Pennine Way day 8 (fri 25th april 2014) - Hawes to Keld (12.5 miles)

After a really good sleep we get up and have breakfast at 8.30 before heading out to stock up on sandwiches and snacks for the day and then out of the village through meadows to Hardraw. From here it gets a bit harder and it's a bit of a long slog to the top of Great Shunner Fell, it's a shame that the mist has set in and the visibility is so poor as we don't get to see anything of the views at all! It's easy enough to find our way though as the path is very well marked, a lot of it is slabbed again but it's all a bit dull as there's not much to see so we don't linger and head quickly down into the village of Thwaite, just as it's beginning to chuck it down! Fortunately the Kearton Country hotel is open, with an ingenious machine to put plastic bags on your feet so you don't feel like you're making a mess of the place in your muddy boots!!  There's a few other pennine walkers sheltering from the rain too and we stop for a hot chocolate to warm up before heading back out into the rain and sharply up Kisdon Hill which is hard going as it's pretty exposed and very slippery with the rain so we have to take our time and be careful not to slip.

We eventually reach the path that takes us into the tiny village of Keld and stop for a drink at Keld lodge to try and dry off a little before heading to Park house campsite where we're lucky enough to be booked into a yurt for the night!
We've wanted to stay in a yurt for a while now and thought this would be a great chance to try one…it was FAB! So cosy with the wood burning stove going, it actually got so hot we had to open the door at one point!! Plus the campsite do the most amazing meals delivered to your tent, we even got a bottle of wine too! One of the nicest stays on the whole trip so far, really magical with all the little fairy lights, i slept like a baby!!