This stage of the walk includes entry into North York Moors National Park which boasts the worlds’ largest expanse of heather.
The day began with a 3 mile steady, gravel road climb in a forest that merged onto the Cleveland Way.
Walkers couldn’t have better weather than today with vibrant shades of green, purple and different patterns of tan/brown emphasizing the magnificence of the terrain. At one point our views included the North Sea.
Ellko points out the North SeaQuilted landscape
I had a most enjoyable lunch of a cup of potato leek soup with a halloumi cheese and roasted vegetable wrap. I finished my lunch with a latte as well as a double shot of espresso. Both camping and some yurts are available here for overnight stays. It was very surprising to see numerous open tables at the cafe, consider it was Saturday on a holiday weekend with perfect weather.
Soft footpath
I am walking on sore feet today, likely caused by yesterday’s 24 mile trek. I made good use of my trekking poles and welcomed portions of the tread that were not covered with fieldstones.
I feel blessed to be doing all of this. There are just two more days needed to finish the Coast to Coast. The rest of my post today will be photos from the stark expanses of these northern moors.
Be good! Heather land4,000 Bronze Age burial moundFieldstone HighwayOmnipresent sheep
This is the longest stage on the Trail with most of it is traveled on back roads with portions where the path is forced into weeds and stinging nettles at the edges of open fields. We’ve moved out of the Dales into the flat agricultural portion of the country where much of the crops are potatoes and grains.
Ouch
The first 7 miles of walking are within sight of the River Swale. Around mile two I began to smell sewage and then could see a vast number of round circular pits of raw sewage being churned up. Thankfully, that didn’t last for too long before then the Trail went through cutover wheatfields, went through the sides of potato fields, mustard, and some type of brassicas. The walking all day was relatively easy as the terrain was totally flat.
Lots of pavement
Our guidebook warned us about steering clear of any military signs around Catterick, which housed an active garrison. I was warned that this section of the trail was where we would likely encounter freshly spread manure as well as some possibly aggressive bulls.
Caution
It was clear that this longest segment received the poorest care. I can understand that the farmers that work in this area considered us as nuisances and if they were forced to allow the trail to pass through their properties it’s understandable that they would make the track as narrow as possible where it would interfere the least with their work. It was disconcerting though to receive numerous stings on my arms and legs from nettles that were overgrowing the trail. If there was ever need for bringing gaitors on this trip this was the section.
Good shit happens
In the hamlet of Bolton-on-Swale the only refreshments to be had in town were by donation at the church, which featured a monument to Henry Jenkins, a local man who lived an unremarkable life except for the fact that he claimed he was 169 years old when he died.
At Danby Wiske was well taken care of by an elderly gent who was trimming a hedge that offered to bring me ice water as well as a couple of cold cans of soft drinks. It was a relatively hot and humid day. I made frequent use of my reflective umbrella.
Church built 1400’s
Another large castle spotted from the Trail.
Castle
Humorous farm gate, complete with motion- triggered witch’s cackling soundtrack.
Farm humor
The most harrowing experience on the whole walk happened where all walkers are forced across four lanes of high-speed traffic without causing a pileup or being run over. Extreme care was necessary to get across. I led a couple of terrified Canadian hikers across by suggesting that we first negotiate the exit ramp and wait on a tiny strip of grass and then run at full speed across the actual freeway in two parts by waiting halfway across by the narrow lane barriers. It didn’t help that once we reached the safety of the opposite side We saw a handmade memorial not 5 feet away from where we were standing.
It is also uncanny to me that within this stretch of 23 miles there was nowhere that resembled a cafe or even a convenience store. The kindness of strangers and churches sustained me today.
Endless flatness
I didn’t have much left in me after close to 24 miles of walking, a distance that I haven’t achieved since 2013. My feet were sore, I was exhausted, and after a decent supper in the pub I was in the sack by 830.
