C2C Day 13 - July 26 - Glaisdale to Robin Hood's Bay - 19 miles

We made it! Today's walk included a variety of terrain from hiking through the woodlands of East Arncliffe and Littlebeck, the boggy moorlands of Sleights Moor and Greystone Hills, the pastureland, along the Esk and Littlebeck rivers and finally the coastal hike from High Hawsker to our final destination of Robin Hood's Bay. Other than the fells, it was like a summary of the entire trip on the final day. We passed through the beautiful village of Grosmont followed immediately by a 2 mile climb of 33 degrees. The day was sunny, hot and hazy and due to coastal fog, we were unable to see the North Sea until we were upon it. What a feeling as we reached the cliff tops for the final 3 miles into Robin Hood's Bay. We made our way down the steep steps of the village to the ocean and the traditional barefoot dipping and throwing of the 2 pebbles that we had carried from St. Bee's. This felt great to our tired, blistered feet! We then made our way to the Bay Hotel for a celebratory pint at Wainwright's Bar with Peter and Tish who finished at the same time as we did. (We had criss-crossed with them a number of times over the past few days).

This has been an amazing experience. As mentioned before, it was by far the most physically demanding thing that we have ever done. It was also the most fulfilling. We are now hooked on mutli-day walking but won't wait until our 50th anniversary for the next one. As they say, it was all about the journey and not the destination. We met a number of wonderful people - from fellow walkers to B&B hosts and locals and we have had great fun reading your comments of support. We hope you enjoyed the Blog and thank you for sharing the experience. Cheers!

PS: We are on our way to London for a couple of days, although we wish we could have stayed a few hours more to welcome Rachel, David and Shaun (who resumed the walk on painkillers after a day of rest and against doctor's and Mother's orders), upon their arrival at RHB.

Once we get back to Toronto, we will upload a few of the best photos of the walk taken with Peter's camera.

Littlebeck River

Robin Hood's Bay

C2C Day 12 - July 25 - Clay Bank Top to Glaisedale - 19 miles

After a wonderful send-off from the Sutcliffes, their daughter drove us back to where we left off the day before at Clay Bank Top. Almost immediately we began a climb up to Urra Moor - a desolate, windy and beautiful landscape. It was another gorgeous sunny day with very few clouds and we actually got sun burned. We walked five miles along an old abandoned railway track bed and on the way saw some of the best panoramas of the trip. We stopped for lunch at the infamous Lion Inn at Blakey Ridge and then plodded along for another 10 miles or so to the village of Glaisdale. Our feet our ACHING! Peter is hoping to get another day's worth on his blistered heels. We are relieving our pain at our home for the night - The Arncliffe Arms Inn and Pub where Marie has kindly allowed us to use her laptop to update the last 3 days. The end is in sight and we thrilled and sad at the same time.

Note to Michelle and Anniki - we'd love to meet you for coffee on Tuesday the 29th if you're available. Leave a cell number at the Marriott Renaissance Chancery Court.

Climbing Urra Moor

Ralph Cross - one of the Moorland Crosses

Trough House - an old shooting lodge

C2C Day 11 - July 24 - Ingleby Cross to Clay Bank Top - 12 miles

After yesterday's marathon section, today was a relatively short day, however when a day consists of only 12 miles, it usually means only one thing - climbing! In this case it was moors. The scenery has changed yet again and the moors are beautiful. We can only imagine what it will be like in a couple of weeks when the heather is in bloom. Today's height gain was 2545 feet and the climbing and descents were very steep. We climbed up and down several moors, until arriving at Clay Bank Top. It was a warm, partly sunny day and at one point, it was possible to see the North Sea (our destination) in the distance. Arriving in Clay Bank Top, we hitched a ride to our B&B in Great Broughton, owned by Len and Margaret Sutcliffe. Both are in their 80's and they have operated their B&B for over 30 years. What a delightful couple! Margaret prepared tea and home made scones and Len gave us a tour of his incredible flower gardens.

Hard to believe that we have only 2 days and less than 40 miles to go.

