11.73 miles in 5 hours…
Today Sarah, Simon, Clive and Richard all started out together in the rain. We stopped briefly at “Fat Betty” a well known cross in the North York Moors. Tradition is to leave a sweet and take a sweet for a safe journey. I left some shortbread cookies, but chose not to take anything. We all opted out of waterproof pants today, big mistake! By 11 am we were all soaked through. The rain was heavy at times and I all by destroyed my travel book. My pack cover and rain jacket did a great job, but my boots and pants got really wet. Luckily, my feet stayed dry inside my boots. By the end of the day, it was just Sarah, Simon and me. We stopped to dry out and have a cup of tea and a snack in a tea room.
When we arrived in Egton Bridge, Simon and I had a drink at the Horseshoe Pub where I was staying this evening. Sarah continued on to her destination for the evening about another mile and a half up the path in Grosmont (pronounced without the “s”). Simon was procrastinating his walk to Grosmont, hoping that it would dry out a bit before he set up his tent. Simon initially started out carrying all of his gear and camping, but due to some hip trouble, he arranged for baggage transport and bought a day pack to lighten up his load during the walk. After all the rain, he was hoping to find a room, but everything was all booked up. Poor Simon!
I ate a lovely meal by myself in the dining room tonight. I opted for the dining room because the pub was too busy. I had a steak pie with sweet potato, carrots, pickled cabbage and puff pastry. It was heavenly! I wanted bread and butter pudding, but I was stuffed.