Coast to Coast day 3: Rosthwaite to Grasmere

We awaoke to the sun breaking through. A good sign for the day ahead.

A promising morning ...sunshine

Our B&B, Knott's View in Stonethwaite, was very small. Only half of our party stayed there. The rest, six old "codgers" had stayed at a B&B about half a mile away ... and half a mile closer to the pub!


After breakfast we met the village telephone box which boasted not only a phone service but also texting and internet. There were mutterings of "if only we knew that yesterday". I'm not sure that I would have bothered. I had no phone signal so it was a communication free evening. I had managed to go through the photos I had taken on the first two days so that finishing the blog for day 1 and doing day 2 would be easier.

The walkers minus Sid, and Aussie who had managed to hurt his back before starting the walk, all duly met at the phone box and set out along a path along Stonethwaite Beck heading up the valley towards Greenup Edge Pass.

Eagle Crag - one of Wainwrights favourite climbs ... no, we did not do it!

Water babbling over rocks in the Beck

View back down the way we had come looking towards Stonethwaite at the bottom of the climb

At some stage we met with Greenup Gill. Our guide, an ex geography teacher, explained the difference between a beck and gill. Becks are creeks without significant falls. They can bubble and gurgle over rocks but no real falls. Gill have falls. Greenup Gill certainly had its share.

Greenup Gill

We had been crossing constant waterflows and bogs. This has been a dry summer. What would it be like in a wet one, I wonder.

From Lining Crag, one of the points along our upward climb, there are supposedly views across to the coast. If there were I missed them.

There was a range of interesting geological feature throughout the walk. The area had been carved out by glaciers during thebice age and there was evidence of all sorts of glacial activity from mounds to basins and scarred valley walls.

Along with the wet surface and bogs we had rocks, good when they were placed to help us through the wet and muddy stuff, stone steps and grassy slopes. Definitely varying conditions and always changing.

We took a short break when get got to greenup Edge Pass. There were photos all round.

From the pass we tended in a generally upwards direction aiming for a "prominent" feature on the ridge. Well, it is prominent when you finally get there but not from any distance. The feature was a pair of slender gate posts unattached to any fence.

We stopped for lunch in a sheltered spot just before the path divided to a high route and the low route.

Lunch ... note the sheep grazing behind us ... some black others lighter in colour

During the morning I managed to aquaint my right knee to the rocks I was supposed to be walking over. I was glad I was wearing long pants as I only had minimal additional damage to the knee that I had damed a few weeks back. In shorts it would have been a different story. Trevor had slipped and fallen on the previous day and was save by landing on his pack. I was pleased that I did not land on my pack as I am carrying Thingy in it and I would bein a real pickle if I damaged my computer.

Because we had had poor visability on day 2 and had not been able to see very far at all our guide, Dave, with the agreement of the group, elected to take the high route to Grasmere. According to Dave it was mostly downhill. Ture ... except for the uphill bits which were quite numerous and sometimes steep requiring scrambling (using hands as well as feet).

Trevor on one of the Ridgewalk crags

The Ridgewalk, otherwise known as the high route, went over a series of crags (peaks) before dropping sharply down into Grasmere, well near to Grasmere. We still had quite a walk to get into town once off the ridge.

The views from the Ridgewalk were spectacular and well worth the effort even if the body is not of the same view.

Lakes kept on appearing in the distance and as we rounded corners. I guess that is to be expected as this is The Lake District.

There is a whole string of lakes in the background. How many? Not sure

Near the end of the ridge there was a great view over Windermere, a place we had visited in 1981.

The bogs ... gunky and black ... here is a sample ...

Note the footprints in the black stuff

Day 3 was a short day. We did just a smidge under 16km with 760m of elevation gain.

In Grasmere we were staying at the Red Lion Hotel, part of the Best Western chain. we took advantage of their laundry facilities to wash our dirty clothes. I had two pairs of walking pants with black marks up to my knees.

Coast to Coast day 2: Ennerdale Bridge to Stonethwaite

The alarm went off at 6:30am. Bother. Did we really need to get up?

A quick look outside showed that the weather was not brilliant. The sky was overcast and the surrounding peaks were shrouded in low cloud. So much for the expected views.

After a good breakfast we headed off for the long hike to the Barrowdale Valley. We were to stay at a B&B in Stonethwaite, one of the small settlements in the valley.