Arncliffe Woods

Scarth Wood Moor

Summit of Carlton Moor

The wonderful Mr Sutcliffe

C2C Day 10 - July 23 - Richmond to Ingleby Cross - 23 miles

At 8:30, we said good-bye to our great hosts, Gary & Lindsay, at Rosedale House. We happened to be at the same Indian Restaurant last night and they sent over drinks and dessert and then came over with the staff to sing Happy Anniversary.

In hindsight, 23 miles on the day of our anniversary, was probably not the best idea. We couldn't really recall why we had decided on this routing. Must have been due to the fact that this stretch was almost entirely agricultural and flat. It was very hot, over 80 degrees F, and thankfully we didn't have direct sun all day. By the time that we arrived at Park House B&B, at 6:15 PM, the Champagne on ice was a welcome surprise. We could barely make it for dinner to Di's specialty of Steak and Ale Pie - which was great. After watching the sun set, we were so tired that instead of trying to re-create our wedding night, we settled for foot massages! (Yeah right!).

We are in the North York Moors National Park and are looking forward to what tomorrow brings.

Note to Jonathan and Anne - Thanks so much for the card received on arrival at Park House. Looking forward to seeing you in London.

Lunch at the White Swan in Danby Wiske

Water tower in Ingleby Cross

Our anniversary dinner

C2C Day 9 - July 22 - Reeth to Richmond - 11 miles

Another fairly easy day today. Not as sunny as yesterday, but another beautiful day with no rain. Walked along the Swale valley for a bit and through the villages of Marrick and Marske as well as through Whitcliffe Wood. Today's scenery looked a lot like what we have in our native New Brunswick. We had dinner last night in Reeth with Rachel and David (father and daughter walkers who are great fun). We were sad to learn from them that our friend Shaun's knees gave out and he was forced to suspend his C2C walk. We know how disappointed he must have been.
We are now in the larger town of Richmond at the public library after visiting the Market Place, Richmond Castle and Georgian Theatre Royal. We will be in bed early tonight since we have a long day tomorrow - 23 miles. What a way to celebrate the day of our silver anniversary!

Note to Shaun: Sorry to hear the news. We had hoped that you had taken the valley route to Reeth instead of the high level. Looking forward to seeing you at the pub in High Hawsker on Saturday.

C2C Day 8 - July 21 - Keld to Reeth - 12 Miles

We woke up to sunshine and beautiful blue skies and a gorgeous view of Swaledale from our room at Keld Lodge. We must be getting better at this since a 12 mile walk felt like a light day (we did take the low level valley route). We are now in the Yorkshire Dales National Park and the scenery has changed once more. Lush green rolling hills, meadow land, farms with stone barns, miles of stone fencing and the beautiful Swale River which we were never far from all day. It is a very dark brown/reddish colour due to the peaty soil in this area. Had a great lunch at the Punch Bowl Inn in Low Brow, a small village of 20 or so buildings where we watched the cows meander down the road at their leisure. We arrived early in Reeth, checked in to The Cambridge House Country Inn and updated our Blog. Now we are off to one of three pubs in town for dinner and a pint (or two)!

East Gill Force, Keld

Swaledale (Swale Valley)

Swaledale

Peter going through one of many squeeze stiles

Swale RiverThe village of Gunnerside
Lunch at the Punch Bowl Inn

C2C Day 7 - July 20 - Kirkby Stephen to Keld - 12 Miles

You've probably noticed that our posts have become shorter and less detailed. There are two reasons for this 1) we've had to rely on the generosity of our B&B hosts and since it takes a fair bit of time to upload pictures, etc. we've tried to keep it short and 2) exhaustion after a long day of walking! As well, we have only been uploading the pictures from Francine's camera. Peter's photos (larger files to upload) will come later.
Today was a welcome break at only 12 miles. We hiked up to Nine Standards Rigg which is the so called watershed of England (water flows either west to the Irish Sea or east to the North Sea - sort of like a continental divide). However, crossing miles of boggy, peaty moors (hilly swamps in a barren landscape), we felt like all of the water was simply staying up there. Worst day for the boots yet! This was the first day that we had no rain but the wind on top was biting and cold. We walked today's whole section with Sean, our new friend from Northern Ireland, and the conversation enriched the day. Arriving in Keld, we had a pint at our B&B (Keld Lodge), to celebrate reaching the half-way point!
Some Observations:

