Day 27 - Wednesday 6th May

Middleton to Dufton. A slightly strange day in that we travelled east to west and finished the day no nearer to John O'Groats than when we started the day. It was however a day not to be missed as it contained some of the highlights of the whole adventure. Set off in sunshine along the River Tees, a stunningly beautiful river which we followed upstream for some 11 miles, past Low Force and High Force waterfalls. It had rained all hight and the volume of water coming over the falls was awesome. We finally left the Tees at another fantastic waterfall, Caudron Snout where the 30 yard wide river squeezes itself through a tiny gap in the rocks and plunges down the rocks in a ferocious torrent. The Pennine Way involves a climb up the rocks right alongside the waterfall - quite scary, particularly in the strong wind. We then had a long trek against the wind before the moors suddenly opened to reveal High Cup Nick, one of the most stunning natural phenomena in Britain - an enormous sheer sided and fantastically beautiful valley. Descended to Dufton Youth Hostel with a garden full of wildlife, in particular almost tame red squirrels.