We push our walking along. It is overcast now, we are being buffeted by the wind, and rain is forcast to start around 2pm. Descending along the ridgeline we meet all sorts of people: couples, families walking with kids, people walking dogs, solo photographers; one thing that you can say for the locals, they don't let a bad weather forcast stop them getting out into the mountains. We are also surprised that many of the people that we see are not wearing any specialised outdoors clothing, just the same gear that they would wear into town.
Fiona descending the ridgeline, with un-needed sunhat in tow.
We manage to get off the high ground as the rain arrives at 2:30pm, right on schedule. We huddle in the lee of a large rock, eating soggy sandwhiches purchased (dry) from the YHA earlier in the day. A group of very wet walkers turn up. They have come over the low route up the valley. Then more walkers turn up, then more. Soon there are twenty plus people on the hillside. We plod on in the middle of the convoy. Damn, the person at the front has gone the wrong way, taking us all on a longer route. Lesson for today - always do your own navigation. We arrive at a small village with a cafe and order hot soup; then head on to complete the final 4km for the day. Most of the other walkers have given up, and are standing outside the cafe waiting for a bus.
We reach Seatoller at 6pm, having walked 20km, and pitch our tent in the rain. More bad news, there is no place to buy food in the village. We walk an additional 2km to the next village for a place to eat. After dinner we walk back another 2km in the dark and rain. We crawl into our tiny tent at 9:30pm, knowing that we will be putting on soaking wet walking gear the next morning. We've definitely had better days. At least the forcast is better for tommorrow; maybe things will dry out during the day.
Distance Wallked Today : 24km
Enjoying the great panoramic views even if your day and night too damp
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