Nix the van...

The Ms got a preview of overall British service quality (hey, I hear there's a new product in development to measure such things!) The net result--no 15 seat van rental.

Instead, we're going with 2 seven seaters. And we all seem to be concluding that might work out better anyway.

Rather than get bogged down in the details of how the driving for each leg is going to go, I have a new strategy. Each day, we will plan the next day. Given the forecast, that makes even more sense:

As a reminder of the basic schedule...

July 1st: fetch second van from Carlisle, do loop walk in St Bees.
July 2nd: walk Ennerdale Bridge to the slate mine, and drive to Grasmere where we stay the night.
July 3rd: drive back to Borrowdale and walk to Grasmere.
July 4th: walk Grasmere to Glenridding.
July 5th: rest day in Glenridding).

Test Run: Mt Si

Knowing that we needed an elevation challenge before the real thing, we tackled Mt Si today. We set off early enough to be on the trail by 7:40am, mostly to avoid the promised crowds on such a popular hike.

Steady slog uphill, took about 2.5 hours to do the 4 miles up. I found the steps a little hard--many of them are rather high for a little person like me :) But overall, especially armed with poles, it was very doable and quite enjoyable. 

We stopped at the top to enjoy the view, eat sandwiches, and have coffee! In a fit of brilliance, DC brought along flasks with boiling water and milk, and instant coffee. Delicious, given the circumstances.

DC headed up a little further--more of a rock scrambling. I had thought we were looking at Haystack, but in fact it was out of view from where I was sitting and a much more substantial rock face. Needless to say, neither of us attempted!

Haystack. In about three weeks, we'll be hopefully visiting Haystacks, Cumbria, if the weather allows.

We headed back down. The trail was already much busier with people coming up, so we took the Talus Loop side trail, which was delightful--narrow, wilder, and quiet.

Took about 5 hours from when we left the trailhead to when we returned. Not bad! (Note that the MapMyWalk pace numbers are absurdly exaggerated...it thinks we did the whole thing in 2 hours! No idea why.)

Everything falling into place beautifully

15 seat van BOOKED! Fantastic. The logistics are slightly different than the last plan. We all meet up in St Bees (the Ls and Ms arriving by train, Cs by car). Next day, DC drives the van drivers to Carlisle to drop off Cs rental and pick up van.

Current van drivers are MM, DC, and RL. If it's an automatic, should I "woman up" and add myself to that roster? Not even an option if it's a manual.

Training finally going really well. DC & I conquered a 2000ft climb on Sunday, up Tiger Mt Summit #3.

I followed that with a 7 mile walk home from downtown Redmond today. Feeling creaky right now, but overall optimistic that the walk is doable.

Best discovery of the weekend--hiking poles are useful! On a steep uphill, the poles make it feel less tiring. On a steep downhill, they're practically essential for stability. These are the poles I got from Costco:

Ah....the 15 seat Ford Transit to the rescue...

MM used the miracle of communication to establish that we can, after all, rent and drive a minivan that will accommodate everyone. That changes everything! Here's the re-think:

Day 0: "Fancy meeting you here!"

All meet up in Carlisle, pick up minivan. Drive (together!) to St Bees.

Day 1: "Warm up"

Loop walk, 5-8 miles
Acquire provisions (snacks etc) for days ahead

Day 2: "Drawing straws to (not) be driver"

Drive 11 people and bags St Bees to Ennerdale 20 mins
(Walkers set off east, 11 mile walk)

Drive bags Ennerdale to Grasmere 50 mins
Drive Grasmere to Honister Hause 34 min
Walk west to meet rest of party
Walk back to Honister Hause with everyone

Drive 11 people Honister Hause to Grasmere 34 mins
Drink

Map of bus system (not that we need it any more, with the wonders of a 15 seat van!)

Day 3: "We can't all drive..."

As muscles scream from the previous day's hill climb, there may be great enthusiasm for being the driver today.

