The whole character of the walk was to change now as, after 6 days of dry and sometimes hot weather, I awoke to torrential rain. Mist covered the surrounding hills and the temperature had dropped considerably. I took no photos today - couldn't see anything!
The path starts at the side of the Crown Inn and takes the form of a good track and so I had no problems route finding, even in the mist. Several pot-hole entrances are passed and eventually the track climbs steadily to about 1800 feet and then passes to the west of Cam Fell and then Dodd Fell Hill (2192 feet).
The mist cleared and the rain stopped while I was on this section, at the highest point of todays walk. I stopped here for lunch and after about 10 minutes I saw a wall of thick mist approaching from the valley below, the wind rose and the rain started to fall again.
I set off again and by now the temperature had dropped so much that I needed to put on my gloves. Time for another Mars bar.
It was while eating the Mars bar and having started the descent towards Hawes that I first discovered a problem existed with my boots. I was walking fairly fast (this is not a place you want to hang around in for too long in this kind of weather), I put my left foot down on a fairly flat piece of rock and the next thing I knew I had left the ground completely and was flying through the air head first.
I hit the ground hard on my side and lay still at first, scared to move in case I discovered something broken. I bought my left arm out from under my body and was relieved to find that my Mars bar was in one piece and had survived the fall unblemished. Phew! I then checked my limbs and they were unbroken too. I got away with just a bruised shoulder to show for my maiden flight. I say maiden flight because it was not the last - I was to fall over twice more on this descent and it became fairly obvious that the problem was with the boots. More about this here. I had to be extremely careful in the wet for the rest of the Pennine Way walk as the soles of the boots had virtually no grip on wet rock. This was to prove a nuisance, to say the least, particularly on the Falcon Clints approach to Cauldron Snout on Day Ten, which is notorious for broken ankles and hips!
I reached Hawes at 2:30 with no further injuries and after a visit to the bank and to the Mars bar shop , I walked the half mile or so back to Gayle where I was to spend the night at The Rookhurst Hotel. It had been an eventful day, what with the weather and gymnastics, and I was pleased that tonights accommodation was the best of the walk and a real bit of luxury in which to replenish my spirits and energy.
It was quite remarkable, and indicative of the quality modern outdoor clothing, that although I had been walking in torrential rain for some 5 hours, I was completely dry under my waterproofs and although my friendship with my boots was a little strained after the days events, not a drop of water did they let in!
I had a marvelous evening spent in convivial company, the best meal of the trip, a large (Irish measure) G & T and a glass of wine. The hardships of the day were soon forgotten and a good nights sleep followed.
Rating for day out of 10 :-