Day 9 Kirkby Stephen to Muker ( 13.6 miles)

Day 9 – Kirkby Stephen to Muker (the on-going trek of Maurice and Munroe)


After a fantastic breakfast and the promise to Chrys the owner that we would be back to stay again, we set off at 9.20 in a light drizzle, stopping shortly for a compulsory picture of us on Franks bridge!

Then it was up the hill to the Nine Standards Rigg. On the way up we passed two groups that we have been bumping into all the way since the start, the Americans and Jane & Keith, the Dorking couple.  On the way up we had a look back and had our last look of Kidsty Pike, and were suprised as we thought that yesterday would be the last view of it!

We reached the Nine Standards Rigg at 11.18. The Nine standards are manmade cairns of stone, although no-one seems to know what they were built for! At this point we also crossed the watershed, so all the water from now on is copying us and is heading to the North Sea.

Sadly for us at this point the cloud came down, the wind was up and the rain started so on went all the wet weather gear again and the walk across the bogs started. Because the conditions were so awful we teamed up with the Dorking couple, the Americans and also Barry & Sue who had caught us up at this point.

James and Sean loved the bogs! There is no way that any of us could get over them without getting wet. To get over them, we tried running, jumping, walking lightly but to no avail, we all got wet. It was very slow going and the bogs were very deep, some of the gullies were over 6 foot deep, but eventually the cloud lifted and the rain stopped so at least we could see where to go!

We all took a break for lunch at 1.05 at Whitsun Dale Beck and the sun even came out! Then off again toward Keld, stopping at Raven seat farm for some coffee and cake! Julia Bradbury also stopped here when she came through, if it is good enough for her then it is certainly good enough for us. Sadly here, we said farewell to our new friends as we were staying in different locations and from today on we are not likely to see them again.

We set off from Raven seat Farm for Keld at 3.02pm, passing the Wainwath falls at 4pm, eventually reaching Keld at 4.10.

Keld is the half way point of the Coast to Coast and is also where the Pennine way crosses our path. We diverted onto the Pennine Way to head for our destination at Muker, which we reached at 5.36pm.

We stayed at Bridge House, which was a lovely B & B and only 100 metres from the Farmers Arms, where we went for supper. Once again an excellent pint of Black Sheep!

Day 8 - Orton To Kirkby Stephen ( 12.4 miles)

After a surprisingly good breakfast we left the rather inadequate B&B behind and headed across the fields to Sunbiggin, the walk was fairly flat but hard on the ankles as it was uneven underfoot.

After reaching Sunbiggin we walked across Tarn moor to Sunbiggin Tarn.

From here we made our way across Ravonstonedale Moor and it was from here we could just about see Kidsty Pike on the horizon.

we continued across the moor in the shadow of Great Ewe Fell stopping for lunch before reaching Bents Farm.

We then pushed on over Begin Hill and dropped steeply into the valley crossing Smardale Bridge and catching sight of Smardale Aquaduct.

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The weather here was very windy and the clouds were threatening heavy rain with huge dark black clouds looming overhead.

We then climbed upwards onto Smardale Fell where it was very windy and we could see The Nine Standards in the distance on Millstone Rigg where we will be walking tomorrow

Arrived at Kirkby Stephen at 3.15 but the B&B was not open so we went for tea and cake across the road!

This B&B The Old Crofthouse was unbelievably luxurious and a very warm welcome of pots of tea and coffee and fresh cream scones. We also had foot spas, spa bath and fluffy dressing gowns. Jac and I had deep bubble baths whilst Gary and neil went to the launderette (and pub!).
We decided to eat et the B&B instead of having fish and chips and were not dissapointed.
We then spent a lovely relaxed evening having a drink with friends we had met on the way, Sue and Barry, before retiring to bed at 10.30.

Day 7 – Bampton to Orton ( 13 miles)

After a very disappointing breakfast (which reduced our scoring on the hotel at Bampton to just a 9 out of 10) we set off at 9.44am. A great start as all we had to do was to go through a church yard opposite where we had stayed. Gail the trail blazer decided that we had to walk around the church first which added another 100 yards to the trip, much to the annoyance of the boys!

All was going really well today as the walking was easy and gentle until we came across the smallest gate in the world. This was fine until Neil had to go through, not an easy task with his medium build!!!

We reach Shap Abbey at 10.38 and after a small detour we headed to Shap where we bought lunch, Of course with this task allocated to Jacqui and Gail, it took over half an hour to buy four sandwiches and a bag of crisps!

