Coast to Coast England Walk- Final Thoughts

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Four weeks and two days ago at this time, I was on a plane heading for Heathrow airport. After landing 7+ hours later, we headed to St. Bees (2 trains and a cab) and arrived by Sunday evening.....and the adventure of a lifetime began!

I know I'll be processing my thoughts about the experience for months to come, but I will summarize some of my thoughts and feelings right now:

As I said in the first posting, I was carrying the symbolic pebble from the Irish Sea to toss in the North Sea in honor of my friend, Sylvia. I thought of her many times during the walk and wished I'd be able to share all the stories when I returned. I smiled many times thinking that if Sylvia had been with us, I'd be having to tell her to keep moving and stop talking to the sheep, cows, goats, dogs etc.! She was such an animal lover that I can't imagine she would have been able to keep moving through the pastures without stopping to "talk" to all the animals. Sylvia would have quickly found the "rejected" animal and would have probably tried to carry it with us to the next town. She would also have loved seeing all the dogs in the pubs, trains etc. England is certainly more dog-friendly than anyplace in the U.S.

I tossed Sylvia's stone into the North Sea and thanked her for her friendship and inspiration.

Questions people have asked me:

1. What were some of the things you liked most about the trip?

I loved the simplicity of the days---Get up, eat breakfast, prepare feet/shoes, get suitcases downstairs, walk 10+ miles, pub/inn arrival, shower, dinner, bed. I didn't turn on a TV the entire time and when the TV was on in the pubs, I only saw cricket matches. I did learn enough about that to express sympathy to the Australians we met and congratulate the Brits. There was a major tournament (Ashes) going on while we were there.

I loved the challenge of doing this on our own. Navigating the Coast to Coast is not easy....something I was well aware of before embarking on this adventure. We had two sets of Harvey Maps, several guide books, two compasses and a phone GPS with a downloaded track log (used only when we felt we were really off track).

The changing scenery was amazing....Every time we would say we were tired of the same scenery (i.e.. crossing the moors), we would come onto a new area with more new and amazing scenery.

There was a great variety in our accommodations. With one exception, all were very good and it was fun experiencing the variety including very small, old hotels/inns, pubs, Bed and breakfasts and real working farms.

2.What would you change about the trip?

As I have already said, i am glad to have had the experience of doing a long distance walk without a guide.....so I wouldn't change that. However, I do not plan on doing another long distance hike without a guide. I was fine with getting lost and figuring out where we were going, but some people are not as comfortable with a "laid back" approach and that resulted in stressful interactions on several occasions. I am already researching doing another long distance hike (maybe the West Highland Way in Scotland), but I will be doing that with a guided group.

3. For those who have sent messages wanting advice since they are planning a Coast to Coast walk:

Packhorse was an outstanding baggage carrier. Luggage was delivered on time every single day.

The lighter your luggage, the happier you will be. Most days you will be carrying your luggage up at least one flight of stairs and sometimes more.

I used both my rain-jacket and poncho (Frogg Toggs) depending on how cool it was and if it was windy. Rain pants were in my pack every day and used a few days. I used my low gaiters several days.

People who had hand-held GPS units with the way points downloaded had an easier time with navigation.



This is the end of my blog! It's my first experience "blogging" and looking back at some of the entries, I can tell I was tired when I wrote them and I certainly didn't take the time to edit. I do hope my family and friends who have followed this, have enjoyed following my adventure, and I hope any people planning a Coast to Coast walk have gotten some helpful advise.













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