Middle Tongue and Murton Pike, Dufton, Cumbria, England

It's amazing what life's other distractions do to your memory. For instance, a visit to the Upper Eden Valley around Appleby-in-Westmorland and Dufton in Cumbria lay gathering dust in my mind until a refurbishment of one of the pages among my Travel Jottings reminded me of the visit. All it took was a photo to restore my recollections of a few hours spent around there.

The intention of my visit was an out and back trot from Appleby to High Cup Nick, but a troubled train shortened my walking time and I only got part of the way instead. Nevertheless, I did get a closer look at the North Pennines near Dufton in spite of getting the best views of the Nick from near Appleby itself.

There was a time when a hike from Dufton to Teesdale would have been facilitated by two YHA hostels at either end, Dufton and Langdon Beck. However, the first of these is on sale, making things more challenging than once might have been the case.

With countryside like what you see above and the magnificence of the torrents in Teesdale, any added effort remains worthwhile if the weather ever made an offer. Wild camping (leaving no sign of having been there afterwards) might need to be in order if other forms of accommodation are not on offer.

See more photos from this album (Pennine Way)