Pete's Walks - The Dales Way
Post-walk comments
I enjoyed the Dales Way very much, in no small part due to the excellent company of my fellow walkers. They were a very good bunch – I have kept in touch with Clare ever since, and the following year we did the Cumbria Way together (again with HF Holidays).
The walks name really is a misnomer – Wharfedale is the only one of the major Yorkshire Dales it visits, and the last couple of days are spent in Cumbria. But once you get your head round that fact, and accept the route on its own terms, it makes for a very fine walk.
Whoever it was (I apologise to them for not remembering!) who advocated this walk as a good start for someone new to long-distance paths was certainly correct. There is very little that is challenging in the walk – it largely follows river valleys and has very few steep ascents or descents, and those that there are are of short duration. The only long ascent is on Day 3 as the route climbs to the Pennine watershed at the Cam High Road, but most of that is very gradual with only a couple of steepish sections. The only real physical challenge is that of walking 12-15 miles for six successive days.
My fellow walkers at the bench on the edge of Bowness
On several days we passed a couple of ladies doing the walk under their own steam, carrying all their gear from place to place in their large rucksacks. I rather envied them doing the walk under their own steam, but my bad back prevents me from doing anything similar. Certainly, HF Holidays provided a very comfortable way of doing the walk – staying in the same comfy room each night, social events in the evening with fellow walkers, good food, and best of all the ability to walk with just a daysack.
So despite the rather indifferent weather we had on some days, I enjoyed the Dales Way. However, I have since walked A Dales Walk (which is far more true to its name!) and would say that that was a finer and more challenging route.