Badger Adventures Coast to Coast day 17 - Grosmont to Robin Hoods Bay

---

So here it was the final day of walking! It seemed like another lifetime ago that we had first met our treking group and guides in St Bees, it even seemed like years ago that we had sung happy birthday to Judy; now it was with mixed emotions I prepared myself for the final day of our Coast to Coast trek.

I was feeling sad because soon these new friends I had made would all be going their separate ways, busy with their own lives and careers and I would be going back to my ‘normal’ life too; I didn’t want this experience to end, not from the social point of view at least although if I ever see another hill I’m likely to go into shock!

By now Pete and I had a great routine going I sat in bed with a cup of tea made by Pete until the last safe moment while he busied himself with preparing the Day sacks, sorting the dog out and packing our room up!

As we set out the weather was dry despite a stiff breeze it was really hot; this feeling of overheating wasn’t helped by the fact the first mile was all uphill and I mean it was steep uphill! It just kept going on and on and on! However I felt really strong in the climb and didn’t stop once, Pete said this proved I had gotten fitter throughout the walk. At least the going was good, it was all on the road out of Grosmont!

After a while we returned to moorland and the bogs I had become accustomed to, my feet were blistered although Pete had taped them and put compede on, my knee was clicking and locking up occassionally and I was in pain. We had to cross a busy main road which was entertaining now I know how rabbits and hedgehogs feel as they approach the side of the road, not knowing if they’ll see the other side or not?!?

Once across the A road it was back onto the moorland and then quite a steep downhill stretch into heavy woodland, this was what I had come to know as undulating ground; in other words it was a bloody pain to walk although quite beautiful. We came to a sign showing the way to Foss Fall which supposedly was a very picturesque waterfall, Pete and a few of the faster group members scurried away down the path to get a photo; I was waiting on the main track to see this spectacular photo of an amazing waterfall.......

Anyway back on the trail we came out back onto moorland and then eventually the coastal path to Robin Hoods Bay this too was quite undulating and so very challenging especially in my now very exhausted state! The scenery was absolutely amazing though so the time passed quickly, the weather had been amazing all walk with bright sunshine and warm breezes meaning we had all stripped as much clothing as would be socially acceptable.

Once into Robin Hoods Bay I was very emotional I had been through so much over the last 16 days, learned a lot about myself and about the rest of my group who had been amazing; we had laughed so hard at meal times that sometimes I struggled to breath; Pete had been reduced to tears of laughter on more than 1 occasion!

We did the usual end of walk things in St Bees such as visit the plaque and had a group photo and our guides had gone to the trouble of providing glasses of fizz to celebrate which was a great touch. Loads of photos got taken, tears were shed and hugs exchanged; my words cannot express the range of feelings I had experienced on this trek.

Now very tired it was a climb back up the hill to the vans and then onto our hotel in Scarborough for the farewell meal.....and then to sleep as much as possible.

I would like to publicly thank Badger Adventures and Ritchie Evans for this experience but most of all I would like to thank James who moved all our bags from location to location and sorted out all our meals and accommodation and also Matt who guided us on the walk; both very special men who I will never forget, they went the extra mile on more than 1 occasion and were so helpful and supporting. I couldn’t have done any of this without both of them! Also a big thanks to my treking group, what an amazing bunch of people and so many laughs, you made it everything for me so thank you so much!!

I hope you have enjoyed this blog and reading about my exploits, as always constructive criticism is always welcome and encouraged! If you want a spectacular challenge I encourage you to do this trek you will learn a lot about yourself in the process. Thank you for reading and good night......maybe see you again someday.......

---

Photos

Steam train in Grosmont.
A WW2 themed weekend in Grosmont made for some interesting costumes!