Coast to Coast day 1

St Bees to Rosthwaite -50km

Starting with a fry up and then a run down to the beach, tradition has it that you dip a toe in the sea to start the journey. 

I headed across the beach and up to St Bees head with the first 6-7 miles hugging the coast on a tiny overgrown path that was difficult to get up any speed. Nevertheless, I was on the start of my odyssey and after many adjustments of straps (this was fully self sufficient so I had to carry as much as I could for 50ish km every day) to accommodate the weight on my back I was feeling just about OK

Every time a sign comes into focus there is a sense of relief. Yes I had my excellent Harvey map and a GPX (that was to crash my Garmin later that day) but the welcoming sign of The Sign (C2C) was completely comforting that I was on track.

Heading inland now I began to experience the mild undulations that signalled the mountains of the Lake District were near. Today had 6000ft. I entered and quickly exited the villages of Moor Row and Cleator. I was hoping to buy a drink at Cleator 11 miles in but no shops….i filled my bottles at a garden tap on the way to Dent

Now every post about Dent on C2C social groups is about is it open, is it not? It’s basically a forested area often closed for landless or cutting trees. The alternative route seemed just fine and the first 1000 footer of the week

This was damp but lovely and barely a soul around. I think this was because I was setting out much earlier than the walkers. 

I really enjoyed the next section and was happy to take a lead from local knowledge. As I got to Ennerdale bridge, a nice old fella said to me he didn’t understand why to route went south of Ennerdale as the North route was more runnable, albeit half a mile longer. 

Now Ennerdale is a thing of beauty and I was ‘locked on’. Again no shops in the village so water had to come from carefully selected streams 

This was awesome, a great run and by now only 10 miles to go.

Boom 

2 things happened. My mojo disappeared. Firstly the Garmin crashed. I think the GPX file was corrupted or too big. Secondly, after a gentle 1000ft up to Black Sail past Haystacks on the left, it was very steep up loft beck (which I sat in as it was now 28 degrees and not a cloud in the sky) 
 

I was up at Grey Knotts just below the summit at 2300ft and was out of gas. I located the old tramway track and over to Honnister Slate mine where I duly downed 2 purchased cans of Fanta much to the amusement of watching tourists. 

Now the downhills are touch to prepare for. 5km down with 2000 ft of descent means running like John Wayne at 23% which mashed my quads. 

At the bottom, the village of Rosthwaite. My B&B was 1km from the path, but then I found a youth hostel just out of the wooded section and people were having a beer.

So I sat down for a pint! Gosh that tasted superb

A gentle bimble to the excellent Yew Tree Farm accommodation to be welcomed with a beer, a meal and a great conversation about the next day on which way to go to avoid the knarly path around Derwent Water. You have to pre-book a meal but it’s great food and the room was huge. 

Kit wash. Organise. Post on socials and bed by 9! I made it through day 1. What would I feel like in the morning?