Day 2: The Calm Before the Storm

August 26, 2024: When I woke, it was still raining, so I took my time getting ready for the trail. I delayed my departure until 9:30 at which point the rain had finally stopped.

The first obstacle for the day was Dent Hill, the first big climb of the trail. Unfortunately, there was fog at the top so no views to be seen, and the downhill side was stupidly steep. With the recent rain, it was also very slick, wet and slippery and thus very slow going.

Wet, wet trails this morning!

 

I stopped for a half hour or so at The Gather in Ennerdale Bridge where I ordered a ham and cheese panini for lunch, and then pushed onward to Ennerdale Water.

The official Coast to Coast route veered around the south side of it, but my guidebook and a few locals suggested that the route around the north side of it was a lot easier and nicer without all the rocks and water on the trail that was found on the south side. With no reason to make things any harder than they needed to be, I took the easy route around the north side.

Hiking along the lake was nice, but then the trail followed a gravel road away from it and mostly through trees until I reached the YHA Black Sail. By that point, I had already completed a full 15 miles and was happy to call it quits, so I hoped that perhaps I could get a bed at the hostel there.

Nobody who worked there seemed to be around, but others who already had reservations that were there said that this particular hostel is the most remote and popular of the entire system and the beds there tend to sell out months in advance and therefore it probably wouldn't have space. Not to mention that another thru-hiker without a reservation had hoped to stay there as well. (He was actually the same fellow I first met yesterday with the hat that blew into the creek.)

YHA Black Sail hostel

 

Figuring I wouldn't be able to stay, I ate a quick snack then pushed onward over a thousand foot pass. I wasn't overly disappointed about having to push onward since it meant that I wouldn't have to do it tomorrow when the weather was expected to be a lot worse.

Near the top of the pass, I caught up with a group of half a dozen hikers from California who I chatted with for a few minutes before passing them by. They were walking too slow for my taste. I was anxious to find somewhere indoors to spend the night to avoid the storm expected to blow in during the night, but I had no reservations and my phone had no signal to check for availability ahead.

A little further along, I passed the Honister Slate Mine which had sculptures made out of slate decorating the area and, as it turns out, they give tours. I was captivated! I'd never been in a slate mine before! I want to go! But it was far too late in the afternoon. They had already closed for the day and had probably been closed for hours already. I could only admire the slate artwork installed outside.

Bird made out of slate! How cool is that?!

The next hostel was right next door to the slate mine, however, so I hoped I could get a bed there and maybe take a mine tour the next day, but when I went into the hostel to inquire about it, I was told that it this hostel had to be rented in its entirety. Not just a bad, but the whole building! What kind of stupid hostel is that?! Apparently, they started doing this during COVID times and never went back to renting by the bed.

Anyhow, dejected, I pushed onward, annoyed at that unexpected problem. 

The trail became horribly wet and often went through ankle-deep water that could not be avoided. One tricky area even had chains alongside on riverbank just to spite us, I'm sure.

I finally reached the YHA Borrowdale, another hostel, and walked in to inquire if they had any beds available. I still could not get any sort of cell signal to check ahead of time, so I had no idea what to expect, but happily, they had one bed left in the men's dormitory, and I booked it in a heartbeat. Finally, I could stop for the day! And after 20.2 miles (according to my GPS), I was definitely ready to stop.

YHA Borrowdale would finally be my destination for the night!

 

This actually put me back on my original schedule I had set for myself when I started the trail after cutting the day short yesterday, but I'd fall behind schedule again tomorrow because I had reserved a spot at this very hostel for tomorrow night. I didn't really expect to reach it today, but since the weather forecast called for horrendous weather tomorrow, I wouldn't mind a zero day in the end. Even if it did put me behind schedule again....

I wound up chatting with other hostel residents in the common area, mostly chatting with Paula, a bicyclist who had just finished the Hadrian's Wall bike route, and Gopal, a fellow from India. Another person also happened to mention that there was actually a bus that went from a stop near the hostel to the slate mine.

