Wainwright’s Coast to Coast Walk - Sep 23, 2023 Day 7 Transfer to Kirby Stephen to Keld

Daily Information 

Distance:   19.9 Kms   [161.0 Kms]

Walking time:   4h 32m [41h 7m]

Avg walking speed:   4.4 Kms/hr  [3.9 Kms/hr]

Elevation G/L meters: 502:(346)  [5,237:(4,937)]

Total Daily Steps: 30,113 [254,902]

Now we are cooking…great day…survived the bogs. We took the Green route which is the safest one considering the rain this area has endured of late . No rain…light winds…no pratfalls!

Sure we had to be careful…often using our trekking poles to poke and prod the ground around us however other than the usual mud…all was good. The walking was surreal in the desolate moors areas…great fun!

Early this morning I added the snow cuffs to my trekking poles and that was a good move. I did have a little trouble attaching them…until Greg pointed out I had them backwards which did not allow for screwing them on properly. My mantra…stuff like this happens to the best of us 😊. As long as someone is willing to help me now and again no problem I move forward 😂.

Back to last night’s supper at the Black Swan…a real fancy Inn we are staying at…had a delicious supper.

Chicken cutlet on fried egg with green beans!

Breakfast this morning was superb…and it was more than half an hour earlier than planned. Last night “we can’t possibly accommodate you prior to 8:30 due to a large party” Come on…it’s 7:50 let’s try Greg…sure enough play dumb “comes naturally” and voila we are served…

My English Breakfast

Greg’s Waffles

The  Black Swan is outside of Kirby Stephen therefore Mac’s Adventures has a shuttle to/from. On the way back to Kirby Stephen this morning had a nice chat with our driver. 

Ok here is what we learned…absolute truth…sheep farming is huge business in this area. Last year the top breeding sheep (just one sheep) fetched 660,000 GBP…the top sheep herding dog 57,000 GBP. I tend to smell out BS pretty well…he certainly said this in a convincing manner therefore it’s incredible!

On the BS front a few blogposts ago I had a picture purporting to be a black bear. Full disclosure it was a black sheep with a white head. If anyone was fooled please let me know confidentiality and I will be sure to publish your name shortly in a blogpost…that would include you Paulo 😂.

Comfort in numbers 

As we set out this morning there were a dozen or more walkers…which was good in case I needed to be pulled out of the bog. Had some short but nice chats with:

- Laurie and Nick from Australia. Laurie really wants to walk a Camino however is concerned the Camino Frances is too crowded. She asked for my suggestion…easy… Camino San Salvador & Primitivo

- Kevin from New Jersey…somehow conversation went to US politics where Kevin simply said “things are hopeless in my country”. Kevin walked the Camino Portuguese and was also interested in other Caminos…interestingly in Switzerland…so I was able to talk about the Via Jacobi

- Patrick from South Africa and Laura from Ireland. An interesting couple recently retired who spend their time between these two countries. Patrick talked about the challenges faced by South Africa in recent years due to inept political leadership “our Trump”. Very interesting fellow.

A few other things I learned along the way

- Shap where we stayed two nights ago had 83mm of rain in 24 hours the most in UK on either our walking Day 3 or 4

- 3 people were airlifted from our Day 3 walking route

- Woman at front desk where we are staying Keld

Lodge told us she has never seen rain combined with gale force winds like the last few days. She commented we would have stories to tell for years! Music to my ears and I told her just that…she then said my stories would grow over time…100 mile an hours winds etc. HOW can she possibly know

me that well after a couple of minutes!

Had a late lunch coming into Keld…which is a village with 4-5 buildings 

Superb toasted ham sandwich 

Not what it looks like - Salted Caramel 🥰

Keld Lodge has to be the best accommodation so far…

- Breakfast starts at 7:30am

- Restaurant reserved for guests…come anytime between 5:30 and 7:30

- Drying room…like a sauna for boots clothes

- Shower…take a look at the picture below…amazing contraption…left nozzle turns water on…right nozzle has degrees on it so you know what the heck is happening. ONE soap dispenser…none of the body shampoo, hair shampoo, conditioner. KEEP it simple…it’s soap! 

I have heard that commenting results in errors on the blogpost. I have had some difficulty as well in replying to comments. A reader tried switching from Safari to Chrome and voila problems solved. This has also just worked for me. Note this issue was resolved without asking for help from Greg the System Architect! 😊. 

Well that’s wrap for today…tomorrow is another short day at 20 kms to Reeth…a few pictures from the day.

This is where dead people end up in bogs!