Day 8 (Horton-in-Ribblesdale to Hardraw)

Distance: 16 miles
Cumulative: 111.5 miles
Gates: 15
Stiles: 35


Great news! The blue towel has been reunited with its owner. Adam's hunch was right that the towel was doing the Pennine Way. 
We set off from Horton at about 09.15. Passing Calf Holes pothole brought back fond memories of many freshers' weekends. It is an ideal introduction to caving in the Dales and has seen many hapless groups of ill-dressed 18 year olds passing through. Some instant converts to the sport and some who probably still have to sleep with their bedroom light on as a consequence of the trip. 

A couple of hours later as we started up Cam Fell we heard footsteps behind us - our acquaintances from Fountains Fell and the owner of the now-famous blue towel. His delight at being reunited with his trusty walking companion was obvious. They were indeed walking the Pennine Way, but in short sections over time as work allowed. 

The walk over Cam High Road and down into Hawes was lovely. We spent a while trying to work out all the different geological features we could see and I wished I had concentrated more when I was testing Caitlin during her revision for AS geography earlier in the summer. After a pot of tea, banana milk shake and a ice cream in Hawes we wandered along the river to Hardraw. There was a folk festival in full swing with a great atmosphere, the rooms were lovely too. 

We had a quick look at the waterfall soon after we arrived. Caitlin, Finn and Nick are due to join us for tea.