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Coast to Coast

July - August 2019
Val and Bob are hiking Wainwright’s 300 km Coast to Coast Trail, passing through three National Parks: the Lake District, Yorkshire Dales and North York Moors. Read more
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  • Coast to Coast

    Leaving Toronto for Edinburgh

    July 23, 2019 in Canada ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    Getting ready to leave Toronto for Edinburgh. The trip is uneventful so far apart from the torrential rain when we left the house. Luckily it stopped when we arrived at Whitehorse airport.

  • Coast to Coast

    First Day in Edinburgh

    July 24, 2019 in Scotland ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    We arrived in Edinburgh at 6:50 am local time. So we’ve had a whole day here of being jet-lagged. We are staying at Motel One which is right on Princes Street by Waverley Station and only £120 per night for double accommodation. We spent the day wandering around shops. In the afternoon we visited the “Royal Mile” leading to Edinburgh Castle. It is buzzing with crowds of tourists and lined with touristy shops. So we hightailed it back towards our hotel and had a nice dinner at the Standing Order pub. The food and drinks were good and pretty cheap. The dollar trading around 1.65 per pound really helps. Hooray for Brexit! A pint of beer on tap was around $4.50 Canadian and comes free with fish and chips if ordered before 5. We’re going to bed early tonight as we’re currently like the walking dead. Tomorrow is supposed to bring possibly the hottest day ever recorded in the UK (39 C in London) and it’ll be hot here too.Read more

  • Coast to Coast
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    Last Day in Edinburgh

    July 25, 2019 in Scotland ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    It got up to 31 degrees today in Edinburgh with sun. We had a bit of a late start with the jet lag. We decided to do a short hike up to Arthur’s seat in the morning before it got too hot. It was also a bit of a trial run, to make sure we had brought what we needed for the Coast to Coast hike. There were lots of people already on the hiking trails at 10 in the morning. We got to the top and then came down via Whinny hill, which was a lot less busy. Heather was in full bloom. We then hiked up to the Observatory on Calton Hill, past the Burns Monument, and then walked back to the hotel to shower and cool off. In the afternoon we looked for and bought a new pair of hiking poles for Val. To take advantage of the spending opportunity, Bob bought two light hiking shirts. We had dinner at the same place as last night as we are still tired and the prices were pretty good. An early night tonight and then the train to St Bees tomorrow. Forecasts are calling for thunderstorms and rain for the weekend. We’re not sure what’s better - extreme heat or extreme rain and lightening?Read more

  • Coast to Coast
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    On to Saint Bees

    July 26, 2019 in England ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

    We left Edinburgh today. We caught the Virgin Train to Carlisle, traveling First Class (for the first and last time this trip). We then transferred to a regular two-coach train that rattled its way to St Bees. This is the start of the Coast to Coast walk. From here you can see the Isle of Man out in the Irish Sea. The place we are staying at is part of the old railway station. Friday is a busy day here. The workers at the Sellafield nuclear fuel decommissioning plant come into St Bees to party. Luckily today isn’t pay day. It’s strange to see them carrying full mugs of beer out of one hotel and heading down the street to the next hotel. We had a huge dinner at the Manor House restaurant. The portions are big here and we figure that we may not be able to finish this walk if we get too fat and heavy along the way.Read more

  • Coast to Coast

    St Bees to Ennerdale Bridge

    July 27, 2019 in England ⋅ 🌧 15 °C

    We left St Bees after touching the Irish Sea and taking a small stone which we plan to leave on the other coast. It was grey but not rainy. The first few hours were along the top of the cliffs on St Bees Head. There were lots of birds offshore and cows on shore. The cliffs are protected as a bird sanctuary by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, or RSPB. Some of the Path was in high grass and shrubs. We turned inland at an old sandstone quarry. Red sandstone is quite common around here - apparently sandstone from this quarry was used in the past in buildings in Canada! After turning inland, the path skirted several small villages, with many twists and turns so that we had to watch the gps route carefully. We counted on finding somewhere to eat along the way but nothing was open and so we had to settle for the granola bar we bought in Edinburgh. It’s a good way to lose weight though. After this it started raining more heavily. We had to follow a diversion at Cleator Moor over Flat Fell. There really was no path on the way down but we followed the gps and rejoined the original path. By the time we got to Ennerdale Bridge we were pretty wet. Fortunately our B&B was right at the entrance to town and doubly fortunate there was a coffee and tea shop right beside it that was open! We each had two large lattes and scones. Tonight we are having dinner at the Fox and Hound pub. It is looking very wet for tomorrow. The area we are heading into has the highest rainfall in the UK - an average of 4.7 meters of rain a year (4 times Vancouver’s average).Read more

  • Coast to Coast
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    On to Rosthwaite via the Haystacks