Walking was limited to a 4 mile out-and-back walk to Easby Abbey this morning and a stroll around the perimeter of the castle, which was closed today due to staff illness. You may view photographs of the Abbey and my walking map here.I mostly was in my room today. I did a minor amount of shopping where I purchased two relevant books and foot care products.
Can’t wait to read these,
I also figured out an exit plan that included purchasing a train ticket to London, after I hired a taxi to take me from the Coast to Coast to the Train Station. The train will take 2.5 hours and cost 67 pounds ($74). Its not easy to conceptualize just how different but easy it is to have a working , comprehensive train system running. All I had to find out was where the closest train station was to the Trail. That known, you select the date, time, and destination and the Trainline App lists the next departure time and what time it will reach your destination.
So Good!
A numerical code is sent to your email. You get a printed ticket by inserting the same credit card you used to buy the ticket, enter the code, and a printed ticket is belched out. I hope!
So, a briefer post than usual. I have a 22 mile day of walking tomorrow, over relatively flat terrain.
Shawn and Deb walked that today, and sent me info that there was fresh manure spread out over several sections that our path includes. I don’t have a problem with that, as long as I don’t slip and get covered with crap.
An auspicious weather report greets me for a 9:00 departure to the city of Richmond today.
No rain after 9 am
I had a full vegetarian breakfast plate to start the day.
Full plate
Today’s walk will be have me walking through farm after sheep farms. I’ll also encounter a couple of “ charming villages. Much of the walk will have the meandering Swale River in sight.
endless green
We were barely able to view the remains of Marrick Priory visible from a distance but we’re not allowed to visit the ruins. The priory was founded by a local noble for 17 Benedictine nuns.
One whole mile side trip was wasted on failure to score some homemade scones and hot coffee at Elaine’s farmhouse kitchen. It was closed.
Elaine was missed
Thankfully, we had much better luck at the church of Saint Edmund the Martyr, built on the site of an earlier church dating back to 1090. They left snacks and bottles of water for hikers for sale inside the church.
Paying tributionsUplifting creation
The high point of my day was eating a late lunch and downing a local stout at the The George & Dragon pub which was voted Britain’s pub of the year twice since 2016. We received a warm welcome as did Prince Charles when he enjoyed a pint there.
Awards for sure
Once we got back on the trail we began to glimpse the town of Richmond ( population 8000) full of slate roofs backed by a gigantic tower which housed remains of an ancient castle
I’ve decided to take an alternate route today called the Swaledale Valley route. I’m passing up the high-altitude route where there’s absolutely nowhere to buy any food or drink all day which will be the opposite of my experience on the lower path.
In terms of history, lead has been mined in this area since at least Roman times and very possibly small scale mining back in the Bronze age. During medieval times lead was much in demand by the great churches and castles that would being built at that time.
Mining became much more organized and developed from the end of the 17th century leading to the industrial revolution. The invention of gunpowder blasting also increased production and during the mid-19 century England was producing over half the world’s lead.
I plan to further follow up on this history after I return home. I am particularly interested in learning about the lives of the workers who often stayed for a week or more in the mine and spent every daylight hour inside it. All of this industry ended at the end of the 19th century with the opening of mines in South America leading to cheaper imports sending many British mines into bankruptcy. Tourism today is highlighting some of the attractive old mining villages and the establishment of the Yorkshire Dales National Park is a bright light for commerce here.
Much of the walk today will be quiet and peaceful following the banks of the River Swale on a clear wide track.
River coming up
I plan to also take a detour to the town of Muker.
One of several Clear and wideStone walls etch the green carpetDowntown
Featured attractions will include the Swaledale Woolens shop, producing woven and knitted material from hardy Swaledale sheep wool. The shop employs over 30 home workers that are knitting jumpers, hats, sweaters, and many other items that suit this climate.
I will also check out the Old School Art Gallery and Café and will definitely visit the Muker Village Store and partake at the tearoom.
My destination today will be in Reeth, a village used as a location for many episodes of the 1980s Yorkshire TV series All Creatures Great and Small based on the books of the rural vet, James Herriot. There is a little museum here too which might take up an hour of my time.
