Shap to Orton - finally back on the trail

Woke up from the best sleep of this trip and went downstairs to be greeted by the quintessential English breakfast table setting! Mother Margaret outdid herself in both aesthetics and cooking. We were thrilled to have porridge again and an amazing fruit bowl.  Also at breakfast was a young woman who had just completed a two day training in historic cooking.  I won't share what images that brought to my mind and you could have knocked me over with a feather when she showed us photos of what she had learned to make.  I wish I had photos to show you.  Spectacular pasties and pies with ornately decorated crusts and very high sided crust bowls that obviously took enormous skill to create, and delicate sculptures of pure sugar. After a warm cheerio, we set off the first moment we saw a let-up in the rain, heading for Orton.

When we reached the top of the hill behind Shap, we looked back over this beautiful valley:

After tromping through sludge and sheep poop for awhile, we reached the moors.  What romantic images the very word inspires.  We found ourselves enchanted in the world of Jane Austin and Wuthering Heights. I expected to see Heathcliff at each turn. The changes in scenery are dramatic.  It reminds me of driving across the U.S., except here it's condensed and the changes occur daily.  The difference between the photo above and the ones that follow occurred within about an hour and a half walking time!

Fortunately some of the heather was still in bloom.

This is how we really had envisioned the entire walk, silly us!  Boy were we surprised by the first few days.  Today we only moved up and down about 200 feet at a time instead of 2000! 

We played leapfrog with B and J and a lovely couple from New Zealand until they headed off for Kirby Stephen. This part of the C2C is blissfully well marked, in contrast with the first few days so we were able to make it in 3-3/4 hours despite the intermittent rain for the first 3 and the full rain for the last part.  Why is it that the last mile is always the longest?  Here's a shot of arriving in the valley where Orton is located:

This is the second copse of trees we saw today that housed a flurry of swallows.  It should be a swirly of swallows!

We are safely tucked into our loft-like room in the Barn House, a 240 year old converted bank barn.  Our room is in the part that formerly held the feed that was shoveled down to the animals below.  You'd never know now because it's all nicely redone and decorated with posters and pictures by the host, who is a graphic artist.  Very colorful.

The Barn House outside

Inside (solarium lounge)

Went into tiny village of Orton to the only restaurant in town, the George Hotel. for dinner.  Lots of our fellow walkers were there, apparently many of them grumbling.  At each stop we hear more stories of people dropping by the wayside, quitting or getting injured somehow.  Please keep your fingers and toes crossed for us. We split a delicious Veggie Wellington with new potatoes and salad and a starter of breaded camembert cheese with cranberry sauce and salad.  BTW, salad here means some iceberg lettuce with lots of different colored peppers and onions chopped up.  Never dressing.

Off to bed now.  Big hiking day tomorrow.  13 miles to Kirkby Stephen.  Don't you love these names?  Many thanks to those of you who are cheering us on with your comments and emails.  It really helps.  When you pray for weather for us, remember we're 8 hours ahead.  You did really well today :)