(Anna-Maria writes, after her June 2012 review) The Coast to Coast walk is often taken on as a challenge by those who haven’t done a long-distance walk before. It is a superb route giving the walker a great sense of the grand differences between three of the English National Parks: the Lake District, the Yorkshire Dales and the Yorkshire Moors. Despite this I personally wouldn’t recommend it as a first long-distance route.  I think there are better and less intimidating routes to start out with, such as the Dales Way.

The Coast to Coast is a tough walk that is not for the faint-hearted. Many of the days are long and the terrain, especially across the Lake District, can be hard under the feet. I believe that the two days I was reviewing last week are two of the hardest on the whole route.

Walking from Patterdale to Shap the intrepid walker gets a final flavour of everything grand that defines the Lake District. The day begins with a long climb up onto the ridge beside High Street. This particular climb takes a route exploring the small knolls and secluded tarns that characterise the most remote areas of the Lake District. A slightly scrambly descent, again very characteristic of the Lake District, brings you to a trek along the length of a final lake, Haweswater. A farewell to the lakes that give their name to this National Park.  The tired walker is left to cover a distance of fields in the valley between the Lake District and Yorkshire Dales to bring them, footsore and weary, into the village of Shap, nestled out of sight in a small dip between the boundary of Cumbria and the bustling M6 motorway.

Setting out from Shap the next day and crossing the motorway, Yorkshire welcomes the walker with open arms. After the steep climbs and rocky paths of the Lake District, the scenery changes with an unexpected suddenness. The mountains become less rugged, rounding out into apparently lower and friendlier hills, often skirted around by the route rather than climbed over as they have been in previous days. The ground also changes from rocky paths to soft and springy peaty moorland, and much of the prickly and brash yellow gorse is swapped for softer purple heathers.

The majority of this first day in Yorkshire is concentrated on covering the remaining low ground to get the walker into the Yorkshire Dales National Park. The distance is consequently long, alternating between fields full of wild flowers and sections of moorland. It is only towards the end of the day that those on the Coast to Coast are permitted a true introduction to the Yorkshire Dales, after a final steep descent and climb to cross a narrow valley the true views of the Dales open up with broad lilac-tinted moor tops separated by wide emerald green valleys.

Sadly, my trip wasn’t quite so glorious. Having selected two of the wettest days in early June I had a particularly unpleasant crossing of the High Street ridge. As I ascended, the cloud descended to meet me and visibility dropped to less than ten metres with accompanying heavy rain and driving wind. Thankfully the route is easy enough to find over the top and I could keep my eyes glued to the path as I started to descend towards Haweswater.   

When I’ve walked this route previously I must confess that I haven’t enjoyed Haweswater. It is a narrow lake with trees and steep valley sides surrounding the path and preventing the open and glorious views that can be found on other lake-side footpaths. However on this particular day I was partway down the descent off High Street when the thick cloud blew away and I was greeted by the welcome sight of the end of Haweswater with its small island.  

Day two gave me some element of dryness, at least for the morning. Unfortunately it wasn’t to last and, halfway through the day, the weather changed quite suddenly from dry and overcast to torrential rain for the rest of the day. It was much like walking in a full strength power shower.

One of the greatest parts of doing a well-known long-distance footpath like the Coast to Coast is the company. On a section of the route like this where the choice of stopping places is limited, you quickly get to meet others doing the route and find yourself meeting up with them at various points during the day’s walking, providing varied walking company during each day. 

I was honoured to make acquaintance with many walkers braving this unseasonal summer weather, including several from overseas who seemed to be incredibly happy with the Coast to Coast route so far, despite the rain. In particular a cheerful father and son kept my spirits up as we trekked for the final few hours into Kirkby Stephen through the heavy rain. 

Many of the walkers I met told me they had loved the Lake District and couldn’t imagine anything to out-shine it. My personal favourite part of the route, the Yorkshire Moors, is still ahead of them as I write this. I hope they all enjoy it as much as I do and as you might too, if you decide to take on the Coast to Coast challenge.

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