Day 7: Kirkby Stephen to Keld

Departing from our excellent BandB in Kirkby Stephen we started with a long steady ascent up Birkett's Hill after which we were in the lower reaches of the Pennines. Our hosts at The Old Croft House had seen that all our wet gear was dried and ready for us. The bliss of putting on warm boots! It was a shorter day - just over 12 miles- and apart from one shower, we had good weather for walking. About 12 degrees, overcast and a little chilly, but with some patches of blue sky and sunny spells. The walking was sometimes difficult but after the previous day,  we were not fazed by it. There were some very boggy bits and also fast flowing deep streams to ford. Jenny has become particularly adept  at distinguishing between normal mud and bog ; a good person to follow. We had all put on gaiters before leaving so have damp, muddy shoes but fairly dry socks. We were told of a walker taking  the red route via Nine Standards Rigg today, sinking into the bog almost waist deep. Glad we took the lower green route. Quite boggy enough but manageable. The walker in question is an Australian, Maureen, who is walking C to C, alone, as a retirement challenge. We liked her comment: " Do some people do this for FUN?!" She is a very plucky lady.
We  passed the border between Cumbria and Yorkshire and are  now in James Herriot country. It is very different from the Lake District  but beautiful in a different way. In fact Stedman in one of our guidebooks,  encourages  that if "we do succumb to the mires," we can cheer ourselves up with the thought that we will be spending the night in the " gentle pastoral scenery of Swaledale."
And this Bunkhouse has far surpassed our low expectations. Pat and I have comfortable bunk beds, the use of an excellent shower and we all 4 share a well equipped  kitchen/ lounge area where we are currently reading the newspaper or our books while I write this . unfortunately neither reception nor WiFi  but we hope to be able to send this from Keld Lodge later.