I rolled into Reeth at the end of my hiking day totally knackered. This is the first day that it reached mid 70s and temperature and the air was quite humid. My Selection of a a Patagonia wool longsleeve base layer was not a good idea. Although the garment stayed dry all day despite steady walking I was a bit too hot. Sun was much more present today than it has been in previous days so bringing my chrome dome umbrella turned out to be an excellent idea. I didn’t get ribbed for it when I passed through a fellow who is doing some construction on a small stone building in his yard.
They first said, “Hey, it’s not raining today!”
I gave him some wise ass answer which wasn’t enough. He replied,” Put that thing away. It’s bad luck for you to be walking with that open umbrella. You’re gonna make it rain again here.”
We saw many more people today than on any previous hiking day. The broad and deep Valley, which we crossed infrequently contained no less than 50 passings through stone walls throughout the day, each one requiring squeezing through a narrow slot in the field stone fencing which prevent sheep from exiting their owner’s property boundaries.
It’s a thin man’s game
There was more road walking than usual today, on asphalt as well. My feet became quite sore as the day wore on.
Lovely rural walled garden
I really enjoyed my visit in the wool shop. Although I don’t knit. My mom Isabel did and I treasure the many styles of sweaters that she made for me. I store them all in a cedar chest. I love the whole concept of raising sheep, gathering their wool, producing yarn, and creating useful, natural garments that generally exceed anything plastic in durability, breathability, and general satisfaction.
We passed so many stone buildings here. Most were small barns That have been abandoned for sometime. They were formally made for cows, which are in the clear minority here in this land of many sheep.
Dozens of these were seen todaySheep rush
I had a serious sheep encounter today an hour from reaching the village. Just as I was passing a farm gate in a high stone wall , a big herd of sheep came rushing from a farm building making a beeline for the gate on this road. Two men driving ATVs flanked by two sheep dogs quickly drove down to the gate to contain the flock. After checking traffic they open another gator cross the street and then released the sheep who poured through the gap in the fence into a huge green walled acreage.
I chatted up the men a bit and think I won them over when I told them that my mom used to keep a flock of sheep on our dairy farm in the US. They told me that there was a big livestock auction coming up the first week in September nearby. I asked them if they were buying or selling. One of them told me that they were hoping to get a good price for 300 cheap they plan to sell. I also learned that a fully trained sheepdog can be sold for upwards of three thousand dollars here.
I’m made it here to my room upstairs at the Black Bull pub before 4 pm. Dinner will be downstairs at 6:30 arranged by three of my walking pals and I’m invited.
I feel settled since my lost plane luggage has been delivered to me. I’m more than half way through this highly enjoyable trek.
What a blessing it turned out to be. Today marks the day when we crossed the Pennines,including the watershed, on the Coast to Coast Trail from a high point of 2100 feet, all rivers flow eastward to drain into the North Sea. It’s also the day that we cross from the county of Cumbria into Yorkshire.
The day started with an immediate four-mile, 1500 foot climb over treeless terrain to the summit with the unusual name of Nine Standards Rig.
Taking a break on the ascent.
Going up right away.
From the top it looked easy with a gradual descent to 1000 feet and walking 9 miles to Keld.
Very big line of cairns.
World class hiking.
What happened was more difficult than we expected due to the numerous boot-sucking peat bogs decimated by legions of hikers who mucked up things even further and made it impossible to determine just which steps would result in the least amount of muck.
Three different options.
I hiked with Sean, Deb, and Ellko today. Ellko was in a better mood than usual due the fact that he was able to get all of his dirty clothes washed, dried, folded, and delivered to his room. However, it didn’t take him more than three hours to come down from the world of clean clothes to mud-spattered pants as he staggered and splashed through the first challenging peat bog.