Drive 11 people west Grasmere to Rosthwaite 29 min
Walkers set off east, 9 miles 2000 ft el
Drive back to Grasmere 29 min
Driver walks west from Grasmere to meet eastbound walkers

Day 4: "8 miles till a rest day"

Simpler days beckon

Walkers set off east, 8 miles 1800ft el gain
Drive bags to Glenridding 38 mins
Driver walks west to meet eastbound crew

Day 5: "Sit down protest"

I picture us spending the day on the lawn of one of the hotels in the sunshine drinking gin and tonic. Except that it probably will be raining and none of us will have the energy to walk to the bar to get the drinks and, since we're not in Kansas any more, no-one will bring the drinks to us. So we'll just slump somewhere blob-like.

Day 6 and beyond: "Too far away to care"

The biggest walking and driving challenges will be behind us. We'll be a well-oiled machine (or a creaking, groaning, grumpy machine) so I'm not going to think this far ahead.

Driving may be harder than walking...logistically

Because we're approaching this walk in an unconventional way (not walking coast to coast, nor even coast to middle, but walking a coastal loop then driving to the Lake District, and walking select segments not necessarily in the right direction or all together) we may have replaced a major walking challenge with a major driving one instead.

I think I'm the only one tangled up in the details of this. I'm hoping that a blog post will either untangle my brain or get everyone to freak out :)

Day 0: "Fancy meeting you here!"

All arrive in St Bees. Likely Cs by minivan, Ls and Ms by train.

Day 0 or 1: "Paperwork"

Everyone who might feasibly drive the 7-seat minivan has to present at the car hire place (probably Budget in Workington) to be added to insurance.

Day 1: "Warm up"

Loop walk, 5-8 miles
Acquire provisions (snacks etc) for days ahead

Day 2: "Drawing straws to (not) be driver"

Drive 6 people St Bees to Ennerdale 20 mins
Drive back 20 mins
Pick up bags and 4 people, drive St Bees to Ennerdale 20 mins
(Walkers set off east, 11 mile walk)

Drive bags Ennerdale to Grasmere 50 mins
Drive Grasmere to Honister Hause 34 min
Walk west to meet rest of party
Walk back to Honister Hause with everyone

Drive 6 people Honister Hause to Grasmere 34 mins
Drive back 34 mins
Drive 4 people to Grasmere 34 mins
Drink

There are some alternatives possible here. The first is simply to skip to the final step without ever leaving St Bees :) More reasonable alternatives include having all of the second group walk west with the driver. And/or finding 4 people willing to explore the public bus system at the end of a 11 mile walk (I'll sign up for that happily, so just need 3 more volunteers.)

Map of bus system

I don't think 6 people + all bags will fit in the van. It might even be tight with 4 people + all bags. So that also complicates things.

Day 3: "We can't all drive..."

As muscles scream from the previous day's hill climb, there may be great enthusiasm for being the driver today.

Drive 6 people west Grasmere to Rosthwaite 29 min
Walkers set off east, 9 miles 2000 ft el
Drive back to Grasmere 29 min
Remaining 5 people walk west from Grasmere to meet eastbound crew

Some alternatives here too. The van could be left in Rosthwaite, as long as the eastbound crew were determined to make it all the way to Rosthwaite to drive it back to Grasmere.

Also, depending on the bus experience from day 2, the eastbound crew could take the bus from Grasmere to Rosthwaite.

Day 4: "8 miles till a rest day"

Simpler days beckon

Walkers set off east, 8 miles 1800ft el gain
Drive bags to Glenridding with up to 5 people 38 mins
Walk west to meet eastbound crew

Day 5: "Sit down protest"

I picture us spending the day on the lawn of one of the hotels in the sunshine drinking gin and tonic. Except that it probably will be raining and none of us will have the energy to walk to the bar to get the drinks and, since we're not in Kansas any more, no-one will bring the drinks to us. So we'll just slump somewhere blob-like.

Day 6 and beyond: "Too far away to care"

The biggest walking and driving challenges will be behind us. We'll be a well-oiled machine (or a creaking, groaning, grumpy machine) so I'm not going to think this far ahead.

Motivation that seems to be working...

So the bingo card idea didn't seem to work.... but the combination of MapMyWalk.com and a FitBit has been magical for me. Here's an example of a MapMyWalk summary of a recent wandering:

And similarly from FitBit:

Definitely highly motivated by meeting my goals on FitBit, and enjoying the mapping of MapMyWalk.

