Well I must have set a new land speed record today, although not intentionally (and that does not count the 45 minutes or so I could not find the path- but more on that later).  Today I managed to accomplish 13 miles in a little over five hours. But first, the weather report! Before beginning this adventure across England I was amazed at how much the topic of the weather fascinated the British. But now, having to deal on a practical level with it every day, I understand their preoccupation with it.  The English weather has also become an important concern and topic of conversation to me (and most of the people I have met). So, having said that, let me present the day’s weather report. When I checked Friday’s forecast yesterday morning, as a sneak preview,  the weather looked clear and well-behaved. Checking again in the evening before going to bed I found that the forecast had changed and there was a likelihood of rain around mid-day. Consequently when I set out at 8am, a little earlier than usual, I was not sure how the day was going to turn out. I chose to be optimistic but was prepared to don the rain gear a little later in the morning.

Saying good-bye to Richmond.

Today’s trek was pretty straightforward and very flat, mainly crossing fields and pastures along with a lot of time spent on narrow country lanes. Wainwright, the gentleman who created the Coast to Coast, called this particular stretch the “most boring” of the whole walk. He originally mapped out a 23ish mile stage but many, including myself, break that down to a 13 mile trek with a stopover in Danby Wiske, followed by an 8-9 mile trek to Inglesby Cross (which I will do tomorrow). So I was facing 13 flat miles with uncertain weather.

Some of the trickiest navigation, besides getting through the hills of the Lake District, is negotiating through some of the larger cities to rejoin the path. I had scouted out Richmond the day before while I was exploring the city and located where I needed to join the route out of the city. So in the morning as I headed I knew exactly where to go. No one else was in sight and I set a pretty good pace, only slowing for the muddy areas where footing was tricky. After about an hour and half I came upon Mike and Nancy, the couple from Alaska. We had run into each other casually for a few days but I had not yet had a chance to get to know them. They were stopped at a point on the trail, in front of a gate, which had a big sign that said “Path Closed”. Great. I joined them and we stared at the sign as if magically that would make it go away.  After a few minutes when that did not happen we compared notes on the suggested detour.  It basically directed us along the cycle route which ran along a major motorway and then across another major motorway to rejoin the original path. It looked straightforward so I set off. It looked like Mike and Nancy were going to linger a bit so I did not wait on them. Mistake!

Yep, this is the bit of road I went up and down three times trying to find the route across the second motorway. I know this stretch well!

I easily found the first motorway, found the detour to get to the farm where I hoped to join the path, and then tried to join the path at that point. This involved passing the farm in the reverse direction to make sure I was on the path, then following it forward where supposedly it went down a hill to go under the second motorway. I climbed down this obnoxiously steep grassy (and slippery hill) only to find out that the path there was still closed at this point. Drats! I was really annoyed because that hill was really annoying to get down (and up). Sighing, and climbing back up, I went out to the road in front of the farm and headed back to the motorway to find the detour. I finally found a person at that point who pointed out a “new makeshift bridge” back down at the end of the road I had just come down.  The bridge went over the second motorway and only after that traverse was it possible to rejoin the path. So 45 minutes later and with three back and forths on this small stretch of road, I finally found the path. Technically, I did not get lost, the path got lost, but the end result was the same— I lost 45 minutes. (but gained a good story!)

The mysterious joggers passing by. I never did figure out what they where up to.

So moving quickly now and back on the right route I was determined not to lose more time. I was still worried about the rain although the sky was Ok for the moment- typical England, clouds with some sun poking through. I was striding along and was suddenly passed by two women running in wet suits with small orange inflatable life preserver looking things on their backs. I said “hello” to them as they passed by, while wondering “what the heck?”. I cannot imagine running in a wet suit; talk about hot (even for me). I passed them later and they had detoured to do something in the river, it was still the River Swale, that we were following, but soon they passed me again. I was mystified about what they were doing but as long as they were having fun….

I caught up with Mike and Nancy near this old church and asked them to take my picture.

Continuing along I eventually caught up with Mike and Nancy. They had stopped to have a snack on a bench right at a small village called Brampton-on-Swale. They were surprised to see me behind them but I explained, ruefully, my adventure with the motorway. They were ready to press forward so the three of us walked together. And that is where the land speed record effort began. Mike and Nancy are experienced hikers and they set a good pace! It helped that it was flat and we were on country lanes most of the time. I consider myself a fast walker and I needed every bit of that pace to keep up with them. We moved steadily through the countryside, most of the time on lanes, but occasionally having to negotiate through muddy fields and passages, which slowed us all down to what could be considered a normal pace. They were motivated because they were going to go ten miles further than I and I was motivated because I was still not sure which forecast was going to be accurate. So far the sky was alternatively cloudy and sunny so it was hard to tell.

We were on lanes like this most of the day.

In any event we raced into Danby Wiske around 1:30pm-ish and I was done for the day. It was easy to find the hotel I was staying at because there were only about six buildings in the village and only one of those was a hotel. There were a few people already there but most would show up about two hours later. I went in and had a light lunch of soup while Mike and Nancy snacked a bit and headed out. While eating I sat at a table with a young English woman, who I had seen in Richmond, Heather, who was backpacking the Coast to Coast and camping along the way. We started chatting, exchanging stories, and just sat there relaxing. I had actually arrived earlier than my luggage, for the first time, so I could not go and get cleaned up yet. As I sat there talking with Heather a group of three Australians arrived, who Heather had met a few towns back. She had actually stayed with them on the really rainy day two days ago (they had an extra bed and it was a really bad night for camping). Heather introduced me to them as well.

Beautiful English country house garden. We stopped and chatted with this gentleman briefly.

My bag arrived, finally, and I went up to my room to get cleaned up and stretch. Coming back down about an hour later, Heather was still around, and I invited her to stay in the extra bed that I had in my room. She clearly wanted to stay and socialize and it was getting kind of late to get to Inglsby Cross. In addition it also looked like it was going to rain. So she agreed and we had a pleasant dinner with Kim, Clare, and Helen, my three new Australian acquaintances. It was an early night though- Kim and I retired to our respective rooms to watch the Euro cup match (Wales vs Belgium- Wales won!) at 8pm. (Unfortunately the hotel/pub did not have a TV for central viewing.) Helen, Clare and Heather stayed in the dining area and talked a bit longer before Heather came up. I had warned her ahead of time that I was going to be watching the match.

If you need your soccer field cut, call the sheep patrol!

It was a pleasant evening and a relaxing day, in the end, even though the morning was “vigorous”!