After nearly a year of sincere attempts to join the London Adventure Group in their adventure trips, I finally made it to North Pennines during the weekend of 14-16 March 2014.
North Pennines has been designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and is a European and global geopark. We reached YHA Dufton from Cockfosters late night on 14th March 2014. YHA Dufton in village green is a large house with great bedrooms that sleeps 2-6 people with all linen provided, hot showers, a self catering kitchen and a lounge with fireplace. A comfortable, neat and cool place for rest and recreation after a day-long hiking affair.
Saturday's walk lasted over 7 hours covering an 18 km stretch, leaving from the hostel, up the Pennine Way, climbing slowly to the 'High Cup Nick', which was our lunch stopover point. 'Gone with the wind' would be an understatement to describe the strong winds. It was quite freezing, so much so that even peeling an orange for lunch or biting into an apple was too much of a bother! Despite hiking socks, gloves and three layers of clothing, numbness of fingers and toes stubbornly refused to go way in a haste.
 |
| Looking back - down the path to Dufton! |
 |
| The Hike to High Cup Nick! |
 |
| A Stream - On the way to High Cup Nick |
 |
| High Cup Nick |
After lunch we were on on the route down to the Eden Valley via Middletongue Crag. It was a visual delight all around, a glorious sight. The strong winds made the route down a bit of a challenge but it was exciting to stick to the boulders and rocks on the way down. Weather was quite foggy and hence we couldn't spot any of the Lake District peaks. Upon losing height the route back to the accomodation was via a forest and the woodland trust valley of Dufton Ghyll.
 |
| Eden Valley |
 |
| High Cup Nick leading onto the Eden Valley |
We returned to the hostel at 17:30 with pleasantly sore muscles, empty stomachs rumbling for food and completely soiled boots. Immediately after a round of steaming hot tea and an equally hot shower, we got ready to gather at the lovely country pub for the obvious, dinner and socialising!
On Sunday we drove about 14 miles to Little Salkeld to start our 8 km walk. We walked along the River Eden, passed through lacy's Caves. We left the river at Daleraven Bridge and headed south back to Little Salkeld pasing, a lovely stone circle known as Long Meg and her daughter.
 |
| River Eden |
 |
| Lacy's Caves |
 |
| Long Meg |
Upon our return, we took off in our cars and mini vans headed to Cockfosters, with a couple of breaks at service stations. A weekend well-spent; bonding with nature and nature-lovers!!!
 |
| The Bunch of Nature-lovers - they certainly are one of a kind! |
*Photo Credits - sources aplenty*
