Robin Hood Wrap Up

Day 18: Egton Bridge to Robin Hood's Bay

Yep, that's the North Sea!!  On this final day of the C2C we walked 17.8 miles from Egton Bridge to

the end of Wainwright's famous trek at Robin Hood's Bay. Upon arrival at about 3:00 p.m., we dipped our boots in the Bay, tossed our pebble from the Irish Sea (carried across country as is tradition) into the North Sea, signed our names in the C2C book at the Wainwright Bar in the Bay Hotel and toasted one another on a job well done.

Tallying our GPS, it looks like we walked just a tad over 210 miles.  We averaged over 12 miles a day with today being our longest and the high route into Patterdale being the shortest at 7.5 miles.

We've stayed at 16 B&Bs -- most of them very good.  If we could have another night anywhere, it would probably be the Willance House in Richmond.  Although the Manor House in Kirkby Stephen and the Butt House in Keld were top picks. What we know for sure is that to us the physical accommodation mattered much less than the kindness of the hosts.  I guess that falls in line with a favorite Maya Angelou quote, "I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel."  The best hosts made us feel at home in their homes and we thank them for that.

Like most C2Cers, we agree that the experience was heightened by the people we met on the trail. Although we heard over and over again that most walkers were Americans and Australians, we met only two of each (coincidently traveling together).  Most of our walking mates were from England. It also seems like the C2C is a real family affair -- lots of walking couples, siblings, two dads walking with their daughters and one father and son (then of course there were the three generations we met at Haweswater). There were also single hikers (male and female) who had their own special support networks as we all connected and tracked their progress from day-to-day (Have you seen Sarah?).

Final thought: This a very do-able hike that can be incredibly fun and rewarding with proper preparation.  Despite being called the Coast-to-Coast Walk, it is a hike and requires the fitness, gear and wherewithal that comes with some hiking experience (on multiple day trips).  Because you needn't camp or carry all your gear, daily recovery is solid.  Good map reading skills and some mountaineering experience (especially if you take the high routes in the Lake District like we did) are essential. C2Cers also can do the walk in stages (we met people who were doing the route over a number of years) or select the length of their stages in a straight run.  For us, 17 walking days felt a little slow once we got past Kirkby Stephens -- and at the same time, the pace forced us to slow down and be fully present to the experience, opportunities (like meeting fellow walkers) and photography.  We met many walkers doing the C2C in 14 days (and a couple of 12 day-ers) -- all very do-able.

When we get the final photos, I'll post once more to the blog.  At this point, we've overwhelmed the app Cliff uses to transfer photos from his camera to our iPads.

Thanks for vicariously walking with us.  It's been a blast!

Light Rain, Grouse Butts and the Ubiquitous Scone

Day 17: Blakey Ridge to Egton Bridge (12.1 miles, mostly flat track combining roads, moor paths and a lovely walk through the East Arncliffe Woods)

Rainy Walk Through Arncliffe Wood

I suppose, if you are walking England Coast-to-Coast, that there are some things that will become so commonplace as to seem ever-present.  Today what the natives tell us is the "normal" weather for the region appeared.  So, after 15 mostly dry days, a light rain drove us to don our rain pants for the first time (not counting our pre-C2C days in Scotland).  Never a soaker, the rain nonetheless slightly suppressed Cliff's picture taking about thirty minutes before we reached today's B&B, The Old Mill in Egton Bridge.  Funny, how little the rain phases us now.

And while a couple of weeks ago we were asking why the heck anyone cared about the tail feathers of a prairie chicken, today we can distinguish the butt of a grouse from a grouse butt.  We know now -- and can adroitly identify for others -- the shooting hides or blinds (grouse butts) where shooters lay in wait for the red grouse

Grouse on the moor

living in the moors to be driven in their direction (mainly by dogs, but sometimes by people on the shoot for the express purpose of flushing the grouse).  Grouse butts, short and squat stone (the really old) or wood frame structures are a common sight throughout the moors.  Sometimes they are numbered and on a rainy and windy day like today, they apparently are prime property for the sheep roaming the moors.

And if one just has walked through a rainy, windy moor (watching the grouse, spotting the grouse butts and baa'ing with the sheep), chances are very good that the first village stop will be the local tea house for a pot of tea

C2C Fuel Stop

and a scone.  The soft, doughy goodness of a scone (slathered with butter of course) is hard to beat as an accompaniment to tea.  It may be a good thing our last day of walking is tomorrow as these treats are becoming a bit of a habit - perfectly fine when one walks 5-8 hours a day. Like ale and cider for sports drinks, these little indulgences are coming to an end at the end of the road.

