Mist, tussocks and sheep

Day 28 was a traverse of the Howgills, the wonderfully distinctive group of hills between the Pennines and the Lake District, with steep sides and rounded summits - so different from its neighbours on either side. The cloud was right down as we set out from Sedbergh, and we wasted no time before plunging into it (see picture). A steady ascent on a good path took us to the top of The Calf, the highest peak in the Howgills, where we were overtaken by four ladies (of at least our age) and an Alsatian. Our support crew of Anne, Sandra and Sarah, after a tough morning ransacking the bookshops of Sedbergh, subsequently spotted the same fast-moving group, who had made it back there in time for lunch.

Meanwhile, there was still no view as we began the switchback of tops and cols required to cross the Howgills. However, after an hour or so it began to improve, roughly in inverse proportion to the quality of the path and the state of Richard's boots. By lunchtime we were in sunshine (very hot), bombarded by insects, wading through waist-high grasses, with the occasional stream to put a foot into and a steep ascent to increase the perspiration. We were rewarded with a great view from Uldale Head, whereupon we descended to Tebay through a few more bogs and tussocks and finally a decent track. Under the M6, last seen at Spaghetti Junction on Day 9, and now we were only a mile from our hotel, but what a mile it was. It featured the worst of the 202 stiles we've crossed on the trip so far, the grasses had now reached chest height, and the path was non-existent, despite a smart new sign. Our journey was enlivened by a sheep which had got its head stuck through a fence; Paul freed it, whereupon it ran in a semicircle and immediately stuck its head through another piece of fence.

Track of the Day is "All we like sheep have gone astray" - reflecting today's specimen, the other stray sheep we've seen on the trek and our own navigational challenges.