Well I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is that I did not have to trek 20 miles today as I originally thought. Taking a look a bit closer at my itinerary I realized that the plan splits the long trek into two smaller segments. Brilliant! That meant that I only had about a 14 mile walk facing me when I got up this morning. The bad news is that the dinner I had the night before had to have contained 4000 calories, minimum! Diane, the cook at the B&B I stayed at, treated us (there were six of us) to a typical Yorkshire Sunday dinner, even though it was only Saturday night. When I had arrived at the B&B after visiting the priory I remembered entering to a wonderful aroma. I totally understood why when she set the plate down in front of me. My first thought was “this could feed a family of four”! My second thought was “vegetables”! I felt like it should be a holiday as I took inventory of what was in front of me: mashed potatoes, sausage stuffing, cauliflower with cheese sauce, green beans, carrots, roasted potatoes (yes, two kinds of potatoes!), roasted chicken and Yorkshire pudding- all smothered in gravy. It looked and smelled great while also being very daunting. It was all delicious and it turns out that Diane had been a cook for the school, the fire house and police and a few other communities and excels at home cooking. For desert she encouraged us to try the “Eton Mess”. So most of us did. Oh, my goodness, it might have been 2000 calories all by itself. Eton Mess is a desert of cream, fruit and meringue, all mixed together. When I say “cream” what I mean is whipped cream that has been whipped stiff enough to sculpt something out of and a lot of it. The desert came in a tea cup but was piled twice as high as the rim of the cup itself. Also very daunting and very delicious. It somehow disappeared; I still am not sure how. At the time I consoled myself with the fact that I would be walking 20 miles today- hah! After dinner last night a few of us sat together in the family room and attempted to watch the Germany-Italy soccer game on a TV that kept losing the signal. I gave up and went to bed.

We passed through some beautiful forest on the climb to the moor.

Even though I was not too hungry in the morning (how could anyone be?) I had a bit of cereal to kick the day off and then headed out the door around my usual time of 8:30am. The plan for the day was to get to Clay Bank parking lot and call the hotel to come and pick me up. The village where I was staying that evening was not easily accessible from the trail (like day 2) and the hotel routinely picks up and drops off people at the car park. I anticipated it would take some time today though, before I was finished, not because of the distance but because of the constant up and down. There were at least three hills that the trail climbed and then wound down, each one reaching a higher altitude until the peak, just before Clay Bank. I was looking forward to the views, however, and the scenery. After visiting two national parks and meandering through farmland, the route was now entering the third, and final, park on the east coast of Yorkshire.

The scenery change was dramatic as soon as we entered the park.

The day was sunny and expected to stay that way, more or less, which translates into no rain forecast. Immediately at the door of the B&B the climb started, up a winding lane and into a forest. I was alone on the trail for about an hour and then started seeing others out and about. As time went on more and more people were on the trails until it was a veritable highway of people up on the moors. Unlike my traverse of the Yorkshire Dales moorland, where I was in glorious isolation, instead the theme of this traverse was meeting and chatting with people. Since it was Sunday and a nice day there were a lot of locals out just wandering about the trails in the park. Young, old, families, individuals, random groups, with dogs or without, they were there in force and it was great to see so many people enjoying the day.

Everywhere you look there is a variety of colors and textures.

The first half of the morning I walked along with an American couple , Bob and Edie, I caught up with on the trail. We were in the same inn a couple of nights back even though I had not had a chance to get to know them there. As we started talking I discovered that they live in Virginia, not too far from me. They were traveling with another couple but had set out at different times this morning with the understanding they would meet at the cafe located about half way through the walk. We walked through the forest together and then stepped out onto the moor. The change of scenery was dramatic as we entered the national park. Gone was the well manicured pastures and forest and before us was the low profile, wide open spaces of the moorland. It was absolutely beautiful! The walk was not too challenging at first, after having climbed up through the forest to get to the moor. There were small ascents and descents but short and not too steep. As we reached the ridge the wind picked up and it felt a little chilly but the views were great! There already were a few people up there sitting, snacking and resting. While we paused to enjoy the view and take some pictures we were overtaken by a large group of British, moving fast. One of the ladies mentioned to Bob and Edie that their friends had asked her to convey the request that they wait for them to catch up. So I said good-bye and traveled on while they lingered at the ridge.

The peak in the distance on the right was today’s goal.

The big stop on the trail was shortly ahead of me- a small roadside cafe (the trail descended to cross the road before continuing across the park) that turned out to be a popular stop for hikers, cyclists and motorists. I stopped to check it out and use the restroom and the outdoor patio was crowded with people. I was not hungry (how could I be?) so I did not linger but if I could have convinced myself to eat, it would have been a pleasant place to spend some time.

Looking back from where I had climbed up early in the day.

Moving on I could see in the near distance the beginning of the three main challenging climbs. There was a small stream of people ahead of me and by the scale I got an impression of the steepness of the path and the extent of the climb I was about to embark on. On a good note the path is paved with stones, a decision made by the park to conserve and protect the environment from the multitude of trampling feet. Starting my climb I just went into “put one foot in front of the other” mode and went up. I find going up easier than going down anyway so it was hard work but not terribly difficult or mind consuming. The top was windy, of course. Again there was a small crowd enjoying the view; two women who were doing the Coast to Coast and planned to jump into the North Sea when they got there (for the record: I am not!), and a young man from Arizona who was actually hiking the Cleveland Way, another trail that happens to overlie the Coat to Coast through the park. We chatted a bit and the women moved on. I followed shortly.

Climbing. Very steep!

The next phase was a steep descent off that peak into a small dip in the landscape and then another steep climb to the next. I moved slowly on the downhill, paying close attention to my footing, and the young man soon passed me by even though he had spent extra time at the peak. The three of us met again at the next peak as I tended to catch up with everyone on the uphill. That was pretty much the theme of the afternoon from then on out. At different times I would either get passed by or pass going the other way various other local walkers. The only tricky area, besides watching my footing on the downhills, was an area called the Wainwright Stones, which were a huge pile of stones and boulders strewn in the path on a ridge. Luckily, as I approached them the large group that I had seen earlier when I was with Bob and Edie happened by – they had stopped at the cafe and now caught up with me, again- and I followed them through the boulders as they seemed to know the path. (it was not obvious and there was some climbing on rocks involved). This area served as a bit of a bottleneck as there were people coming from the other direction but the passage was a one-way at one time only kind of construction.

Celebrating the climb!

Shortly after passing through the stones I reached the car park and called the hotel for a pick up.  Now rested and clean I am writing this before going out seeking food, because I am finally hungry. All along the route today there were great views, but I think one of the most exciting was a great view of the North Sea in the distance. The destination is in sight and it was thrilling to think that in just a few more days I would be standing right at the shore!

The North Sea!