Geo and Jack camp it up on the Coast to Coast

[Geo the Sarge]

I have tidied up my gobbledygook post from last night, hope it makes sense now.

Bad day for me yesterday. throughout the walk, I've been on my arse more often that Frank Bruno. I had chosen my lightweight goretex boots over the good Leather Ceebees which has proved to be a big error. With the heavier boot I'd probably keep more purchase with the ground and wouldn't feel the effects of some of the sharper stones underfoot.

Anyway, yesterday we set off on the 3rd day of walking. A total of 17 miles was expected from Rosethwaite to Patterdale. The weather once again was pretty poor and we knew we had an immediate climb of some 520m in just under 3 miles. Again following the "Beck" which apparently is an English term for a stream/river running down a valley.

As you can guess the water was really flowing down this Beck which was in fact our pathway. It was impossible to move away too far from the Beck as you were into marsh which provided more hazards and just as much wetness.

Throughout this arduous climb it blew constantly which was a bit of a blessing, however for most of the climb it also carried a lot of rain. This took us about 2 and a half hours of graft. On reaching the top it levelled out somewhat before our descent to Grasmere.

The pic below shows Jack on one of the Becks in better weather

Click to see full-size image.

[Geo the Sarge]

At the top of this climb although level, as you would expect there was a lot of standing water, which together with marshland made for bad conditions underfoot. It was here we had our first incident of the day when the ground gave way under Jack and he finished knee deep and trapped in almost quicksand conditions. He tells me he had to curl his toes to keep his boots from being sucked into the marsh as we removed his pack and he managed to wiggle free back onto terra firma.

We began our descent and as mentioned, at times the descents are as difficult as the climbs. It was here that I took a further 3 tumbles, one of which seen the leg bend with my knee trapped underneath my body. I knew straight away that no great damage had been done although it was hurting.

Jack was quickly at my side to assist me up and I decided it best to keep on walking as although sore it did not feel like any major damage had occured and I didn't want to stop and give it a chance to stiffen up. Obviously this slowed us right down and I tumbled a couple more times before we got to the bottom, at one time crashing my eye on the end of my walking stick.


By now we had taken the decision that we would miss the 2nd leg from Grasmere to Patterdale as I was by now quite sore and totally out of energy. At the bottom I decided I would not be able to carry on much further and justed wanted to get in my bivvi bag and get my head down. Jack thought it best to go to a farmhouse to see if a farmer could take us the last 1km into Grasmere where we could take a bus or taxi to Patterdale.

It only took Jack about 10 mins to get us hooked up with a lift and when he and the farmer returned and looked at me they thought it wise to take me to the medical centre at Ambleside to get me checked out.

As thought no major damage to the knee, just a bit of a sprain which the doctor agrees should be ok after a day or so rest. We have decided to miss the Patterdale to Shap leg and are currently in Penrith having a rest day before carrying on. the good news is we can update on the first 2 days walking.

Geo

[Geo the Sarge]

This is really tough.  Jack will be first to admit his admin wasn't the best so the meet up night was spent transferring kit and packing rucksacks into a resemblance of order.  I was shocked at the finishing weights of the packs.

Whilst I was expecting us to add time to our days due to this,  I was not prepared for just how difficult these routes are. I had looked over the maps a few times before leaving and had discussed areas I thought we should look at again and was happy with the route plotted.  What really changes it all is the pathways themselves.

Whilst maps give you heights and gradieyou underfoot conditions.  Fuckin savage I would describe it.  Mostly broken stones and either marsh underneath or for these 3 days the paths are now mainly rivers and no form

Geo/Jack...u in are in some of the VERY hardest country the UK has to offer at the mo. TAKE HEART. Gonna get SO MUCH more easier for you. At a (very good) guess I'd say you're in the hardest part of the walk....

We're all behind you! Keep plugging on and smashing it up!!!!

After timing FTW

Geo

[Geo the Sarge]

Day 1

St Bees to Ennerdale Bridge, a trip of some 14 miles. We headed down to the waterside to do the obligatory toe in the Irish Sea and pick up a stone to deposit on the other coast.

Click to see full-size image.

Click to see full-size image.

[Geo the Sarge]

From St Bees itself the route actually sets off back North for about 4 kms, passing by the St Bees lighthouse. A wee bit of a climb in places that Jack and I coped with pretty well although at times I was very surprised (and bricking it) at points of the path are merely a foot or so away from a fall of up to 200 meters down the cliff face.

Click to see full-size image.

[Geo the Sarge]

We then headed inland and at the 7 mile point is a monument to the walkers of the C2C

Click to see full-size image.

and more importantly for Jack............a bakers shop............siiiggghhhh, well what could he do poor soul, I didn't have anything to make pizzas with.

Click to see full-size image.

[Laxie]

He does like his cakes   

[Rod]

Great thread lad keep it up, hopefully the conditions will clear up a bit for you. Sounds awesome anyway.

