A personal journal recording and reflecting on my walks around the world.
Day 8 Keld to Reeth 12 Miles
Keld sits right in the heart of the Yorkshire Dales. If you are a long distance walker, the chances are you have passed by this village on your travels as it lies not only on the Coast to Coast Walk but also the Pennine Way. Keld is a quiet, settled kind of place. Visiting it is a bit like going to your grandma’s house when you were a child, it’s safe, comfortable and reassuringly unchanging. Continue reading “Coast to Coast Keld to Reeth”
Day 7 Kirkby Stephen to Keld 12 miles
We don’t often consider it, but sleep is a powerful healer. Despite going to bed shattered and aching, this morning I woke up feeling renewed, the throbbing legs were feeling better and I was ready to get moving along the trail again. Like yesterday, we had breakfast with Bob and Alan who had also spent the night in the hostel. Apart from the four of us, there were only two other guests, two lads who I heard coming in in the early hours, drunk, loud and laughing. Denise the warden said they went around the country dressed as Spiderman but their car had broken down so they were stuck in Kirkby Stephen! Sounds like the plot of a road movie to me. Continue reading “Coast to Coast Kirkby Stephen to Keld”
Day 6 Shap to Kirkby Stephen 20 miles
Had a leisurely breakfast catching up with Bob and Alan who were also staying at New Ing Lodge. Gwen and I left at about 10am and as we stopped off at the Co Op to buy our chocolate supplies for the day my eyes were drawn to the newspaper headline on the billboard outside which read, “Gales batter the Lake District!”. Gwen and I of course didn’t need to be told this news, we had lived (and walked) through it. Continue reading “Coast to Coast Shap to Kirkby Stephen”
Day 5 Patterdale to Shap 17-18 Miles
Overnight, Gwen and I had talked and we decided that if the wind was still strong to gale force today we wouldn’t be going over Kidsty Pike. Kidsty Pike, at 2,560ft is the highest point on the whole Coast to Coast walk and is on today’s route but the wind, although not as strong as yesterday was still blowing very hard this morning and having been blown off her feet yesterday, Gwen was in no hurry to repeat that experience and indeed it would be dangerous to do so. So over breakfast I had a good look at my newly purchased 1:25000 map and hatched a plan that would take us to Shap via Boredale, under Arthurs pike, onto Divock Moor and then down to Shap via Bampton. Continue reading “Coast to Coast Patterdale to Shap”
Day 4 Grasmere to Patterdale 8 1/2 Miles
Today turned into a very eventful day for what was meant to be a ‘short’ walking day. Chatted over breakfast in the hostel with Vanetta and Gabrielle and got to know them a bit and then Gwen and I walked into Grasmere for some supplies and some Ginger Bread before setting off at about 10.30am.