The Dales Way - 8 to 13 May 2014
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Introduction
After the success and enjoyment of our Coast to Coast walk in 2012, our thoughts turned to which Long Distance Path we should attempt next. There are many to choose from but with having a young dog, we thought it best to keep the distance shorter than that of the Coast to Coast, therefore after much deliberation we plumped for the Dales Way.
Why this particular Long Distance Path?
Why indeed. Whilst our new pooch could probably go all day, we thought that whilst he was still growing it was best not to risk a sustained period walking day to day on his young bones. Yes we are erring on the side of caution but advice from other dog owners was sought and we preferred not to risk him getting arthritis in his old age. The mileages on a day to day basis are still long, but there is not so much up and down therefore it should be good for all of us.
Route, Navigation & Planning
The Dales Way starts in Ilkley and finishes in Bowness on Windermere, passing through some beautiful parts of both the Yorkshire Dales and the Lake District. We know the route fairly well therefore navigation should be pretty straightforward. We will be utilising Colin Speakman’s excellent Dales Way guide (Link here), our Satmap 10 Active Plus and the trusty old map and compass. The guide has been studied in earnest and provides an excellent overview of the walk plus clear and hopefully unambiguous mapping.
We started planning where we would stop overnight and this was very much dependent upon where we could find dog friendly accommodation. Our research started in January 2013 and whilst the walk was 17 months away, as long as the B&Bs are taking bookings then why not get your bookings in? We cannot over emphasise using other peoples experience by way of looking at blogs, journals, walking websites and the like. These provide invaluable help and give you a good heads up as to what to expect, in addition to providing information on good/bad B&Bs etc. Using Trip Advisor and other accommodation websites also gleaned us a lot of information. It is also a very good idea that once you have booked and paid a deposit, follow this up a few months later to check they still have your booking – one establishment had shut down and had left with our deposit – luckily the new proprietors will honour our deposit. It pays to check!!
Baggage Transfer
We utilised Packhorse for our Coast to Coast walk in 2012 but unfortunately that is the only walk they do therefore after shopping around we plumped for Brigantes. Mike and Annette at Brigantes are extremely knowledgeable about the route and were flexible regarding our requirements. We plan to leave our car at our Bowness B&B and use Brigantes transport to take us to Ilkley for the start of the walk.
Itinerary
Therefore, after much toing and froing we have our itinerary in the bag. The Dales Way is measured out at about 80 miles but our route is slightly different as we will be walking off route on a couple of occasions therefore we shall actually be walking nearly 89 miles. Our itinerary is as follows:
After the success and enjoyment of our Coast to Coast walk in 2012, our thoughts turned to which Long Distance Path we should attempt next. There are many to choose from but with having a young dog, we thought it best to keep the distance shorter than that of the Coast to Coast, therefore after much deliberation we plumped for the Dales Way.
Why this particular Long Distance Path?
Why indeed. Whilst our new pooch could probably go all day, we thought that whilst he was still growing it was best not to risk a sustained period walking day to day on his young bones. Yes we are erring on the side of caution but advice from other dog owners was sought and we preferred not to risk him getting arthritis in his old age. The mileages on a day to day basis are still long, but there is not so much up and down therefore it should be good for all of us.
Route, Navigation & Planning
The Dales Way starts in Ilkley and finishes in Bowness on Windermere, passing through some beautiful parts of both the Yorkshire Dales and the Lake District. We know the route fairly well therefore navigation should be pretty straightforward. We will be utilising Colin Speakman’s excellent Dales Way guide (Link here), our Satmap 10 Active Plus and the trusty old map and compass. The guide has been studied in earnest and provides an excellent overview of the walk plus clear and hopefully unambiguous mapping.
We started planning where we would stop overnight and this was very much dependent upon where we could find dog friendly accommodation. Our research started in January 2013 and whilst the walk was 17 months away, as long as the B&Bs are taking bookings then why not get your bookings in? We cannot over emphasise using other peoples experience by way of looking at blogs, journals, walking websites and the like. These provide invaluable help and give you a good heads up as to what to expect, in addition to providing information on good/bad B&Bs etc. Using Trip Advisor and other accommodation websites also gleaned us a lot of information. It is also a very good idea that once you have booked and paid a deposit, follow this up a few months later to check they still have your booking – one establishment had shut down and had left with our deposit – luckily the new proprietors will honour our deposit. It pays to check!!
Baggage Transfer
We utilised Packhorse for our Coast to Coast walk in 2012 but unfortunately that is the only walk they do therefore after shopping around we plumped for Brigantes. Mike and Annette at Brigantes are extremely knowledgeable about the route and were flexible regarding our requirements. We plan to leave our car at our Bowness B&B and use Brigantes transport to take us to Ilkley for the start of the walk.
Itinerary
Therefore, after much toing and froing we have our itinerary in the bag. The Dales Way is measured out at about 80 miles but our route is slightly different as we will be walking off route on a couple of occasions therefore we shall actually be walking nearly 89 miles. Our itinerary is as follows:
So there we are, planning is almost in the bag – now comes the agonising wait for the walk to start!
(Links to each individual day are below however just click on "Day 0" to start the story of the walk)
The report of each days walk contains the relevant GPX file. If the GPX file fails to download or presents itself as an XML file once downloaded then please feel free to contact me and I will send you the GPX file via e-mail.
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