The 11 Miler/Eating Lunch in Poo Fields

I'm sorry for the lack of actual updates, but today was simultaneously long and hilarious, so I have to write it down somewhere.

The notorious English rains haven't actually been present until about two days ago. Today, rain came down in steady streams from the moment we started our hike. We got to go to the top of Malham Cove, where Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 was filmed, which was very cool. It made for some pretty slippery rocks. We also had to walk straight through some cow fields. I'm pretty used to walking past sheep by now, but cows is another story. And since a cow charged at me yesterday (I'm serious, it was traumatizing), I will never look at a cow the same way.

Anyways, we had been walking for about 3 hours when it came time for lunch. Now remember, hiking or walking through England involves a lot of moving from pasture to pasture, opening wooden gates or climbing over stone walls. We walk past hundreds of sheep and their adorable lambs on a daily basis. But do you know what comes with hundreds of sheep?

Poop.

Lots of it.

So here we are, in the middle of this sheep pasture in the Yorkshire Dales. Picture the most beautiful rolling green hills you've ever seen, and you're probably about halfway to how crazy green and gorgeous this place is. Pretty flat, a few small rocks... and a ton of sheep poop. As my friend Ellyn and I sat on neighboring rocks, avoiding the piles of poop, I watched a car slowly roll up to a nearby farmhouse, and the thought of how ridiculous we all must look just set me off.

Imagine approximately 30 Americans, sitting in a sheep field, carefully trying to eat their sandwiches while also trying not to think about the sheep poop 18 inches from their feet... add in a nice cold blast of air, some crazy bright rain jackets, 4 miles already behind us, 7 to go, and the general fatigue that comes with hiking every day for the last two weeks, and you have one hilarious situation. I. was. dying.

This was my day today. I'm sitting in a hostel now, warm and dry, but thinking back on lunch is still making me chuckle. If you need any sheep poop related funny stories, I'm definitely your girl.