Day 13

Day 13:  Osmotherley to Chop Gate.  About 18km.  750m up.  765m down.

What a great day!  Once again the forecast was for minimal chance of rain, but there was some wet stuff coming from the sky as we left our lodging this morning.  But, I suppose it might depend on your definition of rain since it was just a light drizzle/mist and really didn't warrant putting on rain gear.  We bought some food at the "Top Shop" on the way out of town and with Marilyn once again being our navigator, we joined the Cleveland Way for the whole day.  The Cleveland Way, another long distance walking path, is well signed and our chances of getting lost were really minimal. 

Our guidebook described today as a roller coaster and that really was the case.  We are now in North York Moors National Park and we traversed about 5 different moors/hills.  Up, down, up, down, repeat a few times.  Beautiful views, though, and it was worth every step.  And.... after way too many miles on tarmac yesterday our surface was pure bliss today.  Some paths through open forest and fields early in the day and then the remainder on giant flat stones placed perfectly for a near effortless saunter up the hills.  The stones are there to protect the moor from damage from hikers.  

We encountered a fair amount of wind on the moors, but found a nice calm lunch spot just down from the top of Live Moor.  We weren't in a rush today, so took time to admire the views.  We passed lots of paragliders and a solitary hang-glider who came really close to us.  We then came upon a lovely little cafe seemingly in the middle of nowhere, although judging by the number of patrons it was pretty accessible by road.  There were a lot of fellow walkers on the trail today; probably the most we've seen in one day since the beginning.  We stopped in the cafe and I had a lovely curry vegetable soup - yum!  Off again.... up and over Wainstone, a rocky outcrop at the top of our last moor.  Then a steep descent to a car park area where we were able to phone our B&B for tonight.  Since the B&B is a few miles off the route we were driven there and will be returned to the trail in the morning.  A lovely sole dinner tonight.  All in all one of the best days yet!