C2C – Not Home Today

Graham & Mark’s Coast to Coast walk for Pendleside Hospice

20 May 2014/in 2014 - Coast to Coast /by Graham Denney

Only a few days to go now before myself and Mark Duerden attempt to walk the 190 mile Coast to Coast, created by the legendry Alfred Wainwright, in just 10 days. That’s a whopping average of 19 miles per day. Thankfully we get to stay in a hotel/pub each night to recover, or drink away the pain, and also get to see some of the most amazing countryside this country has to offer. We started this challenge purely as a personal one but with Pendleside Hospice being my favourite charity and run by some incredibly hard-working people, it wasn’t that hard to make the decision to raise some funds for them along the way.

I am hoping to be able to blog the journey each evening to let you all know how we are doing. I will post to Facebook and twitter regularly and you can also subscribe to this blog by entering your email address in the box at the bottom right of this page. This will ensure you get every post that is written here so you are right up to date with our progress. Im no literary genius but I will attempt to make it interesting and give you an insight into our amazing journey.

So if you feel like we are doing something good and you enjoy our journey then please please please spare a little of your hard-earned money and sponsor us. Every pound makes a huge difference to the hospice and ultimately the patients who rely on the amazing work the staff do for them.

http://www.justgiving.com/gr4ph

The C2C challenge has gone mobile

21 May 2014/in 2014 - Coast to Coast /by Graham Denney

Ive now managed to get the site optimised for viewing on mobile devices. So now theres no excuse for following our progress no matter where you are. Just type in the blog address and the magic of the internet will work out what device you have and render it accordingly. http://graden.org.uk/c2c

Please sponsor us on our epic challenge either at:

Our secure Just Giving page http://www.justgiving.com/gr4ph

Or by texting a donation. Just simply send a text to 70070 with the code GDPH65 and the amount you wish to sponsor from the following choices £1 £2 £3 £4 £5 or £10.

Day 1 – C2C Walk

25 May 2014/in 2014 - Coast to Coast /by Graham Denney

We’ll here it is at last. After months of planning we are now here and on our way. The day started with an alarm call at 4am and by 5 I had picked up Mark and we were on the road to Richmond. We arrived at around 7am with dark skies looming and the minibus driver warned us of heavy rain from his trips over the last week. The forecast was for heavy rain showers so we packed the rucksacks with plenty of waterproof clothing. The minibus transported us on a 2 hour journey to St Bees before taking our luggage to the first hotel. So suddenly there we were, stood on the sea front with 190 miles ahead of us but amazingly the weather forecasters had got it totally wrong. Gorgeous blue skies greeted us as we made our way down to the waters edge, posed for a few photos, collected a pebble and dipped our boots in the water. Then we were off.
The route starts gently with a nice undulating stroll along the coastal path and in the glorious sunshine from St Bees lighthouse we were treat to good views of Southern Scotland and the Isle of Man. After 4 miles the route turns to the east and we then have the sea behind us. The day is a fairly steady walk and we managed to get a good pace going. Around 7 miles and another photo opportunity with the statue of a walker pointing the way. From their we just went through a lot of farmland to Cleator.
Then came a shock. We knew there was a hill but just hadn’t realised how hard and steep it would be. Nearly 2 miles of vertical ascent up a grassy path but to be honest, the views at the top were stunning. Looking back we could see our full days walk all the way back to the Irish Sea and forward was the stunning forest of ennerdale. A sharp decent with just a large style (which Mark fell off lol) and then a steady walk to ennerdale bridge and the day was over.
We really couldn’t complain at the weather and the walk felt fairly easy. Mark has a few minor problems with his toes and my Achilles is hurting a bit but we feel really good. The Stork Hotel where we are staying is very nice and the landlord is a top bloke. We had a cracking lasagne and 5 pints of alcoholic beverages so need to work hard tomorrow.

