Manchester

We spent the day in Manchester touring downtown and shopping for souvenirs. What a striking difference between rural hamlets and downtown Manchester! We took the tram or Metro from our wonderful guesthouse (formerly a maternity house) downtown, shopped, toured the John Rylands library, had a last pub lunch then took the tram back to the guesthouse. We've packed our bags and are ready to go home.

Final tidbits from the trail:

The last day's trek went through Grosmont, where they still run a steam engine - purportedly the train and station used in the Harry Potter films. Unfortunately for us, it was a 33% grade uphill through and out of town for the next 2 miles.

Local beer is called bitters which is very hoppy beer. None of us are big fans of hoppy beer so it was easy to resist drinking at the pubs. Pub food is hearty fare, meat, potatoes (fried) and maybe some 'salad' - a few lettuce leaves, a tomato slice and one or two cucumbers. WE NEED GREEN VEGETABLES!


The full English breakfast:  start with a full continental breakfast of a choice of cereals, yogurt fruit, juice, coffee, tea, toast and jam along with porridge - really good oatmeal (the secret is to cook it with whole milk rather than water). Then you order the hot plate of eggs, bacon rasher, sausage, grilled tomatoes, sautéed mushrooms and more toast with baked beans. Believe it or not you're still hungry at lunch after consuming this breakfast and walking miles. Our hosts were offended if we didn't eat the full breakfast!

When we planned the trek, we believed the narrative that said average walking skills would suffice. As we read the fine print, we began understand that all times were approximate (didn't include time for rest or recalibrating with maps) and, finally, on day 11, we saw the warning in the front of the book that this was a strenuous hike. It was nearly impossible for us to walk more than 2 1/2 miles an hour even though all of us had trained at 4-5 miles per hour, and the terrain was amazing. We had only 3 if 13 days of the kind of rolling hills, scenic trails we expected.

Are we glad we did it? Yes. Will we do it again? No. No reunion tour for these chicas. Will we travel together again? Yes. We'll keep the blog alive and regale you with tales on future exploits. Feel free to suggest future treks - no more than 15 miles per day, please. Until then,

Carry on.

Stage 13 Finis!

Hiya! A common greeting on the trail and in the villages. We finished. We trekked the last 20 miles in typical British weather: downpour rain, walking through the bogs on the moor. Our fabulous hiking shoes, praised in previous posts, failed us all.  We had squishy soaked feet and socks, wet trousers up beyond our knees, and  only stayed dry above the raincoat/backpack rain cover level.  There were still wonderful aspects of today's trek: the tea garden (with plenty of rain awnings) at the waterfall in the Littleback wood - the perfect time for lunch and a respite from the rain! Meeting up with the young brothers from Newcastle who helped us get through the mucky moor.  The wood or forest was magical - we now understand how the enchanted forests showed up in so many stories from the UK.  Coming up to the 2 1/2 mile mile marker at Hawsker and rejoicing in the fact tht we were almost done. Only to learn that it was 2 1/2 miles by road, but 4 miles by path.  The path was stunning - right along the edge of the coast, but still mucky and slippery. We were in awe of the cliff top views of the North Sea but humbled by the slippery rocks and path that took us to our destination.

In Robin Hood's Bay we performed the requisite rituals of dipping our boots in the North Sea and throwing our pebbles (collected at the start in St. Bees) into the sea.  The tide was low and the town was small.  We had our picture taken by several people who congratulated us on our feat. We had dinner and a pint and signed the book  at the Wainwright bar on the seashore then trudged back to our B&B where we waited to get in. Finally, another guest let us in and informed us that our host had gone out to dinner. Needless to say, we were outraged - even more so because we were so tired and ready to collapse.  Finally, we got settled, showered off the moor muck, and collapsed into bed.

More musings on the trek:

The dead sheep in the stream gave us pause.
Other walkers are a godsend. We all work together to interpret the maps and find our way.
The locals depend upon walkers to drive their economy.
We traveled by taxi, train and foot to tonight's guesthouse which is the best yet and are tired and ready turn in.
We'd go back to the Keld Inn, to Shap where Margaret took such good care of us (my goodness, she washed our socks!) and to this guesthouse in Manchester.
We're already listing potential destinations for our next trek.

