Just a walk in the Park

It began in my "library" reading a copy of the Smithsonian Magazine. The article described trekking Britain's Coast to Coast walk, and the writer was recounting how he finished this day's walk of 12 miles, set up his tent in the back garden of a pub (tenting as an option, not a necessity), changed, and went into the pub for a pint and a pie. In his words "hiking the way it was meant to be!"

I concurred!


So now, though my readers (how ostentatious that sounds!) still think me stuck on the Andes in Peru, I am actually in the final week of preparation for my 200 mile walk across the UK. Again by using this wonderful Internet for something other than illicit pictures and being bombarded by solicitations for male enhancement products, I have been able to put together a pretty do-able two week adventure.

First, just a short background of the hike. In 1974, Alfred Wainwright, a noted British Fell Walker, stitched together some of the many trails or walks or right of ways in northern England to complete a coast to coast walk some 190 miles in length (here is the first point of confusion - though they are on the metric system and tell temperature in Celsius, maps are given first in miles then kilometers. Go figure). It caught on almost immediately and while it has never been given official status as a national trail, such as our Appalachian or Pacific Coast Trails, there are indeed maps published and guides available. The walk stretches from St Bees on the west coast to Robin Hood's Bay on the east and traverses the noted Lakes District - some of the most beautiful countryside in England. As mentioned, each day begins and ends in a village or town, most a mere 12-15 miles apart. This means that one need not 'camp', but could, pockets permitting, reserve bed and breakfast accommodations for each night and carry only daily necessities of snack and drink. Sherpa services are available to transport clothing and what-not's from B&B to B& ah B. My own circumstances dictate that I play turtle and carry shelter and some provisioning with me for the entire way. While open camping is not as available as on the AT or PCT, there are campsites (3pounds) with showers at nearly daily intervals.

Transportation from Dallas-Ft Worth will be to Manchester on my own American Airlines, and then by British Rail from Manchester to St Bees and from Whitby (just north of RHB) back to Manchester. Preparations began as serious walking on a regular (if not daily) basis; laps at the local park, the elliptical in layover hotels, and finally on the streets of Arlington. At first it was just get out there and do it, but it has proceeded as my gut has receded, to 6 miles at 4mph carrying 25lb pack and 2lb hand weights. While Texas is not noted for its mountains, my course has few level areas and in the 90 degree 80% humidity has done as intended - reduced me. I also dove into Coast to Coast chat rooms, studied published itineraries and trip reports, and ordered maps and guide book (horribly expensive!!!!) and train tickets to/from the route. My 25lb training day-pack is stuffed with dictionaries and bottles of water and trailer balls (no comments, please, they are just for weight) to simulate my intended hiking-pack load. It is, as Collin Fletcher would have said, all about weight.

Bear with me. My pack is a Kelty Haiku (about 3lbs), tent is an MSR Missing Link (about 3lbs), sleeping bag is a 2lb 35 degree.

Here is my packing list:

Shelter: Tent, pegs, footprint, Z-pad, sleeping bag, hat, socks, ear plugs, eye patch

Kitchen: Pepsi-can Stove, fuel bottle, pot w/lid, wind break, lighter, measuring cup, lexan fork&spoon, dish soap, brush, pot holder, camp towel, trash bag, insulated mug w/lid

Clothing: Merrel low-cut shoes, 2 pr smart-wool socks, 3 pr mesh wicking underwear, 2 wicking short sleeved t-shirts, 1 pr nylon shorts, 1 set polypro longjohns (top & bottom), 1 pr gators, 1 set Frogg Togg raingear, 2 bandanna's, 1 long-sleeved nylon/poly shirt, 1pr long (zip-off) nylon pants, 1 pr 'Crocks' shoes (these last items are to be dual purpose - they're nice enough to wear on the flights to Manchester (and hopefully still nice enough to wear back) but also light weight and quick drying to wear on the trail), 1 fleece vest

Personal: Digital camera&case&extra 2G chip, batteries, mini-tripod, sunglasses, compass, maps & guide book, headlight, journal & pencil, monocular (like binoculars only, well, one of them), bug spray, Bull Frog sunblock, iodine tablets. walking sticks

Bathroom: TP&hand sanitizer, trowel, toothbrush, toothpaste, personal towel, small bar of soap, Dr. Bronners liquid soap, mirror, personal wipes, disposable razor and deodorant (for the trip home)

Medical: Moleskin and scissors, athletic tape, ace bandage, nail clipper, gauze pads, bandaids, antibiotic ointment, peptobizmal, lotmil, aspirin, ibuprofen, tweezers, magnifying glass, thermometer strip

Food: Oatmeal breakfast bars, pouched tuna/chicken/albacore, Cliff & Power Bars, instant soups, Mountain Home freeze dried meals.

I think that's about it. I used Coleman compressing bags on the sleeping bag and clothing; free stuffed the tent, and Zip-lock bagged the rest. The Kelty bag has a hydrator bladder so I'll fill that each morning and carry a small bottle of water for emergency. As I've noted, towns are not too far apart, so there'll be tap and bottled water available daily if not several times each day so I'm not taking 2 weeks worth of food or water treatments etc. In fact the guidebook really put me off the idea of filtering water when it discussed the sheep feces and fertilizers in the lakes and streams. All told the load is 27lbs, or about 20% of my 140lb body weight. I'd like to trim a few more pounds off each, but there's not enough time.

I have listed for flights from Dallas Ft Worth (DFW) to Chicago (ORD) on 13AUG to spend the night with my sister and her husband, then from ORD to Manchester International UK (MAN) on 14AUG arriving 15AUG at 0720. The train leaves MAN (how convenient) at 1127 with one stop and arrives St Bees at 1630 15AUG. I plan to camp there and begin my walk on 16AUG to arrive Robin Hood's Bay on 29AUG. The next day, 30AUG, I will transport up to Whitby for the train back to MAN, arriving mid afternoon. My flight from MAN to ORD leaves in the morning of 31AUG and continues back to DFW by 1730. All things going to plan.
Currently the weather in northern England is intermittent light rain with temps hovering around 60degrees.

Fahrenheit.