Gary's Coast to Coast Walk 2012: Day 4

Thursday 9 August 2012

Day 4

After a comfortable nights rest at the "excellent" Shepherds Crook Bunkhouse, (highly recommended), Gary set off at 08.45am bound for Patterdale, a mere 8.5 miles. Today was hot, (very hot) and sunny all day long. This meant only one thing, time to give those knees an airing as promised yesterday. Shorts definitely proved to be the most suitable attire of the day.

The walk started with a steady uphill slog up Tongue Gill from Grasmere.Half way up Gary was caught up by a fella from Newcastle also doing the Coast 2 Coast walk who told him the Lakes is the hardest bit, you have to climb a mountain everyday! Gary admitted he'd not really thought of it like that before. So Day 4 and mountain number 4 beckoned. The sun became very strong as Gary reached the top at 11am

Looking south west down Tongue Gill towards Grasmere

Gary had a short stop at Grisedale Tarn where he was passed by a very chatty group of Americans who were also walking the Coast to Coast with a guide. Gary made a conscious decision to keep to a steady pace today due to the heat.


Looking back up the valley towards Grisedale Tarn

The paths were much better than yesterday and the going felt a bit easier. On the way down the wind dropped which racked up the heat once more. A welcome stop for lunch half way down at Ruthwaite Lodge and enjoyed the view back up the valley, (see above).


Looking east towards Patterdale at Grisedale Tarn

Arrived in Patterdale and stopped for an ice cream. The ice cream proved a high point of the day as it was purchased from Patterdale Village Stores which is the shop where Wainright sold his first ever book. I can see Gary's smile from here! A short walk across the valley followed to the start point for tomorrow. Destination reached at 2.15pm. Gary's gearing up for an early start tomorrow as he plans to cover 16 miles and has some serious uphill walking to do.

Huge thanks to Alan, Gary's Dad who's running support for Gary during the trip. There is no way that Gary would be able to undertake his walk without his Dad's support. We're both grateful to Alan for helping to make this happen x
Ukulele Tune of the Day "Here Comes The Sun", what else?!
****TOTAL DONATIONS £1,187****HUGE THANKS TO EVERYONE FOR YOUR SUPPORT

1 comment:

Mum10/08/2012, 14:13
Go for it Gaz. So proud of you. Nearly halfway there! Love Mum
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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!