Tomorrow we'll tour Manchester by Metro then fly home to Minnesota and return to our real lives. Perhaps our feet and legs will return to normal as well.

Stage 12

Today we honor those who gave their lives for freedom on 9.11.2001.

We had a lovely walk, a slow descent into Glaisdale; a short day of 10 miles that ended with a slow, winding trail through the town and down to the river where we ended at the Beggars Bridge B&B around 1 pm.  We were early - arrived before our rooms were ready and before our luggage had arrived. So, we had tea, crumpets and shortbread in the garden. Wow. Such gardens we'd give our eye teeth to have this growing zone in MN.  We caught up on rest, correspondence, and foot care. Our B& B is wonderful, near the river and beggars bridge - a local legend about a young man who was too poor to cross the river, went abroad to make his fortune and returned to marry his wealthy sweetheart and built a bridge across the river so no other pauper had to suffer the same heartache he did.  We see a Walt Disney movie from this story!

Reflections on the trip:

At times it has seemed insurmountable, we've been challenged physically and emotionally to complete each leg of the trip, and it's hard to comprehend we have only one day left on the trail.  We've met some wonderful people along the way and tonight we saw two young brothers who made the trek and will also finish tomorrow. Fun to see them and glad to see they'll complete the trek tomorrow too.

Stage 11, Monday, Sept 10

LONG DAY! On the trail by 8 am, with a hearty English breakfast, pack lunches and a patron saint medal each for our pockets from Ann who showed us a shortcut to the path that was actually shorter! The first 15 miles were up and down to 4 different "tops" named bank top or ridges don the maps. Followed by 9 miles of relatively flat, wide path; the last 6 1/2 on disused railway that seemed to go on forever and was high enough in the moors to be very windy the whole trip. We walked at a very nice pace-clipping along as Kay would say-until the legs started to go.  Betsy's lower leg injury flared up again and Kay's inner thigh spasmed.  After that, we slowed to a stroll, or sane pace per Kelly.

We staggered into the Lion Inn (the only building for miles around) at 6:15, an ancient building that has served as a way stop for centuries. We were immediately identified as coast-to-coasters by our zombie like stares and wind blown appearance. Had dinner - another filling dinner of vegetable lasagna and chicken Kiev seriously lacking in vegetables that aren't deep fried or mushed)  and called for a ride from our B&B host. Mike fetched us to the August House (about 10 minutes away) and regaled us with stories and jokes. We found Michael to be very entertaining, his wife Mary puts up with him even though she's exasperated by him! Mary was very gracious attempting to show us the features of our rooms, but we were stupefied by the days walk and finally she just said good night. Kay and Betsy hit the pillow and were out, Kelly had a lovely foot soak before turning in.

Just a note that we haven't been without injury on this trip. 

Kelly bruised her two big toe toenails on the nearly straight downhill on the first day. Solution: Betsy's magic tape.  Tape them up and carry on! 

Betsy had a huge blister on her heel the second day that blew on an uphill. Terry, the guide with the California group, gave her a blister bandage and commented to his group that she was done and would not finish the hike. He doesn't know MN women!  Solution: Compeed and carry on.

Kay has several large blisters that have a tendency to move to new and different locations all over her feet. In fact, she has more square inches of blister bandages and padding than skin on her feet. Solution: Compeed and silicone toe sleeves.

Theme for the day: all of our hiking boots have failed and we have spent the greater part of the trip in our hiking shoes.  Too bad we have to carry the boots!

Note to future hikers buy this fabulous Compeed blister bandage stuff by the caselot. 

Sunday, Sept 9 stage 10

Our 10th walking day was a 21-mile walk along roadways. Many of the guidebooks and local people advised us it was a tedious walk so we opted to take a taxi for part of the path.  Met up with a young man from Arkansas who is walking most of the UK as a honeybee researcher and an older British couple walking the C2C. We had a nice rain while we walked, so actually got to use our "waterproofs". We walked about 4 miles beyond the C2C path to reach Osmotherly where our B&B was reserved. Ann met us at 4 Belle Vue, her cozy home, with tea and cake even though it was nearly 5. She makes great coffee cake - brown sugar cake with coffee flavored icing, num!

