Waypoints and Walls

Day 8: Orton to Kirkby Stephens (the second "k" is silent) -- easy walking

If it's Saturday, this must be Kirkby Stephen.  Overnight it poured rain in Orton.  Between exhaustion and the weather, it was rough to get out of bed this morning.  

Nonetheless, we toasted US Independence Day and the start of our second week on the Wainwright Trek with orange juice at breakfast; then hoisted our packs, tied on our boots and set out into a cloudy but rain-free morning.   The terrain, again gentle and rolling, supported a rather brisk pace.

Combining the guidance from our Stedman C2C Book with signage and the occasional grid check, we chatted merrily across pasture lands, over country lanes and along stone walls . . . until that whole question about hugging the wall where the power lines crossed the path gave us pause.

Those wires looked much closer in the book . . . Holy smokes, could we really have wandered so far afield?  No worries, we determined our current location, Cliff shot a corrective azimuth, then we hustled cross country, climbed a stone wall and were back on track in short order.

Look Georgie, more wall-huggers!

Turns out, we had lots of company in this detour -- at least three other groups missed the critical turn -- much to the amusement of the locals.

What we know for sure is that while this walk is billed as 192 miles coast to coast, we're going to end up with more miles (how many more -- to be determined) between "detours" (a euphemism if ever there was one), diversions to lodging, finding the perfect view/lunch spot/personal relief point, etc.  And you know what? We're good with that.

We're happy.  Really happy.  We're blister free.  We're walked out at the end of each day, eating with gusto and sleeping like babies.  We're enjoying every day, grateful for the time, physicality, motivation and means to walk.  And we're learning something about ourselves and one another everyday.

Note: While this blog so far has basically been a series of "letters home" written to those we invited to follow us, we are aware of a larger following, so beginning tonight (and backtracking to add information to previous posts) we're adding information that may be helpful to others considering/preparing for this trek.   It's a way of giving back since we harvested so much valuable info from other C2C blogs to help us to plan our trip.

Orton to Kirby Stephens (vs Shap to Kirby Stephens) breaks up what can be a very long day.

Route Tips: (1) Use OS maps with vigilance as Stedman Book may be confusing just beyond Bents Farm, (2) pack a lunch (there are no villages en route).