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.

Seatoller House, Seatoller

http://www.findmespot.com/mylocation/?id=NxypJ/54.51362N/3.16785W

6/3/15 Robyn

Even though we arrived at the Mosscrag B and B in Glenridding at 10 pm, Mark, our host, made us feel very welcome. The view out of our window was beautiful again. 

The stream in front, lake and mountains  in the background made me wish we were there longer. We did go to a local sporting good store and took our time since today was a short day. Spectacular scenery again. We had our lunch at the top of a hill where there was a closed up building.

 The hike was challenging enough with the rocks, cliffs, and streams that we were traversing over and again in the descent my knee was aching. 

We made it to Grassmere and our B and B at the Glenthorne Quaker Centre in time for tea and cake. Dinner was included so we splurged on two bottles of wine (for all of us). Beautiful place and I loved all the flowering trees. 

Glenridding to Grasmere

3Jun2015 - After yesterday's adventure with wind today's ten miles was easy, plus perfect weather. Left Mosscrag B&B at 10:50 and got here at 5PM.

6/1/15 to 6/2/15 late entry Robyn

We left the Greyhound Hotel in three separate groups so as not to overwhelm Margaret at Brookfield B and B with our sopping wet clothes clothes and boots, etc. Margaret has run this B and B for forty years and 19 years ago Doug and Sara stayed there on their previous Coast to Coast. She also hosted Alfred Wainwright, the originator of this trek, at one point. She treated us to tea, scones, and tarts that evening as we debated what to do about the weather since the wind and rain were still pounding. We talked about taking the bus and our mistake was planning breakfast at 8 instead of 7 thinking that might happen. We awoke to blue skies and decided to do the 17 mile trek. Breakfast took a bit longer ( I think Margaret  thought we were taking the bus). We headed off and a local out with his dog was going to show us a shortcut but he walked very slow which had us definitely starting later than we wanted with such a long day ahead. 

Finally off we made a quick stop at the Sham Abbey. 

The day was changeable with weather causing us to both shed add clothing.

There was beautiful scenery. We are now in the Lake District. 

Doug described the day we had. It was AMAZING and I am so glad that we did go although my knee was hurting in the decline and Jeff's shin was also talking to him. As Doug said, it ended up being 19 miles and rivaled my marathons. 

 

Shap to Glenridding

2Jun2015 - What an adventure. The storm blew through overnight so we decided to give it a go.  Left at 9:15 and even had some Sun. After 11 miles of rolling hills we finally got to the 'real' mountains. Up and over with many ups and downs we actually climed 6,700 feet over the course of the walk. On the ridgelines we had difficulty standing upright. Couldn't have made it without the poles allowing us to walk upright. Must have had gusts of 50 to 60mph. The long downhill slog to Patterdale was as difficult as the slog up. Arrived at Patterdale and then another 1.5 miles trough Patterdale, where we stopped for dinner at 9PM, then on to the Mosscrag Guest House. The day ended at 10PM. Mark, the owner, was about ready to call Mountain Rescue.  Have to admit that the GPS saved us a couple of times. Without Garmin we would have need the Mountain Rescue. Anyhow, it was a long 19 mile day, but we made it. Today we're off to Grasmere, only about a ten mile day with only a moderate climb.

6/1/15 Robyn

After we left or lovely guesthouse (on the right in the first picture below) and had a delicious breakfast at The George, it took us awhile to find the trail out of Orton. I wish there were better Coast to Coast markings in the towns where you stay. 

The walk was a day of good news/ bad news. The good news is that we did have the wind at our back for a fair share of the trek, which was a first, AND it was a short day. The bad news was that the temperature dropped and it began raining after our halfway point. We were headed to Shap which was a bit more industrial with a quarry and having to cross a highway luckily on a footpath. 

We arrived at our B and B too early so we went to the Greyhound Hotel to have some Lunch/dinner so we wouldn't have to venture out in the rain again after getting changed. The food was wonderful and they had a lovely coal fire. Cheers!

Orton to Shap

1 June 2015 - A short day, only 9.5 miles. The predicted 3PM rain hit us at 1PM. Rained until we reached Shap at 2:45PM. Temperature dropped to about 45°, even a  few snow flakes.