28 August 2019, Wednesday Day 12 of travel, day 8 on the Coast to Coast Brampton Grange to Orton via Shap. It was a night fighting the comforter. At 0030, I took the stuffing out and slept well with just the sheet. After breakfast we left the Crowne and Mitre with the path to connect to the main coast to coast path at Rosgill bridge. This is a little more than 2 miles to the ruins of Shap Abbey The photos and signs tell the tale but this was a massive church and community until King Henry VIII drove all Catholics out of England or killed them. Most of the stones have been removed and reused elsewhere. After about 2 hours and 40 minutes walking up and down the grassy hills and over a unique horse ... read more

26 August 2019, Monday Day 6 on the Coast 2 Coast, day 10 of travel Tweedies was not ready for breakfast at 8:15 as advertised, but we were still able to get on the trail by 9:30. We found the path along the river going Northeast out of Grasmere and then started our climb over the mountain to Grisedale Tarn, a small lake. There were two routes up the mountain and of course we chose the steep one. Actually i have started using an app called trailsmart which gives different walking trails for the coast to coast as well as many other hikes. This particular route that we were following on the app took us the steeper way and not the more gentle way. We had 1896 feet of elevation gain going over this mountain Gap. ... read more

24 August 2019, Saturday. Day 5 on Coast 2 Coast, day 8 of travel. The guidebooks and the Google maps indicated that the day would be about a nine-hour walk. Janet was joining us for her first long-distance walk. From Seatoller this started with a gentle walk up the stream through Rosthwaite. Then we started our climb over the mountain. Along the river there were many tent campers and other campers who were out enjoying a walk along the trail beside the river. The further we walked the steeper the climb became. Near the rock outcrop called Lining Crag, it became an upward scramble over the rocks. We were moving at a significantly slower Pace than we had anticipated. At this point I took Janet's backpack in hopes of giving her more stability and easier climbing. ... read more

22 August, 2019, Thursday. Day 6 for blog day 3 for coast to coast. Today we will again walk a section of the C2C trail that is new to me. Of the 21 miles covered by the end of the walk today, I have only walked 5 miles of it before. It rained steadily and heavily all night. Breakfast menu was broad, so I chose eggs Benedict. Jim Bowman wanted to know if this was so named for the revolutionary war traitor. Learning again how to wear the rain pants and gaitors was a half hour event getting ready. We set out in steady rain. Soggy guide books and all. Even the snails had taken to the high ground to escape the wet. Our route out of Cleator showed going over Dent mountain and through Black ... read more

20 August 2019, Tuesday This day started out with the good full English breakfast at Vallum Lodge. With my bags ready to go I walked to the Sill where I caught the AD 122 bus to Haltwhistle train station. At Haltwhistle, I saw Don and Sue, from Auckland, who had taken a taxi back from Gilland. They spent the night, then came to the station to catch the train to Newcastle. Fortunately, he could show me how to work the kiosk in order to buy my train ticket from Haltwhistle to St Bees. The train took me to Carlisle where I transferred to the train to St Bees. I arrived in St Bees, approximately 1:30 and was able to walk the short distance to the Stonehouse where we were are lodging for the evening. About an ... read more