"Really?!" I exclaimed. "That sounds like something I could do for tomorrow! Especially if it's going to be raining all day anyhow! Perfect!"

Everything was working out really well.....

Then, late in the night, I headed to my bed to get some sleep with dreams of visiting the slate mine tomorrow!

 

Cleator looked like one of the most depressing British towns I'd ever seen. (Sorry to anyone who lives there!)

This might look like a creek, but I think it's the trail!

 

Dent Hill was an annoying climb!

 

 

View from Dent Hill, a bit below the summit. (Since the summit itself was covered in fog and there were no views.)

 

Not sure about the name of this place, but I do like the drawing of the hiker! =)

You can tell we're getting into the heart of the Lake District with all these mountains!

Ennerdale Water

I hiked the north side of Ennerdale Water.

Stile on the trail

The Honister Slate Mine

More slate art pieces

I was so disappointed that the slate mine had already closed for the day... at least until I realized that I could come back on a bus and visit it tomorrow! =D

Day 1: Beginning the Coast to Coast Walk--an ominous start!

August 25, 2024: The weather in the morning was dark and moody. It wasn't raining, but it looked like it certainly could rain at any moment, and the wind whipped around strongly. I checked the weather forecast and fortunately, no rain was expected until after 2:00 in the afternoon, so I decided to start the day early, hike hard, and pull off 15 miles and make it to camp by 2:00 and beat the rain.

The official western terminus of the Coast to Coast Walk

 

I quickly ate breakfast, packed up camp and walked out to the official start of the Pennine Way a mere 5 minute walk away. A large monument marked the starting point, and I took photos of it but there was nobody around to ask about taking a photo of it with me, but that was always optional.

I walked down to the bay to swirl my feet in the shore's water. Just a very shallow area--enough to get the bottom of my shoes wet but not so deep that my feet would actually get wet. I had to hike, after all! Dry feet are better for walking. =)

Dipping my shoes in the Atlantic Ocean

Then I started hiking. The trail passed by the campground where I had spent the night, then climbed a steep slope to the top of a cliff towering over the shoreline.

The first couple of hours were a nice change of pace since the trail followed the scenic shoreline north along that towering cliff.

Then the trail veered inland to make its way across Northern England.

I checked the weather forecast again, and was alarmed to see it had changed dramatically--now it showed that rain was expected to start before noon! Seriously? What the heck? How could the forecast have changed so much in just the last two hours?! There's no way I could pull off 15 miles before noon at this point. I would have needed to start hiking a couple of hours earlier!

There wasn't much I could do about that, however, and I pushed onward.

The trail passed under a railroad bridge that I realized was the same bridge I would have traveled over when I rode the train into St. Bees.

I also ran into my first fellow thru-hiker of the trail just on the other side of the railroad. He was an older gentleman, a bit overweight, and he was taking a break. He seemed surprised when I showed up. Actually, I think he was more surprised that he hadn't seen anyone else until I showed up.

"Well, it is pretty early in the morning," I told him. "Not everyone is ready to leave the comfort of their lodgings for this rather cold and bleak weather!"

He had a relatively fancy hat that resembled a hat that I would imagine a Texan would wear to a party that required dressing up. Kind of a cowboy hat, but a fancy cowboy hat--although the guy didn't really give off cowboy vibes. It seemed like a strange choice for a thru-hike, though. It didn't appear to be collapsible or up for weathering the elements.

He explained that the hat had blown off his head in a gust of wind and fell into the nearby creek, so he was trying to dry it out.

Yes, the wind was an annoyance. It wasn't the worst wind I had experienced on the trail, but it was enough of a nuisance that I had to use the strap under my chin so the same fate wouldn't happen to my own hat.

We talked for a few minutes before I continued onward. I really want to get in my 15 miles before the rain started in the afternoon! I knew that was unlikely at this point, but at least I could get in as many miles as possible before the rain started in earnest.

