C2C2

  DAY TEN - SHAP TO PATTERDALE (LAKE DISTRICT) Today and for the next few days we are in the Lake District, one of the most beautiful regions of the British Isles. We had another long day ahead of us and we needed to save enough energy this afternoon to climb Kidsty Pike, the highest elevation along the Coast to Coast at around 2500 feet.  The morning started with a steady rain as we navigated our way out of Shap, past Shap Abbey, across several farmers fields and finally along Haweswater Beck until we reached the village of Burnbanks.  After stopping for a quick bite to eat and gear change, we headed up and along the banks of the Haweswater Reservoir, a huge body of water that you will see in many pictures below.  It is one of the main sources of water for the city of Manchester.  Nearly 2 hours it took to hike the entire length of the Reservoir which brought us to the base of the trail up to Kidsty Pike.  And now….hiking straight up another 1500 feet of s...

  Day Nine - Kirby Stephen to Shap Today was a long, 21 mile slog through field after field with no discernible paths in many places and very little guidance from trail markers.  Maps, and in the end, GPS were our friends.  Amazingly, we hiked the entire day without passing through any villages or hamlets.  The rain and drizzle rarely let up today so we were in raincoats the entire day trying to navigate the fields.  We met a few hikers doing the coast to coast in the opposite direction and swapped stories on what was still to come. It was nearing 6:00 by the time we made it to our B&B in Shap and our feet and legs were ready for a rest and our bellies ready for food and drink!  Off to a pub down the street for another hearty meal with pints, G&T’s and a little wine.  Aleve, Ibuprofen and Robaxin were our after dinner treats before crashing into bed tonight.  Tomorrow is supposed to include our steepest and toughest climb yet. Stats today;...

  DAY EIGHT-KELD TO KIRBEY STEPHEN Today’s hike was somewhat of a milestone on the Coast to Coast for us as not only had we passed the half way point on the hike, we crossed the Pennine mountains, the so-called backbone of the British Isles at the watershed, where all rivers flow either eastward to the North Sea or Westward to the Irish Sea.  Until now we have been hiking westward through the county of Yorkshire but today we have entered Cumbria.  The hike started out in farmland and quickly moved into the boggy moors on the trek up the Pennine mountains to the “Nine Standards,” nine large Cairns at the top of the mountain with fantastic views of both Yorkshire and Cumbria.  The bogs certainly slowed down our pace but it was a relatively dry day so managed to hop through the boggy fields without getting to wet.  Read….mucky wet only up to our ankles! We stopped for lunch and took in the spectacular views from the top of the hill with the Nine Standards under sun...