Had pub food dinner at the Queen Catherine Inn, built in the 1600s.  Tried to wait for the blues band to start playing at 8:30, but gave up at 9  so we could rest up for the long hike the next day. Kelly, our experienced band groupie, warned us they'd never start on time, but we didn't believe her - until we saw the band members still drinking at tables at 9. 

Some more British phrases we've found interesting:
Kerb is curb to us
When you need to relieve yourself in the woods you go "drop some weight" or "drop a pound" and gas is delicately called "wind"
Haggis is actually considered food: sheep or lamb stomach filled with oatmeal, fat and other various leftovers. 
More interesting bits tomorrow!

Planned layover day

We spent the day in Richmond, a moderate size market town, on a planned layover day in preparation for the rest of the trek. We wandered the market, poked in and out of shops around the market square and had tea and scones in a tea shop.

We started the day by touring Richmond castle. There was an interesting interpretive center to start then we climbed round the keep (the tall part) and met a couple from Minnesota! We had great views from the top and took some awe inspiring pictures (you'll have to trust us on this as we arent going to try to post until we are back in the states). Then we poked around some antique stores and walked to the visitor center. The public bathroom had a unique feature: one machine, recessed in the wall, has a button for soap, a button for water and a button for air dry! Very efficient.

We then walked down by the river to The Station, a restored train station that now has shops and a cinema. We had ice cream outside in another day of perfect weather.  As we started back to town, we checked the cinema and saw the new movie Anna Kerinina so decided to see it. Fabulous movie, very well done with a melding of the story as stage play and as real life. Of course, you cant go wrong with Kiera Knightly and Jude Law!

As we Mosied back to the market square, we met Ann, one of our trail friends from Cambridge. We chatted and had tea together then wished each other well for the remainder of the trek.

As we sit in the lounge of the B&B, we are listing the highlights and accomplishments of the trip so far. For Kelly, the people along the trail and the sheer physical accomplishment is the highlight;for Kay, the physical accomplishment of the Lake District and the 23 mile day; and for Betsy, being able to keep up with long-legged Kelly and Velcro woman Kay make me happy. Velcro woman zeroes in on a hiker ahead on the path, catches up and stays in their back pocket. You should see her when she smells the barn - zoom thar she goes on to the destination without regard for Kelly and I. It's ok because Kelly has the compass and Betsy has the maps. Kay eventually waits for us. It was a bit satisfying to learn that the guide for the California group didn't believe Betsy would make it past day 2 (when she blew a big heel blister going uphill) and who now has said to his group that he has to admit that he would actually help us if we ran into trouble on the path.

Indeed, we're ready to go back on the trail. Our feet are rested and the swelling has gone down so I guess it's time to walk some more.

Stage 9

Today, day 9 on the trail, we started with the best breakfast yet: bubble & squeak (a mashed concoction of potatoes, cabbage, carrots and whatever vegetables you have on hand) rolled in eggs then whole 'meal' (grain) bread crumbs, then lightly fried in olive oil; eggs, beans, mushrooms and toast with homemade orange marmalade. Then we hit the central market and bought fruit to take on the trail for our short (12 mile) day to Richmond. We learned some new lingo from Bob and Denise at the B&B: Bob can really 'pull a face' when he's displeased, and their last couple of years have been 'higgledy piggeldy' or not quite orderly due to many family changes.

We saw the California tour group and our English friend, Steve, along the trail. We told them it was good to see them as we were worried about them! Saw the Las Vegas group who take a more leisurely tour and split off at the tea house in Marske. The walk today was wonderful, what we imagined our trip would be like- it was scenic in the best sense of the word, not the longer and higher type of scenic! We saw hills and valleys and moors and forests - the perfect blend.