I'm plotting a two-Starbucks walk AND a three-Starbucks walk for the weeks ahead.

Motivation

You'd think "not wanting to feel like I'm dying after the first few miles of the walk" would be sufficient, but it hasn't been so far. So I need something more fun and immediate.

On a walk up to Starbucks with R last weekend, I thought that a bingo card approach might work for me. That day was under 40 degrees and sunny. How about I check off different conditions for walking at least 2 miles? Two done so far this year:

< 40, sunny // 4 miles to RR Starbucks 1/5/14
< 50, windy & dry //4 miles to Avondale 1/11/14

Future possibilities:

1. Below freezing, sunny
2. Below freezing, cloudy
3. Windy and wet
4. Heavy rain
5. Fog
6. Drizzle
7. Sunny
8. With backpack
9. < 60
10. < 70
11. < 80
12. Starbucks -> Starbucks (8 mile round trip....two of those one weekend and I think we're ready!)

Worth a try!

Updated schedule, showing mileage and elevation gain each day....

Added more accurate mileage each day, and some elevation gain information too. Easier to read if you click on it so it opens up full size...

Gosh this mapping stuff is hard....

I really thought I could quickly put together a map showing where we are walking and which parts we're driving. Turns out not to be easy (or maybe even possible!) to create such a map. So I'm starting with this aerial view:

Now off to Photoshop with the version that shows the roads, so I can manually add the stopping places and the parts where we're driving. How silly!

OK, here's the resulting map, which I've also used as the blog background for now...

All accommodation booked for Cs and Ls, some for Ms

Here's the plan:

• Mon June 30th St Bees, Stonehouse Farm (C, L)
• Tue July 1st St Bees, Stonehouse Farm (C, L)
• Wed July 2nd...Grasmere Hostel (C, L, M)
• Thu July 3rd....Grasmere Hostel (C, L, M)
• Fri July 4th....Best Western Glenridding  (C, L)
• Sat July 5th....Best Western Glenridding  (C, L) FORMAL NIGHT
• Sun July 6th....Bampton, Crown and Mitre (C, L, M)
• Mon July 7th....The George Hotel  (C, L)
• Tue July 8th....Augill Castle north of Kirkby Stephen  (C, L)
• Wed July 9th....Augill Castle again  (C, L)
• Thu July 10th....we scatter!

Stonehouse Farm...a working farm, where we'll spend the first night, walk a short 5-6 mile loop the next day, returning to the farm for the second night.


We'll then drive from St Bees to Ennerdale, and walk to Seatoller (anywhere from 10-12 miles, just depending where we decide to stop and take a ride). From there we'll get a ride (car and/or bus) to Grasmere, where we stay at the Grasmere Independent Hostel:



Next morning, my guess is that the party will divide into groups. One group will get a ride back to Seatoller (or more likely, Stonethwaite) and walk the 10 miles to Grasmere. One group will stick close to the hostel, maybe exploring Grasmere itself. Another group might head west to meet up with the group walking east. Lots of wonderful flexibility! Second night at the hostel.

From there, we walk the 10 miles to Patterdale. Would love to think I could do Helvellyn, especially Striding Edge, but I'm probably dreaming.

Then two nights at the Best Western Glenridding, spanning a rest day:


The hotel has a swimming pool and is close to Ullswater, where there's a steamer boat and other distractions. DC had the brilliant idea that we should have a formal night (in the tradition of cruises) and this will probably be when that will happen.

Suitably rested, we head out again for an 11 mile hike to Burnbanks, from where we'll hitch a ride to Bampton, where the 11 of us will occupy all of the Crown and Mitre's accommodations:



Next day, off to Orton, 12 miles if we walk it all, but my guess is that we might get a lift to Shap and walk from there, for a total of 8 miles. In Orton, we'll stay at the St George Hotel:



Then that last hike, 14 miles, to Kirkby Stephen. Though we'll have cheated so rampantly by then that who knows what we'll actually do! For sure, we get a ride north from Kirkby Stephen to Augill Castle for the last two nights.

The Cs will be in the Orangery:

The Ls in the Stable:

Ms TBD!

First accommodation booked, plans taking shape...

