It has been a while since I'd been back packing in the Yorkshire Dales so I though I'd put that right. One of the main things that kept me away was the difficulty of getting there by public transport. I left the house at 7:30 and caught the bus to Preston, £3.10 single. The next leg was the 280 service to Skipton. I caught the 8:45am, the single fare being £4.80. It was a large single decker and was way too big for the popularity, or lack of it, of the route. Two passengers, including me, left Preston and there were a max of 3 at any one time.

My bus arrives at Preston.

Skipton Railway Station.

I got off at Skipton Railway station and bought a ticket on the 11:28 for £6 on the Horton-in-Ribblesdale service. I had over an hour to wait and sat on platform 3 to while away the time.

It was interesting to see the Leeds trains coming and going as they were electric and incredibly quiet. My train came in and was called the Isambard Kingdom Brunel. The carriage interior was quite grubby unfortunately. The train left on time but I didn't have much of a view as the weather was quite miserable with very low cloud. The train arrived at Horton-in-Ribblesdale about 10minutes late. I was the only one to get off. The cloud was still low and it was raining so I had to put on full waterproofs.

My train arrives at Skipton.

A lonely platform at Horton-in-Ribblesdale

I walked to to the car park near the New Inn, using the wooden footbridge to cross the River Ribble instead of the narrow and pathless road bridge. Through the car park adjacent to the pub is the track that is signposted ‘Pennine Way’ and was my route. It was quite stony and not too good underfoot. The warm wet weather made the going uncomfortable in waterproofs. With nothing to see because of the mist I just plodded on. I came to Sell Gill Holes and stopped for a moment. I'd visited this spot in the late 70s with a potholing club. I didn't stop long and continued on my way along the track for about a mile then turned right up onto the moor. I could see two walkers up ahead descending a path but I was heading a different way and didn't have a defined route to follow.

I was crossing Long Mires via a collection of Grouse Butts. The heather was waist deep and horrible to wade through. I got to the nearest wall as soon as I could and tried to follow it to make some progress. I struggled up to Green Hackeber Moss and over Lord's Seat. I climbed a wall and headed off across wet ground in the direction of Birkwith Allotment. I was looking for a wall that the map shows as petering out before it reaches another wall to connect with. I found it and thankfully a faint track which made the going underfoot bearable. The cloud was still down and I could only see a short way ahead so the wall was a good guide. My objective for the day was Robin Hood’s well on Eller Car Moss but I'd noticed another well nearby called Cosh Knott Well. I soon found it and was delighted by the clear cold water issuing directly from the ground. This was too good to miss so I pitched my tent a little higher up the hill and ended day one.

Heading into the mist and rain.