It did not help my goal when I missed a turn in the town of Moor Row and wound up walking a quarter-mile in the wrong direction. The trail followed a road, and being such an obvious path, I stopped checking my GPS regularly and didn't realize that I needed to veer off it. Eventually I realized my error and backtracked, but by then, the first spits of rain had started. It wasn't heavy, but it was a warning. The rain was near.

I was nowhere near my destination for the day. I cursed the weather gods but pushed onward.

A bit later, the rain started picking up into a very aggressive drizzle and I finally pulled out my umbrella. The trail passed by a church with a sign saying that hikers were welcome to stop in, and a second sign that welcomed visitors for church services every 2nd and 4th Sunday of the month at 11:00am. 

It was, I had noted, a Sunday and a little after 11:00am, but off the top of my head, I wasn't sure what Sunday of the month it was. There was, I figured, a more-or-less 50/50 chance that a church service was currently in progress.

Still, wanting to get out of the rain and consider my options, I walked through the cemetery to the church and as I approached the entrance, I heard organ music drifting out. It was, I thought, definitely the 4th Sunday of the month. 

I sat down on a bench outside of the church under the protective cover of the entrance, and pulled out my phone and guidebook trying to figure out what I wanted to do now.

The bench under the overhang was a nice place to stop and figure out what I wanted to do next. =)

I noticed that the Ennendale County House Hotel was located about a half-mile further up the trail, and they had space available for the night at a reasonable (albeit more than I prefer paying) price. But checking the most up-to-date weather forecast, it called for a steady rain the rest of the day. If I kept hiking, it was going to be utterly miserable. Not far ahead was also a steep hill that my guidebook seemed to suggest might be best going around if the weather was particularly bad. While I had no doubt the weather could be much worse, a steady rain with strong winds wasn't exactly ideal, and the hotel looked like the smart option.

With that decided, I headed off to the hotel, arriving at about noon. I was wet from the rain but hadn't been walking it in it long enough to be thoroughly soaked. Not yet, at least! Check-in time for the hotel was 3:00, but I figured if a room wasn't ready right away, I could probably just hang out in the attached bar/restaurant until it was. Either way, I was done hiking in the rain for the day!

There was a room available, however, so I went to it immediately. I had completed barely half the miles I had planned for the day, but for once, that least weather forecast was accurate and it had rained steadily--often times quite hard--the rest of the afternoon and it lifted my heart every time I looked out the window and was grateful to be indoors. Poor suckers that had to hike in that weather.... *shaking head* That could have been me!

Home, sweet, home for the night. My room was the one on the second floor on the far left. =)

The room, much to my surprise, included a bathtub and with nothing better to do all afternoon, I made myself a bath and soaked in it for an hour or two.

After cleaning up, I put on my camp clothes and headed down to the hotel restaurant where I ordered a burger, salad and fries for dinner. The burger was a bit plain, so I put some of my salad in it to give it a bit more texture and taste. =)

Then I just relaxed the rest of the evening reading my Kindle and watching Netflix and YouTube videos on my phone. Living the good life!

Looking back at St. Bees from the cliffs. It was low tide when I left!

Lighthouse near (but not ON) the trail.

The trail went by an active quarry, which is actually where red stone for some of the structures in Carlisle came from (such as the Carlisle Castle and Citadel).

Coast to Coast walker memorial!

Day 5: The End of Hadrian's Wall....

August 24, 2024: It rained a bit during the night and the clouds were ugly in the morning, but I had about 16 miles to finish the trail and with only a few buses the whole day between the end of the trail and Carlisle, I was determined to finish in time to catch--at the very latest--the 5:00pm bus back. I was slackpacking so it was absolutely essential that I didn't get stuck at the end with no way back!

Consequently, despite the ugly clouds, I put on my daypack and hit the road at about 7:00am. I left my full pack with the clerks manning the front desk since I knew I wouldn't make it back before checkout time. I just had too many miles to do to make it back before checkout time, so I checked out and asked them to store my bag for me while I was gone.

