5/15/08

Day 5: Patterdale to Shap (June 28, 2007)

Accommodation: Fell House (a.k.a. the lonely place with no heat or hot water)
Distance walked: 17 miles

Walking buddies for a day

How do I feel? A bit tired and worried about my knee - now that there won't be so much up and down I hope it does better. My foot is doing great though! Back at the farm last night, I mentioned to the guy that my foot was bothering me and he said fresh sheep wool would do the trick. And what did I find sitting on top of my boots this morning?! None other than a freshly sheared batch of sheep wool! And it's seemed to have done the trick. [And it did too. For the rest of the trip I didn't have a problem and I actually left it sticking to my socks the whole time... gross I know, but what can I say?!] It's also a wonderful cushion and even a little nice warmth without sweat!

one of my socks at the end of the walk....
I know, pretty gross - but it worked!

Today Kimmi and I walked from Patterdale to Shap while Ruth and Breanne took the ferry down Ullswater and then the bus to Shap. I'm glad it worked out that way as I really didn't want to tackle the long 17 miles in tricky navigation by myself. And I'm so glad that we met those two and got to know them. Kimmi was so much fun to walk with, and we had a fun time finding humorous ways to liven up the walk. Like posing as a dead red squirrel or pretending to run away from bulls.

Looking back at Patterdale and Ullswater...and Bre and Ruth

We started off hiking up out of Patterdale and it wasn't half bad out with sun coming and going. So we climbed up and up to Angletarn where the wind started howling, but at least then it was still pretty nice out although we could see the dark clouds coming up on the horizon. Then we went over the tarn and came to this little dip and lake that had these islands and it just looked like a little oasis with palm trees. I joked that we had been transported to the tropics (without the heat though). It was here that we met up with 5 guys who were camping the C2C and were trying to head all the way to Orton by tonight. I don't know if they ever made it because we kept up with them pretty much the whole day and saw them at the co-op in Shap when it was POURING down rain around 4:30. But on we went, the wind blowing ever harder and finally, what seemed inevitable, the rain. As we headed up to Kidsty Pike it was blowing sideways, practically knocking us over, and I'll have to admit, there is something about that kind of weather that makes it exciting and gets the adrenalin going. I'm glad I had Kimmi with me too because not only was it pretty lonely feeling way up there, but the navigation was a bit tricky, and there were a couple of spots we kind of had to backtrack. But we made it to the top of Kidsty Pike, our highest point of the walk, but didn't stay long to reflect, but instead quickly started heading down because the temperature was very cold with all that wind and rain. While doing this Kimmi saw some deer bounding up ahead trying to cross and they came over right in front of us. I wonder how they are able to bound their ways up and down those hillsides. It really is amazing. We really don't use our bodies anymore - I just think how in the past people would do these walks from village to village over the fells as day walks. They would do it all the time - and I think people still do it today - but for the most part, we just use cars. All these paths that we are following on this walk are those old trails that people walked to get village to village. Once we got out of the Lakes, there would be signs on the paths, pointing down different routes saying "this way to such and such."

Almost to the top - Kidsty Pike - the highest point of the walk

Coming down we met these wonderful guys who all had worked together at a glass factory outside Manchester and once a month they all go on these hikes. And they were all so classically British! They were telling us about the town that used to be where the Hayes water Resevoir is and the road on the other side that was called Coffin Road because they would carry people who died along the road and over to Shap. And one of the guys, Frank, took our picture because he documents and writes about all their walks - this one being the 108th!! So then we finally made it down and started the trek around the Hayeswater saying goodbye to the Lake District. This is where my knee and upper thigh started hurting, and I just had to grit and bear it for the rest of the walk around the lake and then through fields into Shap, where we arrived as it started a complete downpour that really was quite cold! I had to have a hot chocolate to get the chills out as our B&B, the Fell house, had no hot water and it was FREEZING - and their website made it look all nice and fancy. Instead it just felt lonely and cold. All of Shap really. It could have been the nasty weather though.

But anyway - Stedman really made this section after the Lakes to be a lot worse than it was. We actually had some fun. I pretended to be a dead squirrel in the middle of the road, Kimmi pretended to run away from a bull, and we joked about it being kind of like a treasure hunt trying to find our way around the fields. "Cross the fence look diagonally and spot the grove of trees. head there and turn right...etc.. etc.." Also little signs started popping up on the footpath saying "Discover Eden." Hmmm... I'm still looking I guess. I wonder if we will ever discover it?

Dangerous water?!?


Oh no! Not careful enough

The bull is charging..aaah!


When we reached Shap Abbey, an old abbey that was destroyed during the reign of Henry VIII, it started to POUR. The only thing we could do was put on our raincoats and trudge on, reaching Shap around 5:00. Arriving soaking wet, I got changed (no hot water or heat..aaah!) and Bre and I met Kimmi and Ruth for dinner at the Kings Arms. It was bittersweet as this was our parting of ways. They are going to do a 21 mile walk tomorrow where we were splitting it into 2 days. I promised Kimmie I would think of her as I'm eating my homemade chocolate cake in Orton (where we are stopping) while they are trudging on. All the more power to them, but I think I'll have my cake thank you very much. But they have been such a good company these past few days and I won't forget them. Perhaps someday we will meet again. Maybe for another trek somewhere.


1 comment:

Steve H. said...

Coty & Bre,

Thanks for posting your adventures. My son and I will be doing the Coast to Coast in 3 weeks time and your descriptions helped give us a better idea of what to prepare for...and I'm very happy now to be working with Packhorse.

Also as Americans coming from overseas it was good to get a Yankee perspective on the C2C :)

Cheers