In May 2022 I flew from Australia to the UK. After spending 5 nights in London touristing and getting over jetlag, I arrived at St Bee's to begin hiking the Coast to Coast from West to East.
Day one was a rollercoaster of emotions, ranging from elation and excitement to "wtf" am I doing. Cycling through these emotions several times.
I was hiking alone, and for some reason my Alltrails app wouldn't work so I was relying on the guidebook and kindness of strangers and fellow hikers to direct or reassure me I was on the right path.
I arrived at the first night's accommodation in company of four other hikers and felt a little deflated at how difficult I'd found the navigating. I'd imagined myself confidently striding through the countryside.
I set off in the morning with renewed determination and my app was working until I stopped to tend to some blisters (I don't normally get blisters). Then there was a soul-destroying hike along a forest track (it even gets a mention in the guide book!). I was on my own and seriously doubted I was going the right way.
At this point I questioned not whether I could do the hike, but whether I wanted to?
Consequently I made several wrong turns which in effect added several kilometres to an already long day.
Lesson 1: Trust yourself, you will get there in the end.
I finally met up with another hiker, a girl I'd met the day before who was full pack hiking and with her help I made it to my second night's accommodation. I don't know if she will ever read this but without her help, my hike may have ended that day!!
At breakfast I met up with Laura who I'd met on the first day in St Bees. She took pity on me and we ended up as hiking buddies until we parted ways in Richmond. We've stayed in contact via Facebook and plan to catch up again on other hikes. (Hiking is actually very social and I've met some lovely people and made great friends)
I'd been prepared for a lot of wet weather but generally the weather was very kind, cool and the odd damp day, but compared to what I'd been told about the Lake Districts, I was very lucky.
Each day became easier as my fitness improved
as well as having a hiking buddy (hiking solo, you can really get in your own head) and meeting up with fellow hikers along the way. We ended up with a lovely group.
I had a rest day in Richmond, so parted ways with my hiking buddies. See my detailed itinerary for my thoughts on whether to take rest days.
Lesson 2: Ask for help. People generally want to help. If they don't, move on - they are not "your people".
After Richmond I hiked mostly on my own, but it's a popular trail so you meet quite a few hikers along the way.
After the Lakes District the scenery changes to rolling hills and more farm land, and often a lot flatter.
My confidence in my navigation had improved dramatically (along with better signage on the track), my fitness was getting better and I was enjoying my solo hiking. Having said that, I am a very social person and as soon as someone heard my Aussie accent they were keen for a chat, so I wasn't really short of company.
Lesson 3: It's ok to go your own way on the path and in life, we are all making our way the best we can. Do what feels best.
The guidebook mentions a "collapse of morale". This happened for me on Day 15. Ironically it was one of my shortest distance days and the flattest.
For some reason I thought it was going to be only 7km, ended up being 14km, walking on fairly flat trail on the moors, in high wind. After being buffeted for several hours, I'd just had enough!
I got to the Lion Inn at Blakey Ridge at 12pm with the s$%^s, luckily the staff there were lovely and I had a Crabbies (alcoholic ginger beer, 5 0'clock somewhere right?) which restored my soul.
The next day I walked down off the moors into the quaint countryside where the series Heartbeat was filmed.
The last day hiking into Robin Hood's Bay was like a revisit of the entire hike, in terrain and weather. It started with a steep climb out of Grosmont in drizzly cold weather, the sun broke through for the lovely walk through forest passing through Foss Falls, lovely morning tea, then back up onto the moors and through peat bogs in drizzly rain, again the sun broke through to walk along the cliff edges into Robin Hoods bay.
Although tired, I felt such a sense of accomplishment, but also a melancholy that the experience was over.
Lesson 4: Alcohol can fix things, lol.
FUN FACTS Elevation gains 9613 metres Distance 305km Steps 532,380
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