Today’s full route: Day One

Day 2 – C2C Walk

26 May 2014/in 2014 - Coast to Coast /by Graham Denney

Another day today that threatened bad weather but turned out fantastic. During the night I was woken by what sounded like stones hitting the windows. It was in fact rain in a proper downpour. When we woke at 7am it was very gloomy but had at least stopped raining. We had a really good full English breakfast with the best sausages I’ve tasted in ages, although Mark wasn’t keen.
The landlord called us out to the minibus for the short trip down to our starting point at Ennerdale Bridge along with some other coast to coasters. One was a tall long haired guy who had found a 6ft branch and was carrying it as a walking stIck. Mark nicknamed him Gandolph and we fully expected him to give the bus a miss and just appear at the start point but I guess he was saving his powers for something better later.
The walk started by heading down a lane then along a forest track to the edge of Ennerdale Water. The weather was brightening all the time and was very warm now meaning the jacket was off and it was shorts and a t-shirt all the way. The views by the lake were breathtaking and I’ll definitely be back again to walk here. The pictures below just don’t do it justice.
The next 9 miles to Black Sail youth hostel were fast but also quiet as we just took in the amazing scenery. We stopped for lunch at the bottom of a path that lead up to the summit of Haystacks. So I offered mark a diversion. I’ve already scaled Hay Stacks but thought it would be real treat to include this in our journey. He agreed and so off up the mountain we went. What an inspired decision. A steep climb followed by some great scrambling and then there we were at the summit of Wainwrights favourite fell. We posed for a few pics then head off in the direction of the tarn where Wainwrights ashes were sprinkled for his final resting place. Quite fitting to come here on what is his Coast to Coast route. We dropped from there to Honistor slate mine, taking in stunning views of Buttermere on the way. From Honistor it was just a few miles along the road to our accommodation at Seatoller Farm. And that was a pleasant surprise with really nice room and lovely people. Unfortunately there is no phone signal, no internet and no evening meals ( we did know this in advance) so we jumped on a bus and went to Keswick. A few beers and a really tasty freshly made burger meal and then it’s off back for a good nights sleep. Tomorrow is the hardest day of the whole route with some serious ascents to negotiate.
So far though it’s going well with 30 miles done and only 160 to go. The weather gods are on our side for now and we have no injuries or aches and pains for that matter.
Long May it continue 🙂

Full route from today: Day Two

Day 3 – C2C Walk

27 May 2014/in 2014 - Coast to Coast /by Graham Denney

We knew today was the toughest of the whole route but never imagined just how tough. We started with a few steady miles through Borrowdale valley before starting a long slow climb up to Lining Crag and then to Greenup Edge. This really is a tough climb but when we turned to look at our path behind us it was breathtaking and worth every step. The views looked all the way back through Borrowdale to our starting point for the day. The next section turned out to be a bit of a farce. I’d looked at my gps and it showed us climbing a bit further. So on we went up this hill through some of the boggiest land we could imagine. Marks feet were soaked as he dint have waterproof shoes on. Over half way up and I suddenly noticed the others walking were behind us taking a different route. A quick check of the GPS and yep we had gone the wrong way. About 1 mile wrong. So off we went back through the same bog and getting wetter.
Once back on track we set off back down hill and towards Grasmere. After a lunch stop we decided to take the high route and took in 3 more wainwright fells, Calf Crag, Gibson Knott and Helm Crag. From there it was a steep downhill then the worst part of the journey so far.
After crossing the road that leads to Grasmere we set off up Great Tongue, a valley that sits between Seat Sandal and Fairfield. How hard was this, just relentless uphill grassy path for 3 miles. The only highlight of this climb was a black sheep with white eyes. It looked like it was wearing a mask and was gonna hold us up. By the top we were knackered but also pleased to see Grisedale tarn. This is my favourite place in the whole of the lakes and we took 10 mins out to have a food and drink stop. We then set off down the next valley to Patterdale. On the way down we met up with a guy who started at the same time as us. Chatting with him made the last 4 miles go quick. The accommodation isn’t the best but it will do. However, we went out to the Old Water View pub which is the one featured in the TV series about the coast to Coast. It’s where Wainwright stayed every year since 1931 when walking up here and doing his drawings. The landlord told us some stories of his stays and also enlightened us on his own daughter who at 9 years old has already done the coast to Coast 3 times. Amazingly his mother is also the oldest person to do it at 80 and was actually at Richmond today on the route again.
So the hardest day is done and we are now 48 miles in to the challenge and we should now be able to start doing some easier high mileage days.

Day 3 Route: route

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Graham & Mark’s Coast to Coast walk for Pendleside Hospice

The C2C challenge has gone mobile

Day 1 – C2C Walk

Day 2 – C2C Walk

Day 3 – C2C Walk

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