eye the terrain altered once again and we found ourselves in the vast open moors.
We stopped for lunch in the tiny village of Conistone, population 117 but it felt more like 40. It’s a popular lunch spot for walkers, with benches, a trashcan and a basket of hand sanitizers (for sale). No cozy pub here so we made do with our less-than-stellar sandwiches that we’d pre-ordered from our inn the night before. I really wanted to like that cheese and pickle sandwich, my mind was open to the possibilities, but um….no. Sorry my British friends, y’all come visit me sometime and I’ll introduce you to a pimiento cheese sandwich and we’ll see who wins out in the taste category.
Leaving Conistone, the trail immediately went from pastoral to epic. Azure skies over avocado hills and rocky ravines made for gorgeous photos and a fun hike. Nothing delights a hiker more than beautiful weather and ever-changing terrain. We met up with some lost backpackers who asked for directions and I laughingly told them they were in trouble if they were asking for help from the Americans. Our path followed the Dales Way that day so there were several people on the trail. We found painted rocks along this route, left by local hikers and sometimes with instructions on the back for what to do with it when you find one.
With tired feet and happy hearts we arrived in Kettlewell where we spent two nights at the Blue Bell Inn. The room was tiny and simple (felt like a college dorm) but the tavern was where you wanted to hang out anyway. Especially when the bartender is a gregarious young Irishman. The dinners here were some of the best of the trip (Eric says they tied with Fountaine Inn) but I was tipsy on gin both nights, so what do I know?
Hiking Kettlewell Circular
While our hike from Linton to Kettlewell was the best of the Yorkshire Dales walks, the next day was hell! Not to say that it wasn’t lovely, but it was literally hell on our bodies. The walk that morning began immediately with a trek straight up a fell (which the Brits interpret as hill but we would call it a mountain in Louisiana). Just when we began to celebrate reaching the top, we realized the top kept going up and up and up. Once we reached the actual summit, we were rewarded with beautiful views of the north Yorkshire landscape and crunchy fields of heather just past bloom. An easier walk down led us into the village of Arncliffe, where we had a lively chat with the Falcon Inn barkeep and a couple from Cheshire. We learned a lot about British accents and wooden church mice in that visit.
Our trip in the Yorkshire Dales is almost complete, stay tuned for one more post and then we’ll tell you about Eric’s near heart attack while driving in Wales.
