Manchester to Minneapolis

10 Jun 2015 - Left MAN this afternoon on Icelandair for KEF. After a one hour layover it was on to MSP. A fun trek but sure fun to be heading home.

Manchester

10 Jun 2015 - On 10 May we sailed from NYC on the Queen Mary II for Southampton. Visited friends Jane and Julian at Clun, then up to Robin Hood's Bay to start the Coast to Coast Walk, a 210 mile jaunt to St. Bees on the West of Britain on the Irish Sea.

Couldn't have asked for better weather. In the 16 hiking days only one day of light rain and then while crossing Kietske Pike some challenging winds of about 60mph. Blessing was no rain with the wind. Some rain at Richmond on a rest day. Torrential rain at the end of the day at Shap but we were already at the B&B.

So, here we are at MAN ready to board an Icelandair flight to Minneapolis via Iceland.

6/8/15 Robyn

What a fabulous last day of our hike we had! Starting with goodbye to Paul and Joan and many adventures afterward. 

After saying goodbye to the Lake District and Doug saying goodbye to a horse, we were off from Emmerdale Bridge

Of course we took our usual couple of wrong turns but eventually went up to the top of Dent. Robert thought the contour lines on the map showed 20 feet between but it turned out to be probably 100 feet between instead so we climbed over 1000 feet. Whew! The views were worth it though. We had been getting glimpses of the Irish Sea but now we could really se it. 

We found out the place we were hoping to get lunch at was closed Monday so we ended up buying some sandwiches at a store and man named Martin (who crossed the Irish Sea from St. Bees to  the Isle of Man with "Charlie the amazing kayaking dog" needless to say - in a kayak) told us there were benches at a church we could sit on to eat. We ended up eating in the graveyard-another first. On we went through towns until we arrived at the Irish Sea. 

We traveled about four miles to St. Bees along the sea amid beautiful cliffs and pastures. Still up and down of course. 

It seemed more like ten miles, not almost four, but we finally made it to St. Bees and tossed our rocks we had been carrying from Robin Hoods Bay North Sea into the Irish Sea. A celebratory dinner at the Manor culminated a wonderful Coast to Coast with some fabulous friends. 

Ennerdale Bridge to St. Bees

8JUN2015 - What a day. No wind and blue, blue sky all the way to the Irish Sea. We headed West at 09:00 and got to St. Bees at 18:20 for an 18 mile day. Quite a few 'rollers' but only one real climb, 1,000 feet at 28%. 210 miles for the entire trip, 16 days of walking and three rest days,  one at Richmond and two at Seatoller.

Robert and Gail Lee, friends from Reno and Jeff and Robyn Hanscom, Minneapolis friends from 1980 and the Minnehaha Marathoners, joined us for the trek. Great company and many laughs.

Over all too soon but after five weeks it'll be nice to get home. Have to rest up for a lot of travel in July, August, September and October.  It's tough be retired when every day is Saturday.

6/7/15 Robyn

When we started out we climbed into the clouds with some rain.

I felt like "the bear went over the mountain..." at the beginning of the day but then I realized that I do much better on the ascent than on the descent. This shows one of the challenging descents. 

There were gorgeous views of lakes. 

We came upon a Youth Hostel that had an actual bathroom that flushes. Quite a luxury on the trail. I got a kick out of the sign above the toilet. 

I was excited to learn that we were going to be walking part way around the Emmerdale Water. I was picturing going around our city lakes at home but this trail was anything but...

As you can see the day ended up being beautiful. It was nice to finish the rocky, rooted trail at the lake and get picked up by the hotel owner of our B and B. It would have been another 2.2 miles to the Stork Hotel in Rowrah that was not part of the trek. Nice dinner after a pint and game of cribbage with Jeff who did a stupendous job on our hike today. Fun meeting travelers who were finishing their first day and all we have left is one more 14 mile day! 