Getting ready to leave the Shepherd's Arms

We began with a walk along the southern side of Ennerdale Waters. The walk was fairly flat with pleasant views across the lake. There were quite a few streams to be crossed and some parts of the trail took us well up above the water with some precarious tracks right on the edge of cliffs.

Trevor admiring the scenery

 

 

Trevor on the track around Ennerdale Waters

There was quite an array of plants around the lake. I was particularly taken by the heath. There were two differing shades in flower and sometimes the plants intermingled.

There were some lovely vistas across the lake:

We stopped for a morning break in a sheltered spot. I didn't carry a thermos of hot water as we were expecting to be at Black Sails YHA later in the morning and we expected to get a cup of tea there. It meant that our morning break was tealess.

Aound the edge of the lake there were numerous streams running down from the surround heights. Channels had been employed to direct the water and reduce erosion and help to keep the water in Ennerdale Water as clean as possible as it is used as the water supply for teh surrounding area.

One of the stone channels directing water into Ennerdale Water

On reaching the end of the lake we headed over a field to a bridge over the River Lisa.  The bed of the river was strewn with pink and blue rocks. It actually looked quite pretty.

Now for the first surprise of the day. We were tyo walk along the north side of the River Lisa only to discover that the track was closed due to forestry activity. After a bit of backtracking we followed the track along the south side of the river.

The weather remained overcast and the tops of the peaks persistantly remain shrouded in mist.

As we trudged along the track, it was actually quite pretty as it was through an area of forrest, I kept seeing some very large black slugs. they were huge. most would have been around 7cm long and a glossy black.

We finally crossed the River lisa and went on to Black Sail YHA in full expectation of toilet facilities and a cup of tea. Bother. The hostel was in the process of being renovated and was fenced off with workmen beavering away inside the fence and our party excluded.

No tea or toilets for us at Black Sail YHA

We found a sheltered spot a short distance away from Black Sail to have lunch before tackling the climb of the day. This was a very stiff climb up along Loft Beck up the step commonly known as "the steps of Hell".

The top was enveloped in mist with no views to speak of.

before we dropped down to the slate mining settlement of Honister where we were finally able to get a cup of tea followed by an icecream. On the track into Honister we observed a number of mines some of which are still operational although most are now closed. The scars of the mining activity are clear to see across the valleys.

From Honister I was expecting a short walk to our overnight stop. Hah! We walked on and on. I can tell you that I was pleased to finally come into sight of Stonethwaite only to have a further 1/2 mile or so to reach our B&B.

Unfortuantely for us, the pub almost opposite our B&B does not do food on a Monday so we had a very long walk to the nearest food outlet: Scarfell Hotel and Riverside Bar. At least the food was good. The walk back in the dark along the narrow road was a challenge however we had gone suitable equiped with torches. We were accompanied by the call of the sheep in the fields long the road and I am sure taht the locals were unimpressed that their livestock had been disturbed.

Aall up we did 22.62km plus our trip to the pub for dinner! The Elevation gain was 691m.

Coast to Coast day 1: St Bees to Ennerdale Bridge

We had a really nice dinner at the Queen's Hotel. Trevor had rabbit and I had a risotto.

We were planning on an early night as we had been up early and wanted to be up early on our first walking morning so that we could finish organising our bags and ensure that anything we don't need over the coming two weeks got put into the bag that is being sent direct to Robin Hoods Bay. Best laid plans ... yes we did hit the sack early but I didn't get much sleep. I seemed to toss and turn and worry about swimming things. Trevor also slept badly. This was not how we had hoped to start the walk ... tired and unrested.

We went down to breakfast shortly before 7:30am. There was a lot of options and choices available. After cereal I had scrambled eggs with toast and Trevor opt for a full english breakfast. There was orange juicce to start and plunger coffee. We were well fed.

After collecting our packed lunches, there are no reliable eating places on the route today, Sunday making life a little more challenging than weekdays.

We were ready to leave with our luggage duly delivered downstairs before 8:45am, our designated departure time.

Getting ready to leave ... Trevor eager to go

Once the whole group assembled we headed off to the start of the walk.

Statue of St Bega, who St Bees was named after, with the Priory Church in the background

There are a couple of traditions we needed to observe. Firstly, we needed to collect a pebble from the beach which we will carry across to Robin Hoods Bay and deposit there and then we had to dip our boot in the Irish Sea. Fortunately the tide was in and we were saved a long walk across the sand to reach the water. There were also photos, individual and group, in front of the starting point.