No discernible path
Our guidebook was direct about the pitfalls, “ The path here is a different route, all but disappearing , the way marking minimal, and really only visible by someone with excellent eyesight on a clear day. And then there are the bogs themselves, were many a hiker has been injured and many more have lost boots, dignity – and even the will to carry on – in the moist, tenacious embrace of these silent dangers.”
The bog walk.
These miserable bogs extended from the summit 5 miles to Ravenseat Farm where a small food truck was set up in the most remote place imaginable, providing a delightful array of tasty goodies including my first totally satisfying experience with cream teas. When you order a cream tea you get a scone, copious butter, little cups of jam and whipped cream and a big mug of hot British tea with a backup pot of tea as well. Healthy? Probably not, but for a mucked up hiker it was so tasty and uplifting. I plan to stop for this treat anytime ahead that it is available.
Royal land of boggyness.
Less than an hour later, I descended into Keld, a tiny but extremely bucolic village of ancient stone buildings huddled against what is reported to be ridiculously and persistently difficult weather.
Main Street.
I chatted up the waitress at a tiny cafe here who informed me that the area was much more active even in the 19th century at the heart of a local lead – mining industry. Numerous waterfalls, or as they are termed forces, here dot the ravines flanking the village.
Accommodations are slim here in Keld. In fact, Deb and Sean were not able to get a room here . A taxi picked up and delivered them to accommodations in the next town where they had better luck. Unfortunately they’ll need another taxi to drive them back here in the morning so that they may continue on walking from where they left off.
I pulled into Butt House at 2:15 but was shooed away to the tea house down in the village where I had a tea and a shortbread while waiting 45 more minutes until I could check in at 3.
The Butt House.
I am very pleased to be in this ancient stone house. The heat is on, my wet socks are on the heated towel rack, the wifi is holding up, the bathtub big and deep, home-cooked dinner is at 7 downstairs and the view out my own single window is superb.
Although the walking mileage was high today the tread was so much easier, plus it didn’t rain all day. The terrain was basically expansive low rolling hills on grass and occasional sections over flat outcroppings of lime stone.
Easy going
We’ve left the numerous rivers and lakes behind and entered a world where sheep are the focus of agricultural life. As an aside, my youngest son Arlo recommended a book that puts the reader walking through the actual villages depicted in the book.
Excellent!
Uncannily, today was the first time that I had listen to the Auidobook and within five minutes was hearing about the auctions at Kirby Stephen, a town that I am now enjoying visiting from my room at the Hermitage B&B.
One of the high points of The day for me was visiting Robin Hood’s grave, marked by huge cairn in a shallow little valley in a location that befits legends.
Grave in foreground
I have also entered the Yorkshire Dales National Park which was further extended in 2016. I will leave the park for a brief while when I exit Kirby Stephen but will enter it again later when I will get my first chance to slog through some bogs.
World class hiking
Traveling with Vilks, Deb, Shawn, and Ellko we did better as a group than any one of us would have with navigational decisions. The Coast to Coast is not very well signed. I am thankful for Guthook’s Coast to Coast app, which has been 100% spot on in verifying that actual path.
It is so stunningly beautiful here. I grew up on a farm, surrounded by other farmers. If there is a heaven where old farmers go after they die it would be right here. The rare sunlight we have only accents the grandeur, casting shadows that dial up the contrasting shades of green and the vast expanses of purple heather extending in all directions.
Vastness
What’s it like to walk 20 miles in a day? It’s not that hard here, with few rocks or roots. You don’t have to pick up your feet too high as you step. There aren’t that many trees that you need to duck under or walk around.
The lack of trees also makes it easy to look far ahead or behind and verify your progress as you view other hikers either singly or in clusters moving about ahead and behind you. There is also a little reason stop to do things rather than just sit and rest. Other than taking a detour off the main trail to the tiny town of Orton, which I didn’t do, the only possible place to stop for a snack and drinks was a Sunbuggin, a locked up summer house with a little building nearby housing a fridge, kettle for boiling up tea and coffee, packets of chips pastries and candy bars done via payment on “an honesty basis”. Truthfully, you just try and walk briskly for a couple hours at a time. Stops need to be under 10 minutes, and each time today I did remove my trail walkers and socks came to dry any moisture in the warm sun.