The next milestone for us was the M6, which we crossed at 12.02, which is a third of our walk. We stopped to look back to Lakeland and Kidsty Pike, where we were 23 hours earlier.

After crossing the M6 we headed to Oddendale where we stopped for our lunch in the sunshine at 12.37.

We carried on toward our destination, passing the Erratic Boulder (known by us as the Erotic Boulder) and then on to Orton where we are staying, arriving at the George Hotel at 3.09 in bright warm sunny weather.

On arrival, we were met by Miles, Sarah, Emily and Sam who had called in to see us on their way back from their holiday in Scotland, which was fantastic (particularly as they took away a load of dirty laundry with them).

We are now in the bar at 7.20, playing darts, drinking Cumberland ale (which is very good). The George Hotel is probably the least good place that we have stayed, on our rating we have given it a 3/10, which is being generous!

Day 6 Patterdale to Bampton ( 12 miles)

After a late night due to rowdy customers outside The White Lion pub smoking we had an ok breakfast and donned the wet weather gear yet again as it had started raining.
We purchased sandwiches and cake in the famous village store and set out.

The climb up to Angle Pikes was steep and long, everyone was feeling pain in their legs and we all made slow progress. We walked through Boredale Hause and caught a glimpse of Brothers Water in the distance.

As usual when we reached what we thought was the summit another one appeared!
We were met with many bogs on this path having to pick a route out, leaving Ullswater behind and eventually reaching Angle Tarn which was very picturesque as the sun shone on its surface.

We then headed on upwards round the back of The Knot meeting up with High Street and eventually up to Kidsty Pike at 780 metres (the highest part of the whole Coast to Coast walk). we looked across to Riggindale Crag to try and spot the last Golden Eagle in England but to no avail.

It was also from here that we took a last look as we left the lakes behind.

From here we walked down a sharp descent to the head of Haweswater stopping for lunch halfway down this part really tested our thighs and knees.

We walked along the left hand side of Haweswater a mere 4 miles long which seemed to take forever and was very undulating.

We eventually reached the dam at the end of Haweswater walking through the village of Burnbank and onto Bampton Grange to our next bed and breakfast, Crown and Mitre.

This was a welcome sight as we were all feeling rather jaded and we were not dissapointed. We are rating all the B&B's we are stopping in and this is top of the list so far, very luxurious, very comfortable rooms and fantastic evening meal. We are currently sitting in the bar enjoying an evening drink feeling very relaxed.

Day 5 Grassmere to Patterdale ( 8.5 miles)

We set out at 10.18 on a wet morning after a hearty breakfast of Bacon, Sausage  ,Egg , Black Pudding Beans etc and said good bye to Ben and Phil.

With gay abandon we set off with only one blister between us towards Tongue Gill. After a short walk we started the ascent into the clouds and took the lower path to the right as the views from the high path of Grasmere would be obscured by cloud.

As we walked towards the waterfalls we could barely see the edge top in the clouds

We reached the top at 12.00 and coud just see Grisdale Tarn below us through the mist and mirk of the "hooligan" that was now blowing., 5 minutes later we were down by the tarn with the wind and rain lashing us, the water was so rough we could have surfed on it !

The weather was so bad we didnt bother looking for the "Parting Stones" but headed straight down to try and get some relief from the lashing rain, here you see Neil looking very dashing

Continuing on we reached Ruthwaite Lodge at 12.50 with the weather now giving us some relief and Striding Edge now visible on our left

With the rain now intermittent everyone was feeling more cheery and all the hard work over the walking down Grisdale Beck was nice and easy

Suddenly up on the edge Jacqui noticed a man walking his dog ( was it Kev and Floss ?) what do you think ?

Finally we reached journeys end the White Lion at Patterdale at 14.22 with light rain and rain drops on the camera !

To keep our spirits up, Neil, Gary, Gail and Jacqui had a stroll down to the Patterdale Hotel as they had free WiFi to update the blog, and whilst there we had to try the local ale!  Patterdale Ale, very good! After a couple of pints we headed back to the White Lion in the sunshine for supper. 

After supper, the boys went to their room to play on the XBox and a young Danish couple sat next to us.  The Danish girl clearly had eyes for Neil and Gary!

The evening was rounded off with a few games of Dominoes (the Danes were most intrigued by this strange game) which Gary failed to win a single round of! 

Very good beer at the White Lion, it was called 'White Lion' and well worth a try.  Neil pulled the bar maid who it turns out comes from Warminser!