Carlisle Castle

 

I took a slightly different route out of town than the one I followed into town to see other landmarks and artwork. It did sprinkle a bit, but only briefly and very lightly, but later in the afternoon it actually cleared up nicely. It was fortunate that the rain wasn't heavier since I still had not had a chance to replace the thrashed umbrella from the storm a few days ago. I had looked for one at a couple of stores in town but came up empty. Why are they hiding them from me?!

Anyhow, although the rain during the night was relatively light and all but non-existent in the morning, the trails were still severely wet and muddy from the biblical floods yesterday morning, and it was at the edge of town where I came to my biggest water obstacle so far. The trail headed through an underpass of a large highway, and it was completely and utterly flooded. The water was murky enough that I couldn't even tell how deep it was, so I started wading into it. First up to my ankles, then up to my knees. I soon found myself with my crown jewels in danger of being flooded and not knowing how much deeper the water would become, I veered off up a side road, climbed a hill to the highway surface, dashed across the highway (probably illegally), then down the other side around the flooded area.

This is the flooded section of trail that required me to scramble up the bank to the highway and back down the other side. The water was just too deep! By the time I reached that fingerpost behind the fence in the photo, I was nearly up to my waist in water. So I veered off trail to the left and up and over the highway bridge rather than continue straight and under the bridge.

 

Other than the water issues, the trail was relatively flat and easy the whole day, and I made good time along it. The trail passed by a couple of more honesty boxes, but I passed them by just to finish the trail quicker.

The last several miles were a road walk into Bowness-on-Solway with lovely views, but I was a little annoyed that it was on a road. Not an especially busy one, but still....

About a mile before the end of the trail, I passed a woman with her child. The child looked like it was just learning how to walk, and I just waved and kept walking.

At the end of the trail, I met a couple of people who were just starting the trail, and I joked that it was wet and muddy and horrible and they should quit while they still could! They knew I was joking, but they asked if I would take a photo of them at the start and they returned the favor by taking a photo of me at the end of the trail.

My photo at the structure that marks the official end of the trail. =)

The couple started their hike, and I sat down to figure out what I was going to do for the next three hours. The next bus to Carlisle didn't arrive for another three hours. It was 2:00pm now, so I had time. A lot of time! Perhaps head to a local pub for a drink and lunch? Read a book and relax?

I know you can't read that sign above my head in the previous photo, so here's a closeup of it. The official end of the Hadrian's Wall Path. =) (The other side of the structure had a similar sign but marking it as the official beginning of the trail.)

 

It wasn't a very satisfying thing for me to do, however, sitting around and waiting for three hours. I very much wanted to get into Carlisle in time to catch a train south to St. Bees where I could spend the night and immediately start hiking the Coast to Coast trail the next morning. But I still needed to buy some food for that, which I wanted to do in Carlisle where there were full-sized supermarkets. But the bus ride back would take an hour, so I wouldn't get back to Carlisle until about 6:00pm, and then if I missed the train that left at about then, I would have to wait a couple of hours for the next train to St. Bees and wouldn't end up arriving until 10:00 (or later!) in the evening. Ugh.

So I considered maybe trying to hitch a ride back to Carlisle. If I failed, I could still catch the bus in the three hours. Or maybe I should just try calling for a taxi. It would probably cost an arm and a leg, but certainly it would be a lot faster. None of my options seemed ideal, though, as I sat at the end of the trail wondering what to do.

The woman with her child that I passed early approached. I was a little surprised to see her. I thought she was a local just enjoying the afternoon with her child and definitely not hiking the trail. She asked if I had just finished the trail... Well, yes, I did, I said.

She asked if I needed a photo. No, I replied, the couple who just left had taken one for me already.

Then she asked if I needed a ride back to Carlisle. What?! Really?! I think my jaw dropped in shock. It never even occurred me to ask about that. She explained that her husband had just started hiking the trail that day and she had dropped him off, but now she needed to drive into Carlisle to meet up with him so she was heading that way already.

