The Wild Sheep Way, aka English Coast to Coast Path

Beginning to end, you will be smelling and sidestepping sheep dung all the way to Robin Hood’s Bay.

Westerly winds. If a gust comes from any other direction it may knock you off the path. Few people walk the trail east to west for this reason. For us the strongest winds were in the Dales.

Most days are spent on long uphill sections. In the mountains, trails are limestone with lots of loose rock and big step ups, and you must watch where you put your feet.

In the Dales, there is a section called “the Nine Standards.” In it are long sections of flagstone trail and more being built. Lots of the flagstones were repurposed; one had 1837 nicely carved on it and many had old iron fasteners embedded. The flagstones are there because when it rains a lot, it gets boggy, and walkers sink in. Some have to be rescued. In 2012, Ann saw a woman up to her waist in a bog and sinking. This gives “stay on the trail “signs more urgency.

When I was there, walking solo in the early morning, it was raining sideways (a local told me that was the only way it rained up there.) Good rain gear is essential to your enjoyment and perhaps survival.

In the Lake District, a vacation destination for the upper income, when you are in a pub or inn, look under the tables. That’s where you will find the dogs, beautiful dogs with long ears and curly hair. Perhaps someday you will be able to rent a dog to lay at your feet.

In the Dales, to find the dogs, look for a farmer. If a farm vehicle comes by, you will see a farmer in a wool cap with a black and white border collie sitting next to him in the passenger seat. We had a great conversation with this friendly farmer and Panzer.

There is always beer. Out of curiosity, you will try all kinds of local beer with great names and labels, most around 3% alcohol, and without any distinct flavor. Eventually you may settle on Black Sheep or Timothy Taylor beer. Beer is offered in 1/2 pint and full pint glasses and the bartender will ask which size you want. I never saw a 1/2 pint poured, but they will ask you anyway. I heard about Old Peculiar Beer on the trail but the only time I saw it, the keg was empty.

I had enough full English breakfasts to last the rest of my life. I never did eat more than a bite of the black pudding. Otherwise, it was good fuel for a hard morning walk.

Pretty much everyone offers fish and chips, and sometimes it is very good. The best I had was in Chippy in Shap.

We stayed in a lot of different kinds of places, from youth hostels to hotels and inns, and this fabulous B&B near Patterdale. It’s a little farther than you want to walk to a pub or inn for dinner, so they offer this fabulous charcuterie board. This was probably the most beautiful place I’ve ever stayed. The hosts are wonderful and you can buy wool items at a gift shop run by mom.

We stayed at the Beak Hills Farm, B&B, which is an authentic farm stay. They have 200 sheep, but no longer run cows. But it’s a real farm, and she cooked a big meal for us. It was not fancy cooking, but it was authentic. Her husband had a collection of hunting horns, and played them for us. We had a very interesting conversation about hunting and farming in the Dales. Her mother started this business for walkers in 1976. They are very nice people.

The trail is well signposted and guidebooked (we used Cicerone and their GPS tracks). This trail is often done in 14 days but we took 16. We planned and made our own room reservations but hired Coast 2 Coast Packhorse to carry our gear. (Though I never needed what I had in that gear bag and could have made it fine with my 25 L daypack.)

We each picked up a stone from the Irish Sea beach and carried it to the North Sea beach at Robin Hood’s Bay.

There were five of us on this walk, and we made the plans in June and July just after completing Italy Coast 2 Coast. We all met on trails and have walked together before, except the other Texas guy. His initiation was walking the Camino del Norte the summer before, and he turned out to be a strong walker and great companion.

Another adventure in the books.