Cattle style for walker passage
I was really tired though, by the end of the day and really enjoyed authentic Indian food at The Mango Tree. I was also asleep by 9 pm.
Day 5 Coast to Coast Trail in England. Patterdale to Shap- 17 miles
No way around it, I’m walking in temps in the 50’s and rain.
Today will be my last day in the Lakes region with the terrain challenging even under sunny skies.
From Stedman and Butler,” But the crags, knotts, pikes, and fells that have been your high – level chums for the past few days won’t let you go without a struggle. Be prepared to feel very tired at the end of this 15- 1/2 mile stage. The long climb up the Kidsty Pike, the trickily steep descent down to Haweswater and the undulating stage above the lake’s shore add up to well over 4400 feet of ascent. Together it all conspires to make the seemingly harmless spin down over field and farmland to Shapp enough to curse the very name of Wainwright. With no accommodation directly on the route nor, indeed, any shops, tea rooms or pubs, you have little choice but to grit your teeth and knuckle down….You won’t find many more truly wild places like this in the days to come…”
Normally, I would deploy my tested lightweight foul weather gear but Swiss Air lost my suitcase that was promised to be here yesterday but once again didn’t come. So my wool base and mid layers, Patagonia Storm rain jacket, Marmot Precip rain pants, rain mitts, dry bags, hiking poles and umbrella will be sorely missed. Instead, I’m heading out banking on just one mid-layer Ibex wool long-sleeve shirt under a cheap rain jacket that I bought here, light shorts, wool socks, and New Balance trail runners. I plan to beg or buy an umbrella from the folks running this hostel.
Fortunately, I have experienced hundreds miles of backpacking in the rain. I am encouraged that temps will be in the 50’s and know that as long as they don’t drop into the 40’s I should be able to generate enough body heat to ward off hypothermia, as long as I keep moving. Any stops today will be brief. I will need to eat snacks (including the fabled Kendall Mint Cake) hourly to generate calories.
I just can’t afford to have anything go wrong. I am carrying a fully charged Garmin InReach Explorer+ with full yearly subscription if I need satellite service to reach help. Just in case.
It’s times like these that it pays to have trained and done hard things. That plus developing the ability to maintain an Inner No to gloom and doom mental tales should get me through.
I also have The British Army as a travel buddy with me in the form of Vilks. We shared a room last night here at Crookabeck B&B.
I plan to eat tons for breakfast, drink at least a liter and a half and have snacks packed for easy access.
Today is also the real world of long distance walking. It’s not always fun. Misery is hard to embrace but it eventually passes.
(This next part of the post was written after today’s hike.)
I staggered into The Greyhound Hotel late this afternoon looking like a drenched wharf rat. It started raining about a half hour into our hike and continued to rain a little bit to a lot mostly all day long. There was considerable water in portions of the trail deep enough that everyone’s feet were soaked thoroughly whether they have boots or not. In addition to the rain the large gain in elevation during the day resulted in being placed in the jet stream area of the wind force. It took grit to keep moving today. A combination of 5 miles of ascending a 2500 foot Kidsey Pike in the proximity of the Irish Sea and the lack of any trees made for half a day’s worth of horizontally cool water plummeting our bodies, which were often negotiating sure steps through a morass of lubricated rocks, deep mud and peat pits. We also saw nothing other than storm-laden clouds that greatly limited views.
Descending was no walk in the park. The same treachery underfoot as above prevailed only worse, as you were more prone to slide. The middle section of walking was dealing with the rocky shoreline path on the edge of Haweswater lake.
At the end of the lake we exited Lake Country and entered the Yorkshire Dales including their new national park. We have left behind mountainous terrain and countless lakes and ponds. Now we are walking over gently undulating huge, broad, green fields of soft grass, punctuated by an astounding array of incredibly crafted, tall, ancient stone walls.
are we rollin’, Boss?