Hit Richmond mid-afternoon, checked in to the Old Brewery Inn, the home of Sherpa Van our bag transport company, showered and hit the town. Had Thai for dinner which was great until we added chili sauce. We'll have clear sinuses until Halloween. Tried a couple of different gins in real English gin & tonics and met up with the California group. Now we're back at the Inn preparing for our rest day in Richmond tomorrow.

Phrases of the day:

Yaya: said when the listener gets what you're saying and is ready to answer before you're finished explaining.
Carry on: used often-just keep going
Whilst: used often, when we use while
Hiya: familiar greeting when you meet on the street like we use hi or hello
Eh: Esther than 'huh'

Big news: we just met Mr & Mrs Sherpa Van in the sitting room of the Inn while we were blogging! We were able to share our positive experiences and compliment them on a job well done. They just got back from a trip to Iceland.

Stage 8 on trail

Today we walked from Keld to Reeth, 13 miles of perfect walking terrain. Gentle hills, smooth, wide path and a few small hamlets to explore along the way. This is what we all thought the entire walk would be like. We chose the the low route along the River Swale rather than along the top of the moors that is the original Wainwright route. With a stop in Muker and a tour of their local woolen mills, we enjoyed some local town flavor along the way.

Walking along, we experienced a very strong tailwind for the whole day. We stopped in Gunnerside at the King's Head Inn (no actual king's head hanging) for homemade cream of mushroom and tarragon soup with a Brie and cranberry sandwich on 9 grain bread.  The innkeeper directed us to the path along the river and we were underway once more.

We had to perform some tricky maneuvers along the way with several narrow stiles (narrow brakes in the drystone walls with spring loaded gates) that challenged our girth, a harrowing swing over the river on tree limbs to get around a wire fence, and a 150 foot walk along a narrow stone wall with a 10 foot drop to the field and a 20 foot drop to the river. We are all very proud of Kay for leading the way despite her fear of heights.

We kept intersecting with another group of Americans who we had met at the Keld Lodge last night. A group of 14 retires who are doing this together without a guide. One couple dances Argentine Tango to keep in shape.  They were great fun and we saw them at supper tonight at the Buck Hotel (not Book). We had Indian food that was not the same as the Indian we are used to along with the dinner theater entertainment of the woman in the house next door - she was standing in front of the window with just a shower cap on-eek.  More tomorrow. 

Day or Stage 7

Today we decided to try a new course of action. After consulting with other Trekkers, locals, and reading the weather (the wettest summer in 100 years), we decided not to walk the official Coast to Coast path through the highland peat bogs where a choice of 3 different poorly marked routes leads to getting lost. So we went sightseeing (with our new Canadian friend, fellow trekker Susan) in Kirkby Stephen. We toured an Anglican/Catholic church (yes, they share the church), viewed an actual river that was not called a gill, walked around on firm pavement with no loose rocks, saw the 9 Standards (a must-see feature of the C2C) from a distance, toured a high-end antique shop where the proprietor gave us a great history lesson, had a mid-afternoon beer at the King's Inn.  We found some great greeting cards with British humor - all ending in 'carry on'.

Took a road trip to Keld Lodge - the highlight of the village of Keld where the driver took the scenic route (repeat: scenic view = longer and higher) where we almost took out several sheep and bottomed out the minicar as the driver gave us the real history of the region. Once safely at Keld Lodge, we spent the afternoon trying to catch up on our electronic correspondence. Did you know that when you try to post pictures to your blog while you're in England, it creates 'unusual activity' and Google [in its infinite wisdom] shuts your blog down. Finally, at nearly midnight, we got off an email to Google and on Thursday are up and running again.

The meal at Keld lodge was fabulous.We are half way to Robin Hoods Bay, our final destination!

Day 6 or Stage 6 of the trail

Today our trek was 21 miles from Shap to Kirkby Stephen. Our B&B hostess in Shap, Margaret,  was delightful - washing our socks, drying our boots & taking our picture in her garden before pointing out the shortcut path behind her house. Not to mention the matching toilet paper and Kleenex in all 3 bathrooms. We were fresh and eager to begin, but after several miles we began talking to sheep as was predicted by one of the many locals we've met along the path.