The walk gets ever shorter! In order to not be trying to book accommodation in Grasmere over the weekend, we're going to skip a section between St Bees and Ennerdale Bridge. We'll do the coast portion, then loop back to St Bees. Then drive to Ennerdale Bridge (or more likely, to the western shore of Ennerdale Water). We'll walk to Seatoller (12 miles) then another 12 miles to Grasmere on Thursday. 8 miles to Patterdale (Glenridding) where we'll spend two nights. 11 miles to Burnbanks, drive to Shap, 7.5 miles to Orton, then a final 12 miles to Kirkby Stephen.

So we were at 82  miles, now we're subtracting about 10, so probably 72 miles or so?

I've booked two nights for the C family at Best Western Glenridding:
https://plus.google.com/102065772183112106415/photos?hl=en


And a night at The George Hotel Orton:
http://www.thegeorgehotelorton.co.uk/



And booked the last two nights at this awesome place....
http://www.stayinacastle.com


Enquiries out for Stonehouse Farm the first two nights, Seatoller house night 3, Grassmere Hostel night 4, and Brookfield House night 7. Taking shape, taking shape!

Training program? Er....

Flights booked....

C family flights booked! L family flights booked! M family still on the fence.

Some more realistic plans for the walk itself. Instead of the whole way across, now planning just to tackle the Western part over a realistic 9 days including 1 rest day, a total of 82 miles in 8 walking days.

So let's see where we are:

Maps? Purchased
Guidebooks? Purchased
Walking boots? Purchased
Flights? Purchased
Training program? Er....

In comparison, the C2C is a stroll...

Look what this guy's planning to do! Round the world hike, totally 18,000 miles over 3 years carrying a 50lb pack. Wow.

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/hiking-around-the-world-what-to-eat/#more-36509

So, how's the training going?

Define "training"!

If training means logging the miles I promised to log, it's been a dismal failure.

If training means doing something other than sitting in front of a computer for hours on end, it's been a roaring success.

The last two weeks have been, er, understated in terms of miles logged. I think I maybe did 2 miles the week before last and 3 miles last week. But I've done a ton of digging. It's like hiking for the arms! I've shifted 2 yds of sand and 2 yds of garden soil. I've schlepped barrels and planters. I've washed a car. I've chased chicks (the feathered variety!) All in the most glorious spring weather imaginable...70s and 80s in sunshine. Astonishing! I wonder if our cross country hike will be blessed with even one day like that.

Here's a photo as evidence of my endeavors:

Next week, my digging tasks will be behind me, the weather will still be glorious, so hike I must!

Equipment: Maps and Books

The 8 ordnance survey maps that cover the route arrived this week from the UK. Quite a nostalgia-trigger...first time I've handled an OS map in probably 20 years. They were such a fixture in my home growing up. I still remember the day when daddy finally bought the last OS map to complete his collection. He sure loved maps!

Funnily enough, though, I think maybe these Harvey maps will be more useful than the OS maps:

Two of these Harvey strip maps cover the whole route.

Finally, the best descriptive resource I've found so far is Henry Stedman's "Coast to Coast Path". It's a good read, with snippets of Wainwright's original, lots of good advice, and information about facilities along the route.

The April 2013 Planning Meeting (First in a Series?)

Fun evening at the L's yesterday. RL, FL, CL, MM, IM, NM, LM, LC, DC, MC, KC. And Maisie (who hid her disappointment admirably after being immediately excluded from the adventure.)

With Julia Bradbury's Coast to Coast DVD playing as a backdrop, we discussed the trip. Current thoughts:

• Take 3 weeks to do the hike, so it ends up more like 10 miles a day rather than 14 miles a day. 
• US schools are out June 17th, UK schools July 19th. So probably some time during that 4.5 week span. Most important thing is to clear the Lake District before the UK summer holidays begin.
• Maybe book in the early fall?
• Is LM (eight by then) able to walk this? The youngest walker ever was a 6 year old girl, so possible, but surely challenging.
• Meet monthly for trip planning (including comparing mileage logged?!!??)

Equipment: Boots

There is one part of any new obsession...er, I mean hobby...that I am quite talented at, and that's acquiring stuff. I am determined that my Coast to Coast focus will remain mostly on actually walking rather than shopping for walking accessories, but I've made some purchases already. Today's acquisition: boots.