Stone collecting and toe dipping

Finally we were off.

A view over part of st Bees

The first part of the walk took us along the cliff tops alongside the Irish Sea. At time the narrow track was right on the clifftops with only grasses and plants as protection. Not for the faint hearted. The Isle of Man appeared ghost like out of the sea.

After walking north along the clifftop we finally turned inland and headed for the small settlement of Sandwith. Blink and you would miss it.

Next came Moor Row and Cleator, still fairly small settlements. We stopped for lunch between these two places on a disused railway line which has now been converted into a path. It was relatively sheltered, good after the buffeting we had had from the wind.

Along the paths we encountered quite a few kissing gates and the odd stile.

From Cleator we headed up Dent Hill, a climb of about 300m. Unfortunately there was low cloud which obscured the views of the surrounding peaks. Still we did get to see some lovely countryside.

Making our way up Dent Hill

Trevor at the carn that does not mark the top of Dent Hill ... but is near the top

Heading down from Raven Crag (hill)

How green is our valley?

From the summit of Dent Hill we traversed to Raven Crag (hill) and descended to the valley floor and the tricking Nannycatch Beck. A beck is a creek. We followed Nannycatch Beck for quite a distance. It was intersected by numerous streams of water flowing into it ... all of which needed to be crossed eother by stepping over the flow, stomping through it, using stepping stones or, occassionally, a bridge.

A bridge across Nannycatch Beck

Leaving the beck behind we followed the road into Ennerdale Bridge where we were spending the night at the Shepherds Arms Hotel. After a shower and change of clothes we headed down to the bar to join the rest of our group. This was followed by a really nice dinner at the hotel.

Arriving at the Shepherd's Arms

Along our route we saw and passed quite a few sheep. most were marked with dye. I suspect that this is an owners marking.

All up today we did 23.3km with an elevation gain of 755m and a loss of 749m.

Trevor and I both had a couple of sore spots on our feet. Hopefully the hikers wool will cushion them in the days ahead.

During the day we had had some very narrow paths, some barely as wide as a hiking boot. Underfoot we had stones, rocks, grass and the odd bog. The stones are certainly the hardest on our feet.

Heading to St Bees

Today we headed off to St Bees in preparation for our Coast to Coast walk.

When the alarm went off a 6 this morning I could cheerfully have rolled over and gone back to sleep.

After showering and dressing we headed over to Euston Station to get breakfast. There were a number of places open before 7 although the places doing cooked breakfasts were opening a little later. Today it was coffee and pastries.

Back to the hotel for a final pack and for me to process the results from the last of the winter development meets. I sent Trevor out to have a walk as he was getting under my feet.

Our train departed at 8:30 and we actually pulled out a minute early. Anto, that would never do in Switzerland, would it? On time ... not early!




On the run up to Lancaster we had reserved seats and we both had window seats, in separate rows. I spent the time doing swimming result processing before enjoying the countryside.




We had a half hour change over in Lancaster. It took time to change platforms dragging our luggage. A quick, well it should have been quick, purchase of lunch and the train had arrived for the next leg of our journey.

From Lancaster we seemed to hug the coast. There were inlets and estuaries along with salt marshes. Cliffs, hills and ridges abounded. There were castle ruins and the lighthouse dottted the landscape. Many of the ridges boasted wind turbines. The Brits have obviously embraced wind power.

There is a lighthouse on the top of the hill (according to Trevor)

 The train stopped at numerous settlements, chugged through others where no passengers were getting on or off and finally deposited us at St Bees.

We are staying at Stonehouse Farm, which is both a B&B and a working farm, which was only a stones throw from the station.

Stonehouse Farm B&B

Having dropped our bags we headed out to check out St Bees.

Looking towards the Irish Sea from a highpoint over St Bees

The local church has loads of history and we spent some time looking inside it and reading its history. We then headed down to the beach where our walk will officially commence tomorrow.

St Bees headland

Trevor at the starting point for the Coast to Coast walk ... we will be back here tomorrow

We stopped and had a cup of tea at a tea house overlooking the bay. Very pleasant. 

At 5 oclock there was a meeting of the walking party. There are 6 Aussies, 2 Americans and the rest are Brits. Most of the party are men in their 60s and beyond.

Tonight we will be eating at the Queens, just up the road from our B&B.