The lone hiker from SE England caught up with us around mile 8 and stayed with us, encouraging us, all day. We ate lunch on the trail just beyond a mucky sheep farm. New use for your backpack rain cover: picnic blanket to keep your seat dry. Best almond tart ever (thanks to Margaret); so good in fact Kay asked both of us if we'd like her to eat ours so we wouldn't have to suffer through.

After miles and miles and hours and hours of sheep farms and drystone walls, not to mention the detour to avoid the cows and new calves, we closed in on Kirkby Stephen by slogging through a very messy cow-pied dairy farm. As we wandered the back alley entrance defined on the trail, a little old lady came out in her stocking feet to guide us into town. She keeps watch through her picture window for stray coast-to-coasters! She claimed it was just 10 minutes up the road (as every local giving us directions has said). 20 minutes later we arrived at the Castle View B&B, newly remodeled and staffed by the owners sister as the owner was "in hospital" giving birth to her first -Tommy.

We closed the evening out at the Black Bull and ran into the California tour group of 8 plus a guide and his wife who 'worry' about us every day. They're on the luxury tour with a private van that whisks them from trail's end to accommodation and dinner each night then back to the trail the next morning.  They've dubbed us the MN Girls and claim they know where we are each day because they can hear us laughing & giggling. Our British and Aussie friends have also told us how happy we are and how much fun we seem to be having. They call us the MN Maids which is a bit more palatable for us middle agers than 'girls'.

Themes for the day:

• Just a half mile more
• Every stile or gate is a muddy, mucky ****ty mess
• Remember to be MN nice to everyone! 
• Over every hill lies another hill, sheep pasture, and drystone wall to climb over 
• Speaking of sheep pasture, we've developed an aversion to black beans.  

•  

Day 5 on the trail

What a day! Patterdale to Shap: 16 miles (horizontal) at least 2 miles vertical (up and down). After the requisite English breakfast, we left the Greenback Farm early and got instructions from the gentleman of the house on a 'shortcut' to the trail. An hour and a half later, we finally got over the hill far enough that we could no longer see the town of Patterdale. The route up to Kidsty Pike (2572 ft) was easier than the day 2 nearly vertical climb to the peak but still rather difficult as it's 5 miles to the top . We met a local Brit climbing to another peak who assured us that we'd find our way easily enough if we just followed the 'made' path.  Evidently that means the path they've filled with loose rocks in an attempt to keep you above the muck.  We did eventually make it to Kidsty Pike and, indeed, the views were amazing but the descent (which Mr. Wainwright describes as an easy grassy walk down) was grueling. Between the loose rocks on the made path, the erosion of so many footprints and the muck, we took about twice as long to get down as the guidebook suggests.  Once down to the Haweswater Reservoir, we had a fairly level walk to the town of Shap, our destination for tonight, but it was still 10 miles following that brutal 1 mile descent. We've had a good fish & chips dinner and are now back at our B&B where Margaret has taken our shoes to dry and our socks to wash.  Tomorrow's a 21 mile day through bogs & mud, but it's flat!

Here's a brief rundown of some of the lighter side of the trek so far:

• A tarn is a lake
• A gill is a stream 
• A fell is a hilltop
• The locals are very friendly &helpful, even when they send you off in the wrong direction
• Red squirrels are a protected and revered species here in the Lake District, they're still mad at the Yanks for introducing gray squirrels who compete with the reds for habitat &food. We were a instructed to watch for them on the mountain today as sightings are rare. We didn't see Anya, nor did we really look. 
• The coast to coast walk has its own communication tree-"word has it"- where all sorts of gossip about who's ahead of whom each day flourishes. The truth comes out at the destination town each night. 
• Good Samaritans or guardian angels abound. People pop up next to us on the path just when we need them. Today, a retired gentleman and his wife were hiking the hills and helped us with some way finding. When we stopped a while later on the trail to reset our compass bearings and reconcile with the map, he ran uphill to us and offered to help again because we looked as though we were 'suffering a crisis of confidence'! At the end of the day, as we asked for verification of the last 5 miles of path, 'Auntie Lynn' demanded we listen to her and repeat the directions so we were sure to go straight to Shap! Then she gave us some good English toffee and pointed us to the gate. 
• Gates are stiles and there are at least 45 different kinds of latches. Kay can even close them with her trekking pole when the mud is deep. 
• We've all got a new favorite vegetable: mushy peas  
• We think the Brits measure their miles differently than we do. In fact today Kelly decided we had a 23 day mile coming up on Wednesday! I don't think we have enough time over here to do that route!
• Of course, when you're this tired, we all make great verbal gaffes. Tonight Kay wondered aloud why she didn't have more 'endomorphins' and feel more energetic after all this walking. 
• Lastly, we've been blessed with sunshine and warm weather. Who ever thought we'd get sunburned in northern England. Auntie Lynn told us they throw clods of dirt at people who get sunburned! She also told us we looked 'cream crackered' or rather tired.