In my day to day life, I wear "minimalist" shoes almost all the time--zero heel lift, very thin soles. I was hiking in the most minimalist ones: "toe shoes"...those lizard-like Vibram Five Finger shoes. But some intensive Googling couldn't find any evidence that people have walked super long distances in those shoes.

I was not feeling very enthusiastic about switching up to clomping traditional hiking boots, with thick soles and heel lift. I really enjoy the sensation of feeling the trail beneath my feet. Then I found that Vivobarefoot has come out with a minimalist hiking boot, the "Off Road Hi". I found it for sale online and took the risk.

They arrived today and were comfortable right out of the box. I walked 6.5 miles in them and they remained comfortable. So I'm thrilled with the purchase....perfect compromise between true minimalist and foot protection on a long hike.

Next equipment post will be on books I'm reading about the hike.

The Training Schedule

Only 64 weeks to go now.

Training so far:

Week 0 (3/30-6/5) (LC: 10.5; DC: 6; MC: 12)
6 mile round trip hike via the top of Squak Mountain. (LC, DC, MC)
3 round trip walks to the bus stop (each total 1.5 miles) (LC both ways, KC/MC one way)
1 4 mile walk home from school (MC)

Week 1 (4/6-4/12) (LC: 13.3; DC: 2.8; MC: 10.5)
4/6: 2.8 mile brisk walk around Green Lake (LC, DC)
4/8: 4 mile round trip to Starbucks at Redmond Ridge (LC, MC)
4/11: 6.5 mile to Starbucks at Redmond Ridge (back the long way) (LC, MC)

The Coast to Coast requires an average of 14 miles a day. They say you're probably ready if you can feel OK doing two 10 mile days back to back. Hope to achieve that mid-summer. Between now and then:

GOAL--miles per week:
6 miles a week in April with bonus points for 8 miles.
10 miles in May with at least one 6 mile walk
15 miles in June with at least one 10 mile walk
20 miles in July made up of two 10 mile walks
30 miles in August with at least one 10 mile walk

That feels far enough out to be useful.

Public Declaration of Intent

Summer 2014, I will walk across England.

Should be a piece of cake, right? I'm not the fittest I've ever been, but there are 65 weeks between now and then, so it's entirely doable.

FAQ

Why 2014?

I turn 50 in December 2013. So summer 2014 is my 50th summer. I'll have to do a whole blog post on where I was all the other summers.

DC will also be 50. DC & I will have been married for 25 years. My in-laws will have been married for 60 years. My stepfather will be 80. My niece will be 10. It's just a significant year. And not one I'm willing to just loll through.

What Route?

Wainwright's Coast to Coast. It's a hike across a reasonably narrow part of the UK, from St Bees to Robin Hood's Bay. A total of approx 200 miles through some stunning areas of England...the Lake District, Yorkshire Dales, North York Moors. About 14 miles of hiking per day, with enough terrain that it's the altitude-equivalent of hiking up and down Everest.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coast_to_Coast_Walk

Why the Coast to Coast?

Oh goodness knows! How the heck did the idea even occur to me? It's in my DNA--daddy did crazy stunts like this. As a teenager, I was dragged along for one of them--walking the length of the Kennet and Avon canal, while it was mostly a disused, nettle-infested museum to industrial Britain. He, at least, had some sense of pacing. We did chunks of it a weekend at a time. I have no such sense. I will do the Coast to Coast in one gloriously blistering trek.

I have no recollection right now of why I thought of this specific expedition. There must have been a TV show or a blog post or a dare-after-a-couple-of-glasses-of-wine. I will mine my email archive for the truth.

On Your Own?

Well, not ideally. At this point I'm sure DC will join me. MC says he will. KC is saying no way. RL & FL are threatening (FL in a team support role, meeting us for lunch, bringing us supplies, cheering us in at the end of each day).  DC's friend ChCh is saying he's interested. MM & IM are interested. VS maybe? The idea of an American mob marauding across the UK is very attractive, but I suspect in the end it may come down to mostly DC and me.

Are You NUTS?

Yes