Today was our last day in the Dales, and so a shorter walk was planned as we had packing and organizing to do for our long trip to Scotland in the morning.
The walk we decided to do, was a lovely one that takes place upstream on the Swale River from Reeth about 6 miles. We started in Muker and went up into the hills south and westward from there. We came out of the hills at Twaite, and then made our way back through farm fields to Muker once again. This walk was one of the favourites of James Harriet, and he brought his sons here often. I can certainly see why. It’s command of the beautiful Dales countryside is second to none.
Our walk started from a car park on the east side of Muker…hard to tell here that we are in the 21st century!One of the first buildings we went by was an old cow barn. These buildings are used to house a few cows each during the winter from November through to February…cows in one half, and their food in the other.Just after the first cow barn, we started climbing an old farm track. We took this to the top of the ridge.Another cow barn stands on a hilltop.We soon reached a point where we could look back on the village of Muker. So picturesque sitting at the crossroads of 2 valleys.Glenn and Gwen have been great hiking buddies, especially with their knowledge of the Dales walks. We feel we have seen the best of the best!After climbing for a half hour or so, it was time to start our descent. This time the farm track was a little muddier!At the bottom of the farm track, Dan holds open the gate for us as we make our way towards Thwaite. This is yet another cow barn!We turned and joined up with another farm track that took us towards Thwaite.As we came nearer the town, we needed to cross an old stone bridge over a tributary of the Swale RiverThis lovely falls was just beside the bridge crossing.Everywhere we looked were green green pastures with bleating sheep.While most sheep were very shy, this grouping of twins with their moms was the most curious that we’ve seem!Here’s another stone bridge crossing a swelling stream. With the recent rains, the waterways were all “in bloom”.We soon walked back into Muker to complete the circuit.
While it was a short walk, it was a lovely one. We got to soak in the beautiful lush Dales once again bursting with green pastures, bleating sheep, jumping lambs and so much more. We’ll certainly miss this place when we leave, but we are on to more adventures tomorrow as we head to the north of Scotland for a reunion with one of our Camino buddies, Sandra. From there, we set sail to the Orkneys. Stay tuned to see what adventures we get up to there. Until then.
Pat and Dan Making Tracks 
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