Day 4 on the trail

Today was a short day-9 miles! Left Thorney How Youth Hostel after a proper English breakfast, walked along the road about a 1/2 mile before turning up the bridleway. We chose the less steep route  along Tongue Gill to Grisedale Tarn (lake) where we could choose to ridge-walk along two spectacular crags -either Helvellyn or St. Sunday. Either would have been worth the view had we not walked too far along a ridge yesterday. We chose to take the long descent along Grisedale valley ending in Patterdale, the town we're staying in tonight. We stopped for a pint and dinner at the White Lion Inn before calling our B&B for a ride from town. Our B&B is in a 17th century farmhouse that is now a working sheep farm-3000 acres with 3000 head of sheep and 9 working Australian Kelpie dogs. The lady of the house also breeds dogs so it's busy out here!

Our walk was very pleasant today; made all the more pleasant by the perfect weather (very unusual here in the Lake District which experiences the most rainfall of any place in England) and the friends we've made along the way. The Australians - a husband & wife and her father, a mother and adult son from England, a  woman from London (who's ending in 2 days), a man from the Manchester area who is following Wainwright's original diary, a man from Oxford who has walked most every path in England more than once, and 2 women from England who haven't walked together for 3 years. We've  kept track of each other throughout the trip and were quite impressed to learn they were all worried about us yesterday when they didn't see us (because we took that expletive deleted upper path). It's also been good to share the different reference materials we've all brought; some provided by the tour operator and some purchased personally. Between us we've been able to stay on the path and get to our destination each day.

In Patterdale today we stopped at the Post Office/general store and bought a more detailed book and we each bought a copy of the Wainwright guide. We're being obnoxious Americans and having each of our new walking buddies sign the Guide as a souvenir of our time together. We'll post picures on our layover day next week. More tomorrow after our last mountain climb and 16 miles to Shap.

Day 3 on the trail

Hostel in Rosthwaite was great; English breakfast buffet filled us up for the mountain climbing ahead. Our nine mile short day was pure hell - duped by a cute British couple to take the upper  or scenic walk, we learned that scenic actually means extra miles and extra elevation. You wouldn't believe the walk at cliff's edge. We are on our second night at a youth hostel at Grasmere, the oldest youth hostel in England. We had our best meal yet of steak and red wine pie (phyllo), garlic & leek mash (potatoes), dessert was rhubarb cobbler with custard or chocolate pudding. Oh, and yes, we've been playing around with the iPad and taking pics of food, but can't yet figure out how to download. Kelly thanks Matt for her balance work. More tomorrow!

Trail Day 2-11 to go

Started the day with a hearty English breakfast at the Butt House (seriously): fried egg, toast, grilled tomato slice, bacon rasher, sausage link, coffe and tea with orange juice. Walked to town to meet the group of hikers we'd befriended yesterday, all from England and Australia. Spent the day together walking the relatively flat and easy trail along Ennerdale water in our first of 3 national parks. We stopped for lunch at the Black Sail Hut Hostel where we brewed coffee and tea and braced ourselves for a steep and treachorous climb up Dale Head. As is common in the Lake District, it began to rain when we were half-way up the mountain and continued to rain the rest of the day. Once up on top, we followed the cairns (piles of rocks) to stay on the trail and found our way to Rigghead Quarry where they still mine slate. We stopped for a rest, to dry off a bit and group up with yet another English walker we'd met the day before. We all stayed together the rest of the way down the mountain, dropping our Australian friends in Sea Cote, our English friends on the road to Stonesthwaite and we marched on to our hostel in Longthwaite. All are in the Borrowdale region.