    July 28, 2019 in England ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C

    We left Ennerdale Bridge after a nice breakfast. We were all decked out for rain but although it was misty and the clouds were low, it was dry. As the day went on it got brighter and so somewhere at the end of Ennerdale Water (Lake) the sun broke through and we could see the mountains. The walk along Ennerdale Water, and further up the River Liza valley, was fairly flat but with nice views. Given the good visibility we decided to go off the Coast to Coast route and do a side hike up to Haystacks. A good trail led to Scarth Gap where we had our packed lunch. Then it was a scramble to the top of Haystacks. We then dropped down to Innominate Tarn. This was Alfred Wainwright’s favorite tarn in the Lake District and his ashes are spread there. He was the writer of the famous guide books to the Lake District and creator of the Coast to Coast Walk. We carried on to Blackbeck Tarn and then to an old slate mine with a slate building. Past this point we met up with the Coast to Coast Trail again. Further on, the active Honister Quarry is operating with a cafe and souvenir shop that sells things like slate coasters and slate house numbers. We had a cold Coca Cola there, which was great! Itwas a long walk down from the slate mine to our hotel in Rosthwaite. We are staying at the Scafell Hotel. It’s an 19th century hotel and has been a centre for the mountain walkers for many years.Read more

  • Coast to Coast
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    High Route to Grasmere

    July 29, 2019 in England ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C

    We left Rosthwaite after breakfast with our rain jackets on, after it rained all night last night, but soon enough took them off when the rain stopped. We walked past Stonethwaite up to Lining Crag. The path was very wet with water pouring down it from all the rain. I don’t know if the path was built first or if the stream was there first, but they’re both in the same place now. We were up to our ankles in water at times! We eventually got to the pass, where we wrung out our socks and had lunch. From there you can then either descend into Far Easedale Gill to Grasmere or choose the “High Route”. We chose the latter and walked along several nice craggy hilltops with spectacular views. The day had turned quite clear, by that time. There were quite a few other walkers on the route, and many with dogs. We met one particularly nice “Patterdale Terrier” (a breed that originated in the town we will be staying at next). We got to Helm Crag and then descended the steep path to Grasmere. We checked into Heidi’s Grasmere Lodge, got cleaned up and then went for drinks and a mackerel fish dinner. We bought a lunch for tomorrow. We took a day off the Coast to Coast to try and climb Scafell Pike, England’s highest mountain. We have arranged a taxi to take us to the Scafell Pike Trail Head at 9:30 am tomorrow morning. Stay tuned.Read more

  • Coast to Coast
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    Scafell Pike

    July 30, 2019 in England ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

    We took a day “off” walking the Coast to Coast Trail today and spent it getting up Scafell Pike, the highest mountain in England. We’ve managed now to do the three highest mountains in England, Scotland and Wales (the three peaks). This one today was probably the hardest due to a combination of distance (from our trail head to the summit), difficulty of the trail (wet rock and loose scree) and weather. The day ended up being around 28 km round trip and 2000 meter elevation gain with lots of rain. From start to finish it was 9 hours.
    We took a cab and started from the old Dungeon Ghyll hotel in the Great Langdale Valley. When we got to Esk Hause three hours later the trail split, and we headed towards Scafell Pike. There is a large boulder field to navigate and then you come out of it looking over a 150 meter drop before you can climb up again to the summit all of which involves lots of loose scree and boulder hopping. We took a different route back via the Corridor route as it looked like easier footing. The footing was easier but it was longer and there were a few spots where you had to use handholds to get around steep sections. It started to thunder and rain and then we had steady rain for the last three hours hiking down to where we started. We caught the last bus with ten minutes to go and made it back to Grasmere. We went for a nice dinner and are now in our room with sore feet and knees and thinking that we’ll never finish this Coast to Coast unless we stop doing these mountain side trips.    Read more

  • Coast to Coast

    Grasmere to Patterdale

    July 31, 2019 in England ⋅ 🌧 16 °C

    We had a relatively short walk today; only 14 km but a 550 m elevation gain and drop over a pass. There were beautiful views along the way. It was a wet day and we got pelted with rain in the last half of the walk. When we arrived in Patterdale we went into the White Lion pub.. There were towels by the entrance for patrons; first time I’ve ever seen that. So we sponged ourselves off, ordered drinks, and relaxed until our B&B opened. We’re staying at the Old Water View (which used to be the Ullswater View until the trees around it grew up and blocked the view). It was a favorite haunt of Albert Wainwright, the guide book writer, and there is a page from a 1944 guest book signed by him, his wife and son. it also has a great drying room. We had dinner back at the White Lion and sat with Andy and Anne, from Whitehaven, who are staying here on a short fell-walking trip. Then we came back to the B&B and watched a Julia Bradbury video of the Patterdale portion of her Coast to Coast walk.Read more

  • Coast to Coast

    A Rest Day

    August 1, 2019 in England ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    We stayed in Patterdale today in order to take a break before we go on to the next stage. After a nice breakfast we took the bus into Penrith. We spent the day looking in shops, going to the visitor centre and museum, and stopping for tea and lunch. It poured rain at one point but it was short lived. Tonight we went back to the White Lion in Patterdale for dinner and drinks. We’re now back in our room getting ready for tomorrow - it will be a long walk of over 24 km with 900 m ascent and descent.Read more

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