As many of you know, I’ve struggled with serious health issues the past decade. And they’re not over. Even a year ago I didn’t have the strength to do this hike. So I’m hyper vigilant and hyper aware of how my body is feeling and 100% willing to throw in the towel the second I think I’m getting sick again.
But I’m confused today. I’m clearly exhausted, squatting over my bag on the floor, picking out my clothes, I was out of breath after a minute. That’s not good. But at the same time I don’t feel emotionally depleted. That is good.
So I debate with myself. Should I call a taxi or should I hike? The truth is that today’s hike is supposed to be an easy one. There is some elevation, but in general it’s a straight path, only 8 miles (14km) the shortest day, and the guide book says I should arrive quite early at one of the most legendary stops on the trail…the Lion Inn.
So I don’t want to skip an easy day of walking. But I also don’t want to risk my health. What should I do? The hotel is giving me a ride back to the trail at 8:15 so I have until then to decide. I’m nervous at breakfast, and eat all my eggs but can’t finish my yogurt and toast because my stomach is churning with nerves. What should I do?
I finally call a taxi service and I talk to the driver. The 7km taxi ride will be 90 pounds ($120). 90 pounds?!? He explains that I’m in a rural place going to an even more rural place and the taxi has to come from quite a distance.
I had to decide here and now: easy day of walking vs 90 pounds…
I chose to walk. I took the van that will take me back to the trail head with an older couple. After a few minutes of chitchat, the man looks at me and says “Wait a minute, I know you! The pervert who tried to sneak into the men’s room!” He was the guy who said he would cover for me if I wanted to use the men’s yesterday. We laugh. During the day everyone is wearing glasses and hats so in the evening it is hard to recognize people you just meet momentarily. They had actually eaten breakfast right next to me and we didn’t recognize each other.
They wish me luck and take off climbing very quickly. “See you in the next men’s bathroom,” I yelled after them. Since there isn’t any hotels or camping off the trail, many people are arriving via cars from their accommodations, and it’s the most crowded start to any day I’ve seen.
There is a young couple who I’ve been seeing on and off for days who also start up the trail the same time I do. They’ve been camping, so I haven’t really had time to talk to them but they’ve been keeping the same pace and they seem friendly.
The guy hold open the gate for me and I point to the mountain directly in front of us. “Is that our highest peak today?”
The guy laughs. “No, it can’t be.” I knew he was right as the tallest peak was 400+ meters and this small part was steep but not that tall.
So I huffed and puffed and sure enough when I got to the peak I could see a larger peak in the distance and I guessed that was the highest point.
But the good news was I finally entered the moors. The moors are a a vast open plateau of tough acidic soil where tall trees can’t dig roots so only short shrubs and heather grow. You can see across the moors for miles and miles. And even better they’re relatively flat.
I could see the path going up the mountain and I could see it was very gentle. No more steep bits for me. I could have cried with happiness because I didn’t have much strength left. (Though after the sirloin dinner, egg breakfast and tuna sandwich packed in my bag I was feeling stronger.)
The moors were so vast that I could see for miles behind me as I walked and I could see there were several hikers as well. They were too far away but as I continued up the slow rise I could see they were getting closer.
I like to step aside for faster hikers so I kept an eye on them and when I could hear them chatting I knew they were close so I stopped and turned around to let them pass me.
But it was the brother and sister! It was my friends! “Where have you guys been!” I shouted out and they looked up from the path.
“Becky!!!! We thought that might be you ahead of us!” I hadn’t seen them in 2 days and they couldn’t have come at a better time. I was really in my head all morning and needed some friends to get me in a better mental space.
Turns out the past 2 nights we had stayed at different villages and while I had taken off very early each day, they had taken off very late because they had family with them. We cheerfully caught up about our days (their families had just left the day before) and they also agreed that yesterday was exhausting. I know they handled it better than me, but it did make me feel better to knowing they are strong experienced hikers and still struggled with it.
We walked together and soon were joined by two German hikers that were doing the Cleveland Way that the brother and sister had met before. So now, in a gang of 6, we got to the highest point and kept going across the relatively flat moors. I felt so much better and not at all tired anymore.
We talked about the moors, truly a unique landscape, and I said that despite the beautiful sunny weather and friendly chatty company there was a sadness, and a loneliness to the moors.
“Have you read the Brontes?” The sister asked me. Sure. “You probably get that feeling from them. They always wrote about the haunting lonely moors.”
I realized she was right. I don’t think it was just the Brontes but anytime any story is set in the moors it is always a little creepy and lonely. I had been influenced by literature and didn’t even realize it!
Despite being happy to be in a group there was a perfect sitting rock with a gorgeous view. Time for a break. They continued on and I just enjoyed the silence while eating an apple.
It wasn’t as peaceful as I wanted because this was still the two popular trails combined so there were twice as many people. Not that it was a lot, maybe 6 people passed me total, but compared to yesterday morning when I didn’t see a single person for the first 5 hours, it felt crowded.
I kept going, the Cleveland Way split off so it was down to just us Coast to Coasters and at this point all of us kept leap frogging each other. It was just a looooong straight path that seemed to go on forever. The scenery never changed, just the moors, so you could see hikers that were miles ahead of you (or behind.) eventually someone would take a break and I’d walk by them and later I’d take a break and they’d walk by me.
And I did take some breaks. It seemed like even if I walked slowly I would arrive by 1. Too early to check in so there was really no rush. I found another perfectly flat sitting rock and ate my sandwich. It was getting windy at this point and I had to be careful my sandwich didn’t blow away.
The wind picked up after my break and it blew so hard it tore the hat off my head and I had to chase it. Because it was a cold wind I put up the hood on my jacket and cinched it so my hat wouldn’t blow away again. My ears were covered and I couldn’t hear that well so I was taken by surprise when two people walked next to me…it was the brother and sister again!
They kept walking when I took a break and I had never passed them so how did they get BEHIND me? Turns out there was one fork in the road, miles back where the Cleveland Way split off, and they took the wrong direction and walked at least a mile before realizing. lol.
But their mistake was my benefit as we walked the last few km’s together. Me and the sister chatted while the brother kind of ran all over, finding rocks with fossils and other unique things he brought back and showed us. I later told him he had “Calvin energy” (Calvin & Hobbes) because while he was in his mid 50’s he still got excited by rocks and plants we saw on the trail. He picked wild berries and even played with a small snake we saw trying to cross the trail.
Our next inn was the most famous stop on the Coast to Coast. It’s called the Lion Inn and it’s famous for its randomness. Like, a pub shows up in the middle of nowhere almost like a mirage.
It’s extremely isolated and while locals come for food and drink they have to drive a long time to get there. I heard they only allow hikers to book the rooms and even campers stay in the yard. (Usually the campers sleep in different areas than the B&B hikers like me so I haven’t had much interaction with them. This is the first night I saw them and they are generally a much younger crowd than the group staying in B&B’s.
By the time we arrived the wind was fierce and we were covered in dust. Luckily, despite it being so early, they let us into our rooms and I took a nap.
The whole pub was super cool with stone walls and heaving wooden beams, and I had plenty of time to do more writing. I sat outside in the sheltered garden area but the wind was still quite fierce that despite sitting in the direct summer sun I was chilly and had to go inside.
For dinner I got a burger with giant onion rings and I went to bed extremely happy this day had a total turn around from the morning. I did the walk and felt strong! I definitely wasn’t sick, I was just worried this morning and it affected me. But seeing my friends again really cheered me up.
8 miles (14 km’s) in 4.5 hours. Only 2 more days to go!
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