And tomorrow is the end of the road.  The weather forecast is fair for our final 16 miles. Already the lot of us who have been walking together for days are lamenting the loss of the simple life of the C2C: early alarm, breakfast, boots, walk, shower, pub, sleep and repeat.

Slowly, Thoughtfully, Gratefully

Day 16: Clay Bank to Blakey Ridge (9 miles, gentle ascent followed by easy moor walking mostly across disused rail path) 

Over these three days across the moors, our walking routes are shorter than earlier on the C2C.  

Old Boundary Stone

We find we're traveling even our longer mileage days much more quickly through the gentler terrain.  And given our rhythm of B&B overnights, we are keenly aware of how much our hosts have to accomplish between our post-breakfast departure and when they must be ready to welcome the next night's guests.  Had we realized this outcome before setting out, I suspect we would have revised our schedule to add mileage to these last few days (and shorten our overall itinerary).  And I'm glad we didn't know or adjust our walking plan.  I think we're both finding the challenge to slow our pace and counter an early arrival to our next lodging a valuable presence exercise. The practice of not leaning forward into our next landing creates in each day an opportunity to be fully present in the moment.  While going hard and fast creates its own fully-present experience -- so can this deliberate slowing. Today we chose to slow our morning departure from West Cote B&B at Chop Gate and in turn enjoyed a lively lesson on the history and production of English cheeses from our hostess, Judy.  Her depth of knowledge and passion excited our conversation for miles along the path. And it made me reflect on purpose and legacy . . .

What a gift slowing can be.

Slow down and enjoy life.  It is not only the scenery you miss by going fast -- you also miss the sense of where you are going and why. ~ Eddie Cantor

Moor, Moor, Moor

Day 15: Ingleby Arncliffe to Clay Bank (12 5 miles, up and down)

The challenge today was to hold back the pace so as not to crowd our hosts at the West Cote B&B in Chop Gate (off the trail with pick up and return so we don't miss a step of the C2C).  The 12.5 mile walk was among the loveliest of the entire walk (and imaginably dreary and endless had we suffered rain and/or mist).

We're currently in the North York Moors National Park, which is reputed to have the world's greatest expanse of heather.  While some fellow walkers didn't care for the up and down of the moors, we found the walking easy and the scenery divine.  A particular treat was seeing some of the heather in bloom.  We can only imagine how beautiful it must be when the purple flowers blanket the moors later in the season.

As it was a weekend, day trippers populated the trails around Carlton Moor, where we caught our first views of the North Sea.

North Sea on the horizon

The moors (Scarth Wood, Live, Carlton and Cringle) all have stone paths on the plateaus that keep the gait easy and encourage walkers to look as they walk (not at all the case on the ridges of the Lake District).  We saw more people than we have in days, in part because of the accessibility of the park via numerous car parks and in greater part because of the near perfect weather.  It's nice to see how much the English enjoy their parks

People and their canine companions were out in great numbers today (a Saturday).  We are thoroughly impressed with how well behaved the dogs are here and agree it has something to do with how widely accepted dogs are in different venues (from parks to shops and restaurants).  These English countryside dogs seem universally well socialized; and owners are trained to be very
responsible (we've seen posted fines for failing to clean up after one's dog fouling as high as 1,000 pounds (about $1,500 at today's conversion rate)).  Our favorite dog today was 10-week old Montgomery (perhaps smaller than Abi).

Once again there's a forecast for rain overnight and clear skies tomorrow.  With only three hiking days remaining, we are feeling quite blessed weather-wise.

Path through the moor

Breaking Trail and the Not-So-Great Day

Day 14: Danby Wiske to Ingleby Arncliffe (9.4 miles, flat)

The day started out so beautifully.  There were sunny skies and grassy paths, long hedgerows and fields of wild flowers. The mileage was low and our pace was kickin'.  We snacked on string cheese and apples on a comfortable high stile overlooking a train track.  Why we even had visions of an early pub visit and maybe a nap before dinner.  How great was this?

Maybe we should have taken heed when we passed over the stile dressed up for Halloween, complete with a skull, plastic rats and a motion-activated hoot owl.

But today, we were invincible.  After all, what could possibly go wrong?  We were traversing the lovely Yorkshire Dales, where trails are well-marked and terrain is easy.  We confidently bopped along referring only to our Stedman strip map and route markers . . . Until our trail disappeared before our very eyes (sheep trails have a way of doing that).