I was thrilled! My problems were solved! I felt like she was an angel dropped from heaven!

"I would love a ride back to Carlisle!" I replied, still stunned at the unexpected development. 

She asked if I needed some time or if I was ready to go now, and I told her I could leave right then and there. There was nothing in town I really needed, so we headed off in the direction of her car.

I couldn't believe my luck--I had managed to get a ride back to Carlisle less than 5 minutes after finishing the trail, and less than one minute after meeting this woman. Wow! And it just plopped into my lap, completely unexpected.

Plus, driving to Carlisle in a car would take just a half hour while the bus would have required about an hour, so I'd actually get back into town a full 3.5 hours earlier than I originally expected. Yes! Yes! Yes! Plenty of time to do some grocery shopping, grab something for lunch and catch the earlier train to St. Bees. 

The drive back to Carlisle retraced much of the route I walked--the same road I had walked down--and a half hour later, I was back in Carlisle.

I was ready for lunch, and stopped at the McDonalds mostly because it was fast. I had a few hours, but it was still going to take me some time to eat, shop for groceries, retrieve my pack from the hotel and get my ticket to St. Bees. I had chores to do, and not a minute to waste!

At the McDonalds, I pulled out my guidebook for the Coast to Coast trail and figured the next decent grocery store I'd likely come across was about four days down the trail, so planned to pick up four days worth of food. 

I got sidetracked during the walk to Lidl when I passed by an outfitters. The inserts in my shoes were starting to feel flat and I could definitely use something that felt better. So I headed in and found some new inserts for my shoes.

The rest of the walk to Lidl took a bit longer than expected, but I headed there and did the necessary shopping. I also grabbed a wrap and a Coke for dinner later. I didn't know what would be available once I arrived in St. Bees, if anything at all.

Then I headed back to the hotel where I picked up my full pack--and combined my daypack with my full pack, plus the addition of all the groceries I had just purchased. I also replaced the inserts of my shoes and threw away the old ones.

And finally I headed to the train station where I bought a ticket to St. Bees. The train was 15 minutes late, but that wasn't a big deal. More annoying, I discovered that the previous train to St. Bees had been canceled entirely so now this train was twice as full as it normally would have been, crammed with all the bodies from two trains. 

When the train did pull up, I noticed everyone seemingly piling into the cars at the front of the train, but almost nobody headed toward the cars in the back. Seeing no reason not to, I walked around the mass of people and boarded the train near the back which meant I was able to nab a seat to sit down.

This was my train to St. Bees. (I didn't have a chance to get a photo of it in Carlisle, however. I took this photo after exiting the trail in St. Bees.)

 

Now normally, I'd be perfectly happy to stand up and let a pregnant woman or someone with their kid to take a seat in a crowded train, but I had already walked nearly 20 miles for the day and I did NOT want to stand on the train. I wanted a seat! My feet were tired and sore and damn it, if I wasn't officially handicapped, I certainly felt it in spirit. But I was kind of grateful that everyone piled into the front of the train because there were still a couple of open seats in the back by the time the train started moving so I felt no guilt about taking a seat from someone in more need than myself. If they were standing in the front of the train--and I had little doubt that there were a lot of people standing in the front cars--that was their problem. =)

The train ride was nice, and it lasted about 1.5 hours before arriving in the small hamlet of St. Bees, at which point I walked another mile or so to the campground on the shore and set up my tent at around sunset, just before a light rain started.

All-in-all, I was thrilled with how well the end of the Hadrian's Wall worked out. I was camped just a five minute walk away from the start of the Coast to Coast trail, which I'd take my first steps on tomorrow....

I saw this rainbow looking back at St. Bees while walking to the campground outside of St. Bees.

The only evidence of the wall were a few boulders pulled out of the river where the wall crossed the River Eden on a bridge.

Rivers still looked especially high and muddy!

Very muddy trail today!

A whole bunch of cattle were being herded down this road.