We had a great hot dinner (potato and carrot soup and red pepper and lentil pie) with fresh peach cobbler and custard for dessert, now it's off to bed. We've completed 31 of our 190 miles and have 9 miles through the mountains again tomorrow. Found some great blister bandages and learned that trekking poles make a huge difference in the ability to navigate the uphills and the downhills. More tomorrow.

Travel to St.Bees

Days 1 & 2 of the trip were spent traveling from Minneapolis to Northern England for the start of the trip. We took off from Minneapolis St. Paul International Airport, had a 2 hour layover in Atlanta where, once we loaded the plane, we had an additional hour or more delay for a mechanical delay.  Once the plane was air-ready, we took off for the overnight flight to Manchester, UK.  After several bad movies, we curled up or stretched out for sleep but several crying babies in the plane made sleep nearly impossible. We cat-napped our way to Manchester. Once in England, we took 2 trains to St. Bees and stayed at a lovely B&B near the beach on the Irish Sea.  We walked around St. Bees and toured an ancient church where we listened to the pipe organ that was ancient and had 2000 pipes. We had Toad in a Hole dinner which is Yorkshire pudding with mashed potatoes, steamed vegetables, local sausage and brown sauce (h&p) along with a local ale that was not memorable.  We went back to the B&B and fell promptly to sleep. Up at 6, we had a substantial breakfast (Kay tried Scottish kippers -eew) and hit the trail at 9.

Torrential rains overnight meant wet and mucky trails with washed out bridges, mud slides and high water everywhere. We met several groups and individuals along the way, some friendly, some not so friendly, and had dinner in Ennerdale with the friendly ones. We've agreed to meet in the morning to tackle day 2 of the walk. More later when we have Internet service (if) and will post picture when we figure out how to do that. Make up your own picture for the giant slugs we've seen on the path and 3 very wet Trekkers. No blisters so far and we'll let you know if we are unable to move tomorrow. 15 miles of 192 done.

Planning for the Wainwright Coast to Coast Path

Coast to Coast map from Sherpa Van website

Here it is - the entire 190 mile path from St. Bee's on the Irish Sea to Robin Hood's Bay on the North Sea through 3 national parks featuring mountains, hills, dales, lakes, swales, flatland and moors. We plan to walk for 13 days, averaging 14-15 miles per day with one layover day in Richmond, a city just past Reeth, for a total of 14 days on the path. 

We worked with an outfitter, the Sherpa Van Project, to reserve our lodging accommodations and move our bags to the next B&B each day. We'll be staying in a variety of hostels, B&Bs, hotels, inns and private residences.

Route - this is the plan, we'll keep you posted with pictures and observations every few nights (when there's an internet connection):

1. Start at St. Bee's, 14 miles to Ennerdale Bridge
2. 9 miles to Longthwaite in Borrowdale
3. 8 miles to Grasmere
4. 16 miles to Patterdale
5. 16 miles to Shap
6. 21 miles to Kirkby Stephen
7. 12 miles to Keld
8. 11 miles to Reeth
9. 11 miles to Richmond
10. Layover day in Richmond
11. 23 miles to Osmotherley
12. 21 miles to Blakey
13. 10 miles to Glaisdale
14. 15 miles to Robin Hood's Bay

Equipment: Besides the aforementioned trekking poles, daypacks (with rain cover) and well-broke waterproof hiking boots, the miracle fabric (wool) socks and turquoise scarf, we've got [tested] waterproof rain gear, quick-dry hiking pants, waterproof gaiters, moisture-wicking shirts and long underwear. And, because they're small and easy to tuck in a pocket, a stocking hat and gloves. Sun glasses? Well, we'll have them along, but may not need them.

