- Coast to Coast – booked
- Day 1 St Bees – Ennerdale Bridge
- Day 2 Ennerdale Bridge – Stonethwaite
- Day 3 Stonethwaite – Grasmere
- Day 4 Grasmere to Glenridding (Patterdale)
- Day 5 Glenridding to Burnbanks (Bampton Grange)
- Day 6 Bampton Grange to Orton
- Day 7 Orton to Kirkby Stephen
- Day 8 Kirkby Stephen to Keld (Thwaite)
- Day 9 Keld to Reeth
- Day 10 Reeth to Richmond
- Day 11 Richmond to Ingleby Arncliff
- Day 12 Ingleby Arncliff to Urra (Clay Bank Top)
- Day 13 Urra to Glaisdale
- Day 14 Glaisdale to Littlebeck
- Day 15 Littlebeck to Robin Hood’s Bay
- Coast to Coast Panoramas – #1 Dent Fell
- Coast to Coast Panoramas – #2 Ullswater
- Coast to Coast Panoramas – #3 Patterdale
- Coast to Coast Panoramas – #4 Haweswater
- Coast to Coast Panoramas – #5 Orton Scar
- New images from Coast to Coast
So the trip is booked to do the Coast to Coast walk in May!
Following A. Wainwright’s route from St. Bees in Cumbria to Robin Hood Bay in North Yorkshire – it is 190 miles. I booked support through Coast to Coast Packhorse, and having now completed the walk and updating this post can highly recommend them.
Not only did they book all the accomodation (at fairly short notice), they ferried me to the start (St Bees) and from the finish (Robin Hood’s Bay) back to Kirkby Stephen where my car was safely and securely parked. It was a great mix of accomodation, and my bag was at each stop to be found when I arrived at the end of the day. This really freed me up to enjoy the walk, and booking it this way meant no hassle and only one phonecall – rather than 20+ that might have been needed if I was having to phone up every B&B.
If you are thinking of doing the walk I suggest you check Coast to Coast Packhorse out – and have a read through some of my experiences below…
View the map in Google Maps, or here is the Google Earth KML file.
12 Comments
Updated with details of Coast to Coast Packhorse.
Can you let me know why you chose Packhorse (instead of someone like Sherpa Van)? Both claim to do similar service.
I plan to try a coast to coast walk in the next 12 months. Wonder which one I should use.
http://masug.blogspot.com
@ Manoj
I spoke to both Packhorse and Sherpa, and found Packhorse to be much more helpful in providing a complete service with the least hassle.
I met several people on the trail who were using Sherpa, and getting on fine with them.
I suggest you contact both and see how you get on with them.
I like your blog, very interesting.
I am wondering what sort of maps did you use? I have bought two Coast to Coast books – Wainwright one and one by Terry Marsh. Both has section by section maps. I wonder whether the maps in these books are fine or whether I should buy “real” maps.
I am narrowing down to August 2009 for this walk (backup option is May 2010)
Kindly advice.
@ Manoj
I took a facsimile of Wainwright’s original book (with updates) and found the maps he did to be very useful. I also took with me a set of the Harvey strip maps and used both.
Have a great trip.
I am wondering if anybody has yet used the GPS software/SD card that is dedicated to to the UK trails including wainwrights 2 coast? I went east to west for 40 miles in 2008 and want to resume the trail from St. Bees eastward next time. Any comments on the SD card for gps nav.?
@Guy
I presume you mean something like this:
https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?cID=255&pID=33286
To my mind it is a bit expensive – the paper strip maps, or even a book, are only a tenth of the price of the SD card!!
I much prefer using a paper map, and while I am addicted to gadgets don’t actually have a GPS unit as map and compass work perfectly for me.
Hope you have a good trip eastwards.
@ Guy,
We’ve done the C2C (west-east) last year using a Garmin GPSMAP 60CSx and found it very helpful. The trackdata I received from Tim McKenzie (an Australian) who recorded his trip the year before. The Topo map of GB can be found on the net.
As mentioned by Christopher it is a bit expensive but it gave me a secure feeling knowing exactly where to go. I imagine if you run into some heavy cloud ending up with hardly any visibility you have to know how to handle a compass and your map/booklet.
If you need any help feel free to mail me at molenaar[at]orange.nl
I suppose it’s just a simple sign of the times that more people are using technology instead of strip maps, I guess it all comes down to what you want out of it.
For the basics the harvey strip maps are probably the best, to relive the journey then Wainwrights own guide although a lot has changed snce then it is still pretty up to date.
Another few years and it will all be memory maps in my opinion.
Nice blog.
I just wanted to comment that the SD version of Garmin software for Wainwrights coast2coast worked out well for me the last time I was on the coast2coast in October. However you must have the right handheld computer to handle it.
In combination with Harveys maps(west/east), it is a great tool to have. Probably a basic hiking magnetic compass would be a definite asset too. I am planning on resuming the walk later this month starting at St. Bees. Cheers,Guy
Does anybody have a favourite hiking boot for the Coast2coast? I have visited the trail 3 times and have ended up with a large blister on two out of the three trips. I have a waterproof pair of boots which is a big improvement to keep the feet dry. Also how important are the kind of socks u wear to prevent blisters?
Any ideas on the make of boots would be appreciated from seasoned veteran walkers?
best options for boots – make sure they’re waterproof, fit properly, width very important. 2 pairs of socks, 1 pr thick & 1 pr thin. Best thing I’ve tried is rub feet with methylated spirits a few days before & each day of walk. cheers, clive