Once again sunshine,
blue skies and warm conditions greeted us when we woke, perfect weather for our
victory walk in to Robin Hoods Bay. After a quick breakfast of muesli and toast
we hit the trial for just after 8am, we wanted a confidant and early start today,
the last day is still fairly challenging with enough up’s and downs to leave
you suitably shattered on arrival, especially on a hot day like this we
thought.
We had a fine walk
that morning leaving Egton Bridge, it was a nice mix of bridle tracks and
woodland walking before we arrived at the Falling Foss cafe in Little Beck Woods,
surely no other cafe can have a setting like this, deep in Little Beck Woods
with the Falling Foss water fall visible near the outdoor seating area and the
trees providing some welcome shade from the sun, a perfect stop for lunch, even
if it was only 11:30am.
Already sat down,
guess who, yep, Astrix and Martin were already enjoying coffee and cakes, still
just one step ahead of us, but not finishing their C2C until tomorrow, so they
were only heading to Hawkster today, planning the final stretch across the
cliff tops to the bay in the morning, so they were in no rush enjoying their
“brunch”.
After our tea and
cakes we said our goodbyes to our friends, for what we thought would surely be
the final time. We followed the bridle track and road out of Little Beck woods,
just at the right time it seemed as day trippers were now beginning to swamp
Falling Foss overwhelming the tranquillity we were enjoying. The walk along the
normally wet and boggy moors was an easy one; the hot sun had dried all the
bogs making the crossing of Sneaton Low Moor a much easier one today. Walking
across the moors provided fine views of Whitby Abbey, the North Sea clearly visible
beyond. We arrived at Hawkster at around
14:30, still feeling pretty good, but now ready for a coffee and something
proper to eat (not cake).
We stopped at a cafe
at the North Cliff Caravan Park, wanting to save the last walk along the Cliff
Top to the Bay for just a little longer.
After our lunch stop
I put my Rucksack on for one last time for our final 2-3 mile walk along the
cliff tops to Robin Hoods Bay, the weather hazed over slightly which I was
really pleased about, just enough to take the direct sun heat off us for our
final section. The walk across the cliff tops is a dramatic one, with stunning
views both north and south cross the ridge, it’s great to end the walk as it’s
starts with a cliff top walk, it is very similar to St Bees and memories of our
walk setting off 12 days ago came flooding back.
We arrived at the
end of the cliff top walk and began to descend the steep road into Robin Hoods
Bay, as we did I noticed a bloke who looked just like Sarah’s dad taking photos
of everything that moved, only two groups of people take photos of literally
everything, Japanese tourists and Sarah’s dad Bill which confirmed that it was
him!
So the three of us
walked down the final stretch down to smugglers bay to touch the North Sea and
throw our stones. After meeting up with Lyne Sarah’s mum & dipping our
boots in the sea Bill said “right, who’s for a drink” great idea we thought, we
sat outside the Bay Hotel reflecting on our walk and telling stories of the
up’s and downs of or journey for the next hour or so. Sarah’s parents had also
bought us a certificate from Cromwell’s at the bottom of the bay; on our first
C2C in 2011 our friends had bought us one similar for our achievements. The
special thing about this certificate was it combined all three C2C walks, 2011,
2012 and 2014, 576 miles in total, thanks guys!
We finished our
drinks and walked back down to the sea, with the tide now fully in and lapping
around the foot of the bay to throw our stones in to complete our journey,
quite an emotional moment really and officially ending coast to coast 2014. One
good thing about Bill’s continual picture taking was he got some great shots of
us throwing our stones into the North Sea, pictures we’d no doubt look back on
with happy memories.
And that was it, our
Coast to Coast journey was over, and far too quickly it seemed. I think our
previous C2C walks, as well as some other long and multiple days walks we’d
done had mainly been enjoyed on reflection, but this walk had been enjoyed
right from day one, and every day since. Even though it was our 3rd
C2C we still found out more about this walk, again tweaking our route from
previous crossings. Each C2C was very different from the last, which each being
its own unique experience.
We both agreed C2C
2014 was our finest experience, with no injuries or blister problems to speak
of, lovely places we’d stayed, good navigation, in particular on the tricky
days over in the lakes shrouded in cloud, wind and rain we remained positive
and on route (easier said than done). And with that in mind we’d discovered
more about ourselves on C2C, yet again, on this walk you will always learn more
about yourself and each other.
People ask me “why
don’t you have a relaxing holiday, instead of hiking almost 200 miles?”, We
always feel totally away from the rest of the world on C2C, no traffic, emails,
phone calls (even phone signals are rare), and so return totally refreshed
after our experience, plus the people we meet and places we see make this walk.
We never did find
out what happed to the two guys who got lost on Dent Hill on day one, did they
carry on from Ennerdale? Did they ever make it to Borrowdale?, who knows, I
have my doubts, we also never met Paul and Tony again as we left them after
lunch back in Danby Whisk on day 9, which was a shame.
Me and Sarah are
getting married next year in the Lakes, so we perhaps won’t get the chance to
walk C2C again for sometime at least, and we definitely want to walk another
long distance trail at some point too, the Pennine Way won’t stop bugging me
until I’ve done it I’m sure, so maybe that next? But I’d hate to think this is
our last Coast to Coast, and we’re hopeful it won’t be, but maybe the last for
a few years we suspect.
And there it ends
I’m afraid, 2 years in the planning, 12 days in the walking and a life time in
the memories, Coast to Coast 2014 is at its end.
If anyone reading
this is contemplating walking Coast to Coast you must, it is a truly fantastic
experience and one you will never forget, but proceed with caution, you might
just become addicted......
Sarah & Sean’s Coast
to Coast
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