Pennine Way day 12 (tue 29th april 2014) - Dufton to Alston (20 miles)

We wake up early to a misty morning which is not great as we really want it to be clear for the hike up cross fell, the highest point on the pennine way! Fortunately by the time we've had breakfast it's beautifully sunny again for our 20 mile walk to Alston. We set off at 9am along country lanes out of the village and onto stony tracks, it's absolutely boiling and quite a steep ascent up on to Knock Fell but luckily our bags are on the sherpavan again today so that makes it all a bit easier! 

From there we headed steeply up to the weather station at the top of Great Dun fell by 12pm and then it was another hour onto the summit of Cross fell, we were really lucky that the weather was so lovely, and the views were great from the top. We stopped for a sandwich at the top and then made our way down onto the Corpse road passing Greg's hut and hoping that the darkening skies wouldn't turn into rain! 
The road meanders down to Garrigill for about 7 miles and was actually not too bad although a bit hard on the feet by the end, we made pretty good time and arrived in Garrigill at about half 3.  Unfortunately the pub was closed down so we couldn't stop off for a drink although we did stop for a chat with one of the Brigantes drivers who was very friendly and assured us of a warm welcome at the Alston house hotel.

Then it's onto the riverside path and through some farms before getting a bit lost and ending up wandering across Alston golf course! We finally arrived in Alston at 5pm, pretty pleased with our progress and relieved that it wasn't as hard a day as i was expecting.  Our room at Alston house was gorgeous, with a huge bath to soak in, we had a lovely meal in the bar and a few drinks before heading to bed, absolutely shattered!