Day 4, Monday Aug. 19 Silver Lea, Grasmere

Hiked 9 miles, 37.5 down, 154.5 to go

Today was a shorter hike than yesterday but it was a steep climb out of the valley to a highpoint and then a very steep climb - handholds and scrambling up to a pass. The top of the pass was very boggy and the path was indistinct so we were happy to have our GPS units. It was a steep, rocky descent. One of the Brits on the trail told us that we would know where the trail was because there would be water running down it. We did countless stream hoppings.

We arrived at our B&B at 4:30 and walked to dinner to the village of Grasmere. It is a quaint little place. British poet William Wordsworth lived in Grasmere and is buried in the graveyard of the 13th century St. Oswald's Church.

The weather was fine for the Lake District, no rain, high clouds, and good visibility. The sun would burst out at times. One of my surprises so far is how rocky and steep the trails are in the Lake District. It is not only the little rocks but the bigger ones that require high steps that make the trails hard on the feet. Kathy and I agree that it was probably good that we didn't know so much about the trail conditions when we set out on this adventure or we might have reconsidered doing it. - Nancy

Day 3, Sunday Aug. 18 ...

The Langstrath Hotel, Stonethwaite Hiked 14.5 miles . 28.5 down, 163.5 to go

Today was our longest hiking day of the whole trip. By point to point on the trail map it was 14.5 miles but but the GPS it was 16 miles with a 2977 elevation gain and then a steep rocky downhill. It was a tough hiking day for Kathy and me. We left at 8:40 am and didn't arrive at our hotel until 6:20 pm. The day before the downpours had created flash floods and made the trail impassable. Today there was plenty of water but all stream crossing were passable. The hardest part was a steep climb out of a valley. The trail followed by the side a raging stream. That was where we gained most of our elevation. My hiking poles are the only reason I haven't had a fall yet.

There are plenty of people on the trail - not crowded but enough so that you never have a fear of not being found if you are close to the trail. We have entered GPS waypoints for each day. The GPS points are in a book we are using titled "Coast to Coast Path" by Henry Stedman. Even if we don't need the waypoints to find our way it is nice to see what the mileage is to the next waypoint. Today was a good hiking day for the Lake District. There were periods of sunshine, some wind, some light showers and mostly clouds so it was not hot while hiking. The clouds were high so we had good views. Today was the first day blisters became an issue. I had used preventive moleskin but with how wet the paths were and all it did not stick. That was a first for me as before it stayed in place for an entire backpack trip. After showers and dinner I am tired enough that I hope to get a good night's sleep. No Internet that works at this hotel so will post this later. - Nancy

Day #2 of Hiking -- Trial by rain and wind!

Day 2 Saturday, Aug. 17, 2013 Shepherds Arms Hotel, Ennerdale Bridge. Hiked 5.5 miles, 14 down, 178 to go Today was why Ron didn't want to do this hike. It poured rain, came do down horizontal, and Kathy and I were soaked. My rain gear was not adequate. My rain poncho worked as a sail and we it just increased the wind issues. I think it must have been steady winds of 50 miles per hour or more. I needed my hiking poles to stay upright. One seasoned hiker said it was so windy it was scary.

It was one of those days that made me wonder why I wanted to do this. When we arrived at our hotel we felt proud to just have hiked this and had no disasters. I didn't even fall into any of the streams we jumped across or crossed on wobbly stones. The trails became streams and the stream crossings were high. We had to go through some marshland. What surprised me most about today was that my boots kept my feet dry. the boots were wet but my feet and socks were dry. The hotel has a drying room so we are using it.

So I grade my rain gear: gortex coat - D, gortex rain pants- F, rain poncho - useless in driving wind and rain, hiking boots A - feet and socks were dry, truly amazing with the rain, stream crossings , marshes, flooded trail. The Lake District is saturated. We are saying at the Shephards Arms Hotel in Ennderdale Bridge. They had floods last week and the stream behind the hotel crested and the hotel had about 2 ft. of water on the ground floor. They had to close for 5 days and there are still large fans blowing to dry out everything. Today was a survival day and we survived! - Nancy

1st Hiking Day

Day 1 Friday Aug. 16, 2013 Ennerdale Country House, Cleator Moor

Hiked 8.5 miles, 8.5 miles down 183.5 to go

Today was a perfect hiking day. It was s sunny with some cloud cover at times.  

We are discovering that our best resource for finding the trail is the book titled, "The Coast to Coast Path" by Henry Stedman. It has 109 hand drawn maps to find the trail. So far we've met Australians, a Canadian, and many Brits on the trail. Kathy and I were both quite tired tonight. Our GPS units listed that the actual miles we hiked today was 11.6'miles. The trail length does not include the distances to and from B&Bs and some backtracking to find the trail.

Hiking though fields is normal.

Dipping Boot into Irish Sea

One of the traditions of hiking the Coast Trail is to dip one's boots into the ocean at the beginning and the end of the trek. This is at the Irish Sea at St. Bees.

Nancy's Adventure Begins!

For now anyway, Nancy has sent text and photos to me to place on our blog. - rw Her first message was: "We arrived in St. bees on the train and had a good trip. Overcast but no rain. Our B&B is right by the train station. Need sleep. We are glad for a layover day tomorrow." - Nancy

Nancy arrived by train in St. Bees on the 14th and had all day on the 15th to explore, rest and take a nap. Her 2nd posting was: "Layover day for us. We hiked up above St. Bees, were in fields and climbed over several stiles. Good practice for our hike. Then we hiked down to the beach and got our pebble

to take to Robin Heads Bay and drop in the North Sea. Also dipped our boots into the Irish Sea as a symbolic start of our hike. Overcast but no rain in the morning, rained while we napped. We are ready to start hiking tomorrow." - Nancy

The walk across England / Nancy leaves Keizer

On Tuesday morning, August 13th, Nancy left our condo for the airport at 10 a.m. to catch her Delta flight to Amsterdam -- the first leg of her journey to the U.K. for the walk-across-England. Gary Haney (right) provided the transportation to the airport for Nancy and his wife Kathy. The hike will actually begin on the 16th, with 192 miles of walking. Return to OR is slated for September 6th. - rw