Seatoller to Ennerdale Bridge

7JUN2015 - After two very relaxing days at Seatoller House and dinners that are award winning, we started our next to the last leg of the C2C Walk at 09:00. Came over Honister Pass and headed for Ennerdale Lake. Turned off too soon and had to backtrack a bit. Sorted it out and then came down the long, steep trail leading us to Black Sail Youth Hostel. After that a long walk through a pine forest then over to Ennerdale Lake. Walked about 3.5 miles on the trail along the lake then a mile or two along the road to reach Ennerdale Bridge. Our lodging for the night is the Stork Hotel in Frizington so the hotel picked us up at the Shepherd's Arms Hotel (we stayed there 19 years ago and decided not to give it another try). Enjoyable dinner at the Stork Hotel talking with hikers just starting their walk East. We finished today at 17:15 and covered 13.6 miles and climbed 1,800 feet. Tomorrow we finish the C2C with a 14 mile trek to St. Bees. Looks like it'll be another perfect day.

6/6/15 Robyn

Really enjoying our rest days at Seatoller. Everyone did some reading and relaxing. 

I went for a walk in my tennis shoes (did not want to put those hiking boots on until tomorrow). Met Doug, Sara, and Gail at a local pub for lunch. 

Jeff and Robert  went into Keswick on the the bus again (no more bus rides for me). On my walk I found that this area is the wettest place in England getting 140 inches per year. Indeed, it did rain on the six boys and their dads along with the strong winds but they still had a great time and were so excited when they returned. Another fun thing today was that our hosts got a new puppy, Meg. Here is Lucas with her. 

The food here has been stupendous  with their five course dinners. I'm afraid we may be coming home with more weight than we left with. Our last two hiking days look to be great weather. We have really lucked out!

6/5/16 Robyn

As you read in Doug's post, a lovely, lazy, rainy day. After visiting the slate mine and taking the bus to Keswick, the motion of the bus in the tight windy roads made me quesy. 

I recovered in time for a lovely pint, soup and salad at the Dog and Gun Pub and took some Dramamine and had a wonderful rainy day nap on return to Seatoller. After a bath, I feel excellent. 

There are twelve newcomers to the hotel. Six boys around eleven years old and their dads. We will have three of the boys in the right next to us and the excitement among them is wonderful. They will be climbing one of the peaks tomorrow. The eight year old son of our hosts, Lucas, completed a rock climb with his school today and was very excited it about it. It is fabulous how the children start young and hiking is such a way of life here. I'm looking forward to another delicious dinner here. From starters to dessert to cheese last, it was superb. We are having Sea Bass tonight. Here are views from the house. 

Seatoller Rest Day

5Jun2015 - A rainy, lazy rest day at Seatoller House. Jeff and I took the Stagecoach to Keswick to do laundry while the others went to the slate mine on Honister Pass. We regrouped at the George Fisher store in Keswick. If you're a hiker and can't find what you think you need at George Fisher's the truth is you don't need it. (To put in perspective, REI is a beginners store when it comes to hiking, if that'll give you some idea.) Then it was on to the Rohan store. I'd hate to estimate how much the six of us helped the British economy today. To top it off, a pub lunch at the Dog & Gun. The word is that tonight after a Seatoller House dinner we'll be treated to sticky toffee pudding. It really doesn't get any better.

6/4/15 Robyn

Just as we were leaving lovely Grasmere, Jeff realized his shin was already hurting too much and turned around to go back to the Quaker center to hopefully catch a lift to Seatoller with the luggage. As it turned out, he had a great day with Mark, the Brigantes driver and traveled many places and learned lots about the region and also helped Mark. We missed him a lot though.

So we went on with beautiful waterfalls and climbs and lots of sheep and even some deer. The descents were challenging for me again but it was a shorts and t-shirt day when we weren't up high. Lunch in our first valley on rocks where we met several other Coast to Coasters. 

We made it to Seatoller House and it is everything Doug and Sara had told us about and more! Here is the view from our window. 

We get to stay here for three nights before our last two days of the Coast to Coast. Wonderful place and people!

Grasmere to Seatoller

4Jun2015 - Today is the day we've been waiting for, arrival at Seatoller House. Left at 9:10 and arrived here at 16:30. A ten mile trek including a climb over 'Green Up Edge', giving us 1,700 feet for the day. (The ups and downs and up again trails give us the high elevation gains for the day.) A lot of bog before and after the Edge but nobody lost a boot or went down. Another perfect blue sky day, heat wave at 62°, light winds. Now for some great meals at Seatoller and I'm told sticky toffee pudding tomorrow night. Plus some great ciders to enjoy. Two full days here at Seatoller so we'll have time to take the bus to Keswick and visit The George Fisher store to see the latest in hiking gear. Maybe even a trip up Honister Pass to visit the slate mine store.