We set off from Dufton full of enthusiasm, and our packs full of things we later realised we didn't need. No sooner had we set foot on the Pennine Way, we discovered we were in for a steep learning curve. Our packs were grossly over-weight and our bodies out of shape, and we found ourselves stopping at every gate we happened on for a rest.
Before long we had managed to stray off the beaten track, but found a nice spot to sit and have a bit of lunch and take in the stunning views, before having to run- well, scramble- up the side of a hill that felt like a 4 in 1 to try and get back on the path without having to backtrack on ourselves.
We had decided to tackle the route from a clockwise direction, taking us up the left-hand side of the valley, and while not too difficult even for us novices, the terrain was fairly rocky with a lot of going up and down- not great for my dodgy knees- and we were glad we'd taken walking poles with us.
We reached the apex of High Cup Nick around 4 o'clock, and the plan had been to pitch up in the vicinity and finish the walk the next day, but the wind was ferocious coming out of the valley and, concerned that our tents wouldn't withstand the battering, we had a good think about our best options. Despite not noticing anywhere particularly suited to pitching-up on the way so far, we decided to head back the way we came, reasoning that if we couldn't find anywhere to camp we could always go back to the car.
The gods were with us, however, and we managed to find the only decent spot in a section of the route that we had bypassed on the way out when we'd drifted off the track. Pitched on a slight incline, we spent most of the night in the bottom halves of our tents.
With the morning came the fog, and the wondrous views of the day before had all but vanished, so we decided that we hadn't done bad for a first attempt and made our way back to the car, aching all the way.
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