Ancient abbey, discontinued by Henry VIII
Four of us: Deb and her son Shawn, Vilks, and I functioned as a strong, supportive team in extensively walking under challenging conditions today. But tomorrow we have to walk the most miles yet. .
Three of the folks I’m hiking with and I stayed at the Skafell Hotel, a rambling big place dating to 1850. My room was luxurious, with a jacuzzi tub, and came with a huge English breakfast.
British breakfast
It was a 16 mile day with rain predicted to start at 3 pm.
I’ll needed to get up and over an immediate climb of 1750 feet.
Up and over
I put my discount rain jacket to the test. Although optional high routes were a possibility I traveled lower trails when I could, avoiding dangerous wet slippery rocks in limited visibility with compounding problems coming from windy gusts.
The signage here was poor with this warning from my guidebook, “This section is where some lose their way. The boggy ground and indistinct cairns obscure the correct direction even in ideal conditions. “.
My I-Ching hexagram yesterday was entitled “The Army” and referred to the cosmic army that fights in unforeseen ways against transgressions related to the ego.
I was counseled to take away the poison arrow we see as the culprit, and to refrain from blaming. Receiving this hexagram occurs when you feel defeated, engaged in a conflict, or viewing yourself as the victim. I might have found myself under attack by projections or fears initiated by the ego itself. An army must set forth in proper order. If the order is not good, misfortune threatens. I’m counseled to just say an inner “No” to these fears and ask helpers to assist me.
It is for this reason that I was blessed to be walking with Vilks again. As a professional soldier Vilks has cultivated excellent map reading skills. There were so many large glacial projections, countless small pond, lakes, rivers, and streams in The Lake District that good map reading skills are essential here, particularly in foggy dismal conditions. Vilks’ temperament is jolly and easy-going and he’s a good counterpoint to my continuously assailed ego over these past few days.
Yikes!
Yesterday unfolded as expected with an immediate long climb up and out of the village. Slow steady upstepping eventually brought us up to the top of our route at Gridsdale Tarn (2000’) when the spitting mist changed to real rain accompanied by strong gusts of wind.
Going up!Grisdale Tarn profile
I was in a rain jacket but my legs were bare in shorts. My meager gear was in a plastic bag in my daypack, enclosed in a rain cover, which Vilks retrieved after it was torn off my pack by a particularly strong gust.
Just as we passed the shorefront of the small body of water up top, which had standing waves coming directly at us, we encountered four fully-outfitted teenaged boys in full backpacking gear who were clearly in distress and wavering all over the trail an they hunched down and strained against the increasingly gals force, rain saturated winds. We shouted at them as they struggled past us and Wilks suggested they turn around and abort whatever ego driven mission pushed them onwards. Wilks told me that he planned to call Mountain Rescue when we got down to advise them of a potential rescue of the boys.
Rain continued to fall as we carefully wound our way down to the tiny village of Patterdale where I had a room waiting for me at the most excellent Crookabeck B&B.
Before I got there, I stopped for a hearty bowl of hot chili, rice, corn chips and a pint of bitter ale at the White Lion pub.
This is a superb lodging stop- I am in a newly renovated stone cottage, detailed to the hilt with stone and woodwork that is top notch.
I’m here for a rest day today as well. I am pleased that I built in a much needed break from 65 miles of steady foot travel over 4 days of challenging and now wet conditions.
Since I still don’t have my lost luggage yet I washed my cotton shirt and underwear in the sink last night and dried it on the heated towel rack in the bathroom.
As a side note, today was a day to call in the heavy artillery. In addition to the army (Vilks) a Cannon blast was requested from a friend living in London to assist me in getting back my lost suitcase. Her surname is Cannon and I reached out to her as a last ditch effort to retrieve my lost baggage. She prevailed and informed me that I should expect delivery at this B & B today.
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