Badger Adventures Coast to Coast day 8 - Orton to Kirkby Stephen

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After our awesome and relaxing afternoon yesterday having only had a short walk to complete, I wasn’t too enamoured with the prospect of a long day today. It had been so good to chill out in front of the log fire and rest my weary legs and battered body, but the challenge doesn’t relent and so it was that at 0630hrs I was up and packing my day sack again!

A short van drive down to the American groups accommodation was hardly noticed due to the fact I was desperate for the loo, flipping Pete and his relentless nagging about staying hydrated! If he tells me 1 more time about the benefits of being hydrated I swear I’ll get him a water boarding session with the CIA for Christmas!!

Anyway we were soon off with quite a stretch of road to cover it seemed, I was more worried about becoming road kill than twisting my ankle on some obscure slippery rock. As the day and walk progressed we were covering lovely farmers fields with splendid views across some very picturesque countryside; if it had been a bit flatter it would easily remind me of Somerset.

Fortunately for us the weather had turned for today so we were able to walk in ‘normal’ gear instead of plodding along sounding like a giant crisp packet on a stiff breeze in all our goretex gear! The sunny spells were certainly well received inspite of some occasional cold strong gusts of wind it was a very pleasant day for walking.

Jess still had a bit of a limp due to her damaged pad but was coping well, Zulu was still out front as lead scout; unless someone opened a pocket in which case he was all over them like a rash in case any food was offered or dropped. Jess decided to sneak up on a Shetland pony at one point and promptly received a kick to the head; still you know what they say, no sense no feeling!

The ground underfoot was particularly boggy as it had been on some days previously, this made for some tricky going and careful route selection in places. Despite the drier weather it had been raining until recently so the ground was still saturated with water....and mud!!

The styles and wall crossings are what get me though, I think they were designed by a 8 stone female gymnast as it seems you needed the qualities of such a person just to fit or bend your legs over, across or around them when encountered! They were also very slippery so it took our group a little while to negotiate them, luckily there weren’t too many, but enough for sure.

Today’s leg was 12.5 miles towards the end of the day that was enough, I was looking forward to a shower and some decent food. It had been a great day with many laughs and decent conversations but I was now aching all over and was ready to retire to a warm room and a hot drink....I got the hot drink a lovely homemade scone with jam, the warm room had to wait until later as the heating wasn’t allowed on in our accommodation until 2000hrs!

Tomorrow the distance is going to be about the same in my present state I think I’ll find it hard but more than achievable and we have a great group of people to walk with......onwards and upwards!

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