No problem, we'd had to shoot a corrective azimuth before.  We picked a known point on our Ordinance Survey map, set a compass heading and set out cross country (cross field in this case) to intersect dear Alfred Wainwright's path.  What pioneers were we -- breaking trail through the flora of Northern England!  The informed are nodding already, keenly aware of the proliferation of stinging nettle in the fields.  Like tiny hypodermic needles, the hairy edged leaves injected our legs (only my second day to wear shorts), with enough histamine and other chemicals to make us rue the day we set out with such reckless abandon.  Oh my gosh, how much more could this sting and how long would it last?  We soon both were covered from boot top to knee cap in burning, angry, red welts.  Arriving sheepishly at the pub, I tucked my flaming legs under a table and called our B&B for an early arrival (wondering where I could find some baking soda for relief).

So, everybody has a not-so-great day.  Having so far dodged rain, bogs and mist, we needed a horror story, and the nettles delivered.  Good thing there was no wifi last night.  Our experience in the dales is much more calmly recalled given a good dosing of antihistamine and Claritin (all downed with a Thatchers Cider, of course), followed by a perfectly lovely moor walk today.

Although We All Speak English . . .

Day 13: Richmond to Danby Wiske (flat, easy walking)

As most of our fellow walkers (and all of our hosts) are English, we are getting a great lesson in the distinct differences in terminology between English and English:

You see: 

• While a fry is a chip;
• a chip is a crisp.

And

• While a cookie is a biscuit (and it's crisp);
• a biscuit is a scone (and not crispy at all).

And

• While hunting is shooting (unless, of course it's fox hunting);
• shooting may include pigeons (but they are never clay).

And

• Quite importantly to anyone from the good old USA, while a walk is a stroll;
• The C2C is not a stroll.  It is a hike, which is a walk (be fair warned of the Lake District).

     Short walk today (Richmond to Dansby Wiske), 15.8 flat miles.  We talked late into the evening with fellow hikers (walkers); therefore, short blog.  The photos below are of flowers and grains from English gardens and fields we passed or passed through on the day's walk.  Enjoy!

Richmond and Clean Socks

Days 11 & 12: Reeth to Richmond + rest day (easy walking through fields and forests, one short easy ascent)

After ten days and about 130 miles, we rambled into Richmond in North Yorkshire early Tuesday

First view of Ricmond from the hills above

afternoon.  It was our earliest arrival day yet, not at all coincidental to the two-day break Richmond promises.  Even without a calendar, I would have known we'd reach Richmond today as I unrolled my last pairs of clean socks and liners in Reeth.  While we do most of our trail washing in sinks, tubs and showers en route, the business of cleaning and drying woolen socks and liners overnight is nearly impossible.  At our B&B in Richmond, laundry service is available for a very reasonable 7 pounds!  So, as our socks dry, we're resting our feet at the Willance House in the village center.

The Willance House is the oldest remaining house in Richmond, known for the adventures of its first owner, Robert Willance, apparently remembered for having survived a cliff leap atop his horse (which, sadly, died).  The house is charming, the hosts delightful and the breakfast perhaps the best of the trek so far (how lucky are we to be able to enjoy it twice?).

Emerald C2C path through a pasture

Yesterday's eleven-mile path that brought us to Richmond was marked quite clearly and traversed easy walking terrain through a couple of lovely forests and many miles of farmer's fields.  Again I marveled at the emerald paths years of C2Cers have grooved into the fields -- encouraging drainage and keeping the path better watered than the rest of the field.  Throughout the fields the wooly Swaledale sheep continued to be our nearly constant company, now along with a hardier (noticeably stockier) breed, which has been introduced to fortify the stock.

It seems our rest timing may be quite lucky as it is raining out today.  Yesterday we experienced several showers heavy enough to cause us to take cover.  While I donned my rain jacket repeatedly, Cliff employed his trekking umbrella with ease and no small measure of flourish.  For the record, I did use my umbrella on the streets of Glasgow before leaving Scotland, but it now is nestled deep in my duffle (just feels a little awkward to me).

As you may imagine, Cliff has taken hundreds of photos at this point.  And while I've not been able to preview all of them, he does put a goodly number on a card for immediate use in the blog.  This photo of blue doors on an old farm we passed yesterday in Higher Applegarth is one of my very favorites.

For today, we're bootloose and fancy free.  More from the trail soon!