Distance 20 miles
Climbing 1,755 ft
Weather Mainly overcast with some showers. Brighter later.
Difficulty Moderate with some easy sections.
Please click on photos to expand
Climbing 1,755 ft
Weather Mainly overcast with some showers. Brighter later.
Difficulty Moderate with some easy sections.
Please click on photos to expand
The weather did not look very promising when we woke after our last night at the Troutbridge site, it was overcast and there was a threat of rain in the air. Since we were moving our camp, as soon as we had breakfasted, we packed our gear and struck the tents before loading them into the car before leaving for our days walking.
The plan was for John to drop us at Shap while he went on ahead to find our next base, he had already made a phone call to Rukins at Keld but found the lady most unhelpful so had already decided to give that a miss.
We arrived at Shap to find it was drizzling with light rain, not nearly as bad as our first day, but enough for us to don our waterproofs before setting off. Within a few minutes we had crossed the footbridges over both the railway and the M6 motorway and begun our 20 mile trek to Kirkby Stephen. Shortly after passing Oddendale we caught up with a small group of walkers heading in the same direction as we were and among them were two blokes from Leicester who were walking the coast to coast to raise money for prostate cancer. We were to run into them again over the next few days during which time one of them developed blisters and was limping badly. I hope they completed the walk, but I have my doubts.
The countryside through which we were travelling was of course not nearly as challenging as the Lake District and we found that for the most part the walking was quite easy. The navigation proved easy too with more way marks in the first few miles than we had seen all the way from St Bees to Shap. Having said that, a moment’s inattention and we found ourselves trudging downhill on the road into Orton. We considered turning back but since there was very little traffic we decided to continue. As we entered Orton we spotted the Orton Scar Cafe where, instead of our usual cake & coffee we decided to have an all day breakfast. I would have no hesitation in recommending this café to other Coast to coasters. The food was good as was the service cheerfully given by the young waitress.
After our break we set off again leaving Orton via a pretty little bridge carrying the B6261 following the road a little way before turning off at Street lane and taking a footpath which led to a stone circle (not exactly Stonehenge)
By this time the weather was improving and we were able to take off our waterproofs from time to time which made walking more comfortable. As we neared Kirkby Stephen the countryside became less wild and gave way to pastureland full of sheep & cattle, in one or two places, the footpaths described in our guide and those shown on the O/S map did not agree but we had no problem finding our way into town via a back lane. We contacted John on the phone and he was with us within a very few minutes and told us that he had good news and bad news. The bad news was that the tents hadn’t been put up. The good news was that he had booked us onto The Orchard Camping sit at Reeth and the proprietor, ‘Peter’ had offered us one of his famous condemned five star caravans for a few nights at only £6 pp.pn. For those that don’t know, these vans are tatty, but clean and much better than a tent on a wet and windy night
The plan was for John to drop us at Shap while he went on ahead to find our next base, he had already made a phone call to Rukins at Keld but found the lady most unhelpful so had already decided to give that a miss.
We arrived at Shap to find it was drizzling with light rain, not nearly as bad as our first day, but enough for us to don our waterproofs before setting off. Within a few minutes we had crossed the footbridges over both the railway and the M6 motorway and begun our 20 mile trek to Kirkby Stephen. Shortly after passing Oddendale we caught up with a small group of walkers heading in the same direction as we were and among them were two blokes from Leicester who were walking the coast to coast to raise money for prostate cancer. We were to run into them again over the next few days during which time one of them developed blisters and was limping badly. I hope they completed the walk, but I have my doubts.
The countryside through which we were travelling was of course not nearly as challenging as the Lake District and we found that for the most part the walking was quite easy. The navigation proved easy too with more way marks in the first few miles than we had seen all the way from St Bees to Shap. Having said that, a moment’s inattention and we found ourselves trudging downhill on the road into Orton. We considered turning back but since there was very little traffic we decided to continue. As we entered Orton we spotted the Orton Scar Cafe where, instead of our usual cake & coffee we decided to have an all day breakfast. I would have no hesitation in recommending this café to other Coast to coasters. The food was good as was the service cheerfully given by the young waitress.
After our break we set off again leaving Orton via a pretty little bridge carrying the B6261 following the road a little way before turning off at Street lane and taking a footpath which led to a stone circle (not exactly Stonehenge)
By this time the weather was improving and we were able to take off our waterproofs from time to time which made walking more comfortable. As we neared Kirkby Stephen the countryside became less wild and gave way to pastureland full of sheep & cattle, in one or two places, the footpaths described in our guide and those shown on the O/S map did not agree but we had no problem finding our way into town via a back lane. We contacted John on the phone and he was with us within a very few minutes and told us that he had good news and bad news. The bad news was that the tents hadn’t been put up. The good news was that he had booked us onto The Orchard Camping sit at Reeth and the proprietor, ‘Peter’ had offered us one of his famous condemned five star caravans for a few nights at only £6 pp.pn. For those that don’t know, these vans are tatty, but clean and much better than a tent on a wet and windy night