[Geo the Sarge]

From here we have a lack of pictures for day 1 as the weather really deteriorated and we had entered into Cleator and up Dent Hill which was 350m in ascent over 2 km. A steady incline which was completed in the most awful weather. We the started a descent towards a large hill called Raven Crag. At this point we met up with a father and daughter (Tony & Emma) both Jack and I were impressed with this old guy, probably 60ish with Parkinsons which hinders obviously his movements but they have been completing each day and we have always met up so far each day.

This proved a really difficult climb for Jack which he will post about himself in the next post. With bad conditions underfoot and a rain filled gale blowing against us on the ascent with it pushing us on the descent which seen Tony in particular take a severe tumble with 3 rolls and a Korbutt finish. He merely laughed it off as we assisted him to his feet and carried on.

Once we got to the bottom it was a fairly flat last 3kms to Ennerdale Bridge which was our bivvy point and start point for day 2.


Geo

[technolog]

From St Bees itself the route actually sets off back North for about 4 kms, passing by the St Bees lighthouse. A wee bit of a climb in places that Jack and I coped with pretty well although at times I was very surprised (and bricking it) at points of the path are merely a foot or so away from a fall of up to 200 meters down the cliff face.

You might have coped with it well! When I had to stop for a breather after about 200 yards from the start point for the whole walk, it was my first 'uh-oh' moment.

[technolog]

Click to see full-size image.

Worst flapjack ever. FACT!

[technolog]

From here we have a lack of pictures for day 1 as the weather really deteriorated and we had entered into Cleator and up Dent Hill which was 350m in ascent over 2 km. A steady incline which was completed in the most awful weather. We the started a descent towards a large hill called Raven Crag. At this point we met up with a father and daughter (Tony & Emma) both Jack and I were impressed with this old guy, probably 60ish with Parkinsons which hinders obviously his movements but they have been completing each day and we have always met up so far each day.

This proved a really difficult climb for Jack which he will post about himself in the next post. With bad conditions underfoot and a rain filled gale blowing against us on the ascent with it pushing us on the descent which seen Tony in particular take a severe tumble with 3 rolls and a Korbutt finish. He merely laughed it off as we assisted him to his feet and carried on.

Once we got to the bottom it was a fairly flat last 3kms to Ennerdale Bridge which was our bivvy point and start point for day 2.


Geo

OMG. Day one and I was struggling so much. It was pissing with rain and we had moderately stiff climb to contend with. Honestly, I was having to stop every 50 yds to let my thigh muscles recover. Geo was great, he put no pressure on me and just let me take my time to get to the top.

However, this was a massive shock to the system. I'd done multi-day walks before and I'd done some training in preparation which had gone well. I think we had both underestimated how much toll the massive packs we're carrying would take (about 60lbs when laden with water too).

I was really down after day 1. I thought I'd let myself and Geo down by not preparing adequately. We, well I, had great plans to do all the high routes on offer across the walk and it was immediately clear that they were all out of the window. We needed to keep low wherever we could. I was even doubtful of my ability to complete the next day's walk as it appeared much tougher on paper than day 1.

Bad times.

[Geo the Sarge]

As Jack has said, he had found it tough but i tried to gee him up by explaining that what we had just went through would have been difficult for many walkers. We set of just past Ennerdale Bridge on our route to Ennerdale Water to find a place to basha up.

Click to see full-size image.

I left Jack on the road and went into our chosen wood to find a suitable spot. Once chosen, we made our way in and set up a double tent-shaped bivvi contraption that gave us good length and a bit of height. Here we managed to rig up a hexamine cooker and gas stove combo that provided some much needed heat and after a few trial and error attempts wer were able to create a mini drying room and in little time the items which we wished to dry out for next day were done and the boots, whilst not totally dried were a big improvement.

Once basha'd up it was admin time, using the bivvi as a sort of changing mat we were soon out of the wet gear, dried up, inspected each others feet and all powdered up. We then settled down to some Chicken curry with a chilli and tomato couscous - lush.

Click to see full-size image.

Click to see full-size image.

[tikay]

This is absolutely fantastic, I don't know whether I prefer the words or the pictures most.

Please keep both coming if you can.

My admiration for you both is immense, it's an incredible adventure, & I so wish I had attempted it when I was not so, err, old & decrapit.

Well done yous.

Keep safe, keep battling.

[Geo the Sarge]

Day 2

Ennerdale Water to Rosethwaithe

Best day of the walk so far for me. Weather stayed good although the climbing again was severe at a number of point. We had started out around the south route around Ennerdale Water, the walk itself was spectacular although parts of the path were just a risk. At one point we had a step down which I couldn't negotiate without first removing my pack and passing it down to Jack. All within a foot or so of a decent drop into the reservoir itself.

Ennerdale Water, a beautiful sight

Click to see full-size image.

Click to see full-size image.