Weather: It's a bit wet in the Lake District, averaging 78 inches of rainfall a year. And, the whole of the island is kept cool and temperate by the oceans, average temperatures are in the 50s and 60s in September. The landscape varies from mountains to moorland bogs, so we're prepared for cool, wet walking. In the event it's warmer and drier than usual, we trained in the heat on the North Shore, so hopefully, we're ready for most any weather.

Bemidji Touring

Kay, Betsy, Kelly in Bemidji, MN

The week after our North Shore hike, we passed through Grand Rapids where we logged several miles on the Mesabi Trail on our way to Bemidji for a meeting. In Bemidji we took the opportunity to walk a few miles on the beautiful paved path around Lake Bemidji were we stopped to have our picture taken with Paul Bunyan.

North Shore Training Hike

Kelly, Kay, Betsy at Raven Rock Overlook in Tettegouche State Park

One month prior to departure, we spent a weekend on the North Shore of Lake Superior and did back-to-back hikes through varied terrain. Day 1, we hiked about 15 miles in Tettegouche State Park following the Superior Hiking Trail from the trailhead to Blue Jay overlook, stopping for lunch at the Raven Rock Overlook, then following the ATV trail back toward the trailhead. Unfortunately, the link between the ATV trail and the trailhead was filled with waist-high grass. A tad averse to Lyme disease, we decided to hike back down the ATV trail to Highway 61 and walk the shoulder of the highway back to the trailhead. It was a great hike through the rocks and pines on the Superior Hiking Trail; the wide open ATV trail was easy walking, but with 95º heat with high humidity, we missed the tree cover and were grateful for periodic breezes off the lake. To end the hike, we climbed down to the mouth of the Baptism River and soaked our feet in the cool water. 

Kelly, Betsy, Kay at Betty's Cabins

 We stayed near Silver Bay in a classic North Shore resort; we chose cabin 2 as it featured indoor plumbing (cabin 4 has an outhouse)! Owner Betty Hofschulte is a wonderful host with an encyclopedic knowledge of the area. On day 2, we packed up and headed north to Temperance River State Park just north of Schroeder. The Temperance River is a geological wonder and we enjoyed following it as we climbed toward Carlton Peak, a 3.2 mile climb with a 900' rise in elevation. Not sure if it was the heat or the humidity, but it took us much longer than we anticipated. Atop Carlton Peak, we ate lunch and enjoyed the view, visited with some folks from Grand Marais, then tackled the descent. With about 300 yards to go, a torrential downpour swept through - complete with hail. The air was much cooler after that. 

Watch for the trademark turquoise scarves throughout our travels. Here we are at Betty's Cabins practicing the art of draping an infinity scarf.  Trekking lessons learned so far:

• Yes, trekking poles are a worthwhile investment for balance, stability and to transfer some of the workload from legs to arms. Bonus: you can swat your walking companions when they get smart. And, if you're really tricky, you can balance on them and swing both legs out in front for a giant step.
• No matter how well your hiking shoes are broken in, and what kind of miracle fabric socks you wear, when it's 95º and 85% humidity, you'll get blisters. Tape 'em and keep walking.
• A day pack with a lightweight alloy frame and mesh back panel for ventilation is also worth the investment. When adjusted to fit correctly, the pack adds no noticeable burden to the hike - even with a full 3 liter water bladder.
• There is no such thing as sweatproof sunscreen.

Kay, Betsy, Kelly

Welcome to the adventures of the trekking trio! We are preparing to hike the Wainwright Coast to Coast path across northern England this fall and invite you to follow our adventure; we'll post entries as often as we have internet access during the trip. We plan to complete the path in 13 days of walking, with a layover day in Richmond, for a total of 14 days on trail. We worked with an outfitter, Sherpa Van Project, for lodging and baggage transport.

Meet the trekkers:

Kay Lovett

Kay, our ringleader, lives in southeastern Minnesota where she raises chickens and logs miles with her golden retrievers.

Betsy Johnson

Betsy lives in northeastern Minnesota where she logs miles on ski and logging trails.

Kelly Kunkel

Kelly lives in south central Minnesota where she logs miles with her hunting dog on the prairie.