• Peter has a couple of blisters but is keeping them in check with second skin and blister pads.
• Francine's scraped knees (from a day 2 tumble) is healing well.
• We must be burning off the calories because we have been polishing off pretty significant evening meals.
• Sticky Toffee pudding is our new favourite desert.
• Our boots are looking quite disgusting at this point - thank goodness for drying rooms found at most places that we have stayed at.
• Initially we tried to avoid sheep/cow droppings, now we just don't care!
• Peter now knows how to recognize stinging nettles (a weed), after a major encounter led to a sleepness night of burning legs!
• The black slugs found everywhere are huge!
• Days are incredibly long. Sunrise is at 5:00 AM and it is still light out long after we go to bed at 10:00PM.
• We go to bed every night exhausted and sleep like babies.
• This is by far the most challenging thing that we have ever done and we are loving every minute of it!

Note to Barry and Jane - re: Roys, our middle names are Thomas and Lynne.
Note to Pat - The Lake district fells make the Boulder Flatirons look like child's play!
Note to Louis and Lise - you would love Geo-caching along this route.

Thanks to all of you for your comments. They help keep us motivated.

Kirkby Stephen

Nine Standards Rigg

Sean and Peter

Peat bogs everywhere - a real challenge to negotiate

Moorland

Near Ravenseat Farm

One of many stone barns used to store hay and shelter cattle and sheep

C2C Day 6 - July 19 - Shap to Kirkby Stephen - 21 miles

What a long day! We figured a 21 mile walk would be pretty straightforward. Wrong again! Although not as hilly, it was definitely an endurance test. Rain poured down on us a couple of times through the moorlands. The landscape is very different although just as beautiful. After leaving at 9:30 am and stopping for lunch in the beautiful village of Orton, we arrived at the Old Coach House BB at 7pm - dog tired. Thanks to our wonderful hosts, Derek and Betty Rome, we have been able to quickly update you. Hopefully, by tonight we will have reached the half-way point.

C2C Day 5 - July 18 - Patterdale to Shap - 16 miles

OK - so those that say Day 3 or 4 are the toughest - lied. What a long day this was. We left Patterdale at 9 am and immediately started our ascent all the way up and over the High Street range. The height gain for today was 2500 feet and we crossed over Kidsty Pike, the highest point crossed on the C to C walk. Even though we had a beautiful view of Bannerdale Valley, unfortunately the summit was covered by cloud and mist and we were a bit disappointed not to be able to see the view from the top. After a steep descent we walked at least 4 miles along the Haweswater Reservoir and through some wonderful country, finally arriving in Shap at 7pm. We were so tired that we barely made it to the closest pub for dinner.

Leaving Patterdale

Angle Tarn

At the summit near Kidsty Pike

C2C Day 4 - July 17 - Grasmere to Patterdale - 8 miles

Woke up to a rainy day. After updating our blog we set off for Patterdale around 11am, knowing it would be a shorter day. The ascent was long and difficult, and we climbed steadily for 2 hours in the rain. Foot placement was always important as the rocks were steep and slippery. Once at the top we viewed Grisedale Tarn (a beautiful mountaintop lake). The weather improved for our descent down the valley into the village of Patterdale. Our B & B (Wordsworth cottage) was built in 1670 and we had a small but very charming room. We had dinner at the White Lion Inn and Pub where we met up with other Coast to Coasters we'd encountered along the way. Sean (a retired policeman from Northern Ireland), Walt and Pat (a retired couple from Virginia - what an inspiration Pat is for us. She's keeping pace on two artificial knees!), Michelle and Annike (young investment bankers from London doing the first 5 days of the trail), Penny and Marilyn (two friends from Britain who started with us at St Bees and who are doing a portion of the trail). Coast to Coast hikers tend to look out for one another along the way. It's been terrific bonding with others who share a common goal.

Leaving Patterdale