Gary's Coast to Coast Walk 2012: Day 3

Wednesday 8 August 2012

Day 3

"The hardest day so far" Gary set off from Rosthwaite at 8.15am heading for Grasmere, 9 miles in total. Although this was the shortest day in terms of miles it certainly proved to be no walk in the park!


Looking up to Lining Crag

Steep climb out of Borrowdale up Greenup Gill and behind Eagle Crag picking his way over some bogs and then a near vertical rock climb to Lining Crag. Once at the top of Lining Crag more bogs were waiting. Fortunately for him Gary met up with two other coast to coasters, Liz and Roger from Surrey and they were able to cross the bogs together, helping each other out with navigation. Much back tracking and muddy boots later the path down to Grasmere was finally located!


Climbing up rocks to Lining Crag

Looking west from Buttermere to Brandreth

The best thing about reaching the top after a very steep climb, (apart from the views), was that it was all downhill from here to Grasmere!

At this point Gary stopped for a lunch break whilst Liz & Roger steamed on as they were heading for Patterdale - 17 miles in total, Madness!, (in Gary's opinion). The path down to Grasmere was very boggy and at times disappeared. Gary headed on towards Grasmere picking his way across boulders and streams.


Looking west down towards Grasmere....

Today was really hot & sunny, plenty of slip, slap slop required. The terrain made it very tough going. Gary arrived at Grasmere at 2.30pm. Gary's hoping it's a bit flatter once out of the Lake District, which will be the day after tomorrow. Regular readers of the blog will know that Gary is a keen ukulele player and is a member of The N'Ukes, Leicesters Premier ukulele band. Gary's fellow band members have promised him sponsorship, but only if he plays his ukulele at every stop. Gary likes nothing better than a tinkle on his ukulele so is happy to oblige!! The last two evenings have seen play "Big rock candy mountain" and "Dream a little dream of me" Tonight's tune is "Hot Tamales". Gary offers his sincere apologies to his fellow campers!

Gary's quote of the day "Such a steep climb". Shortest day tomorrow, Gary tells me he may even wear his shorts!

5 comments:

Emma winder08/08/2012, 22:59
Hi Gary. Just wanted to say what an amazing thing you are doing. I keep up with the blog and am truly impressed with the task you are undertaking!! Good luck with the rest of the walk! Keep smiling and playing your ukulele.
Thinking of you xxx
Emma w
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Jeanette08/08/2012, 23:06
Great part of the walk and bringing back some special memories - keep going, Gary!
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Family Kay09/08/2012, 08:18
Grassmere, Buttermere - one of my favorite places in the whole world. Enjoy and good luck. I hope the weather is being kind to you!!! I know the Lakes has it's own 'micro climate' usually of the WET variety!
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Anonymous10/08/2012, 20:41
Go Team G-Mac!
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Anonymous10/08/2012, 22:22
Ruddy good stuff mate! I dont know how you can do that amount of walking day after day. I just did a 16 miler in Peaks yesterday and couldnt imagine doing same distance for many days running!

Some cracking pics on the blog Gary, wish I could have been on some of the days with you, would have brought me guitar :)

Dave off walkersforum.com
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C2C20124MA

Thanks for taking the time to visit my website.

So why am I raising money for the Miscarriage Association?

Someone has to. They need a relatively small amount of money to keep going every year, and the work they do is really essential.

In 2009 and 2010, Helen and I lost 2 babies in the space of 5 months. The loss we felt was immense and still is.

So, in 2012 I will be completing Wainwrights Coast to Coast walk, from St Bee's Head on the Cumbrian coast, to Robin Hoods Bay on the North East coast, a walk of approximately 200 miles.

It should take about two weeks and I will be camping whenever possible to keep the costs down.

You can donate by jumping to my JustGiving page

Don't feel you have to give lots -

every penny really does help.

Send the website address to everyone you know - all I need is for 1000 people to give £1 each and I've made my target.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

So please dig deep and donate now.

Thank you so much.

So Who's the Fat Bloke?

Hi. I am a 38 year old primary school teacher who lives in Cropston, just north west of Leicester with my wife, Helen and 5 year old son, Lachlan. I've been walking in Leicestershire, Yorkshire, the Lake District, Cornwall, Derbyshire and the Malvern Hills, and love being outdoors. I've been camping in most of these places and in Norfolk and Devon. I enjoy playing the Ukulele as often as I can, singing, darts, golf and growing my own veg.

I'm looking forward to completing the walk, blisters and all, and being able to say that even while enjoying a great outdoor experience, I can raise money to help others who have been through the same experience as Helen and I. And yes - I will be taking my Ukulele with me and I'm hoping someone might sponsor me for a song played at each stop along the way!

What is Wainwright's Coast to Coast?

The Wainwright Society says this about the Coast to Coast:

'A Coast to Coast Walk was devised by Wainwright himself, and set out in his 1973 guidebook to the route.

The route is a 192-mile (although according to a recent re-measuring the real distance is almost 220 miles) unofficial, long distance footpath in Northern England. It passes through three contrasting national parks: the Lake District National Park, the Yorkshire Dales National Park, and the North York Moors National Park.

Wainwright suggested a way of breaking the walk miles into stages, each of which to be completed in a day. With one or two rest days, this makes the route fit into a two-week holiday. However, Wainwright explicitly stated that he did not intend people to necessarily stick to these stages or even to his route: for example, by reducing day-lengths to 10 or 12 miles, the walk becomes a much easier three-week trip with time to 'stand and stare'.

In 2004 the walk was named as the second best walk in the world according to a survey of experts.'

I'll be breaking the walk into 14 stages, walking an average of 14 miles a day. However, this varies a lot - my shortest day is only 8 miles and my longest day will be 20 miles.

Whichever way you cut it this walk is one of the best long distance walks in the world and I'm very lucky (as well as a bit bonkers?) to be attempting it this August. Let's hope I enjoy walking it as much as I've enjoyed organising it!