4 January: Planning

No training for two days. I have a cold (or it could be man-flu?). Not quite the start I was aiming for and I’m determined to get back to it with a long walk tomorrow. It doesn’t really count until the first full week of the new year anyway – who heard of starting a training programme on a Wednesday?

 

Not long to go now – only 11 weeks to the off. Today has come around quickly. When I started putting down plans 2013 seemed to be in the distant future. Good job I started planning early. Those who know me will say I’m something of a keen planner. I suppose there is some truth in this, or maybe I just hang around with people who don’t have a clue and by comparison I’m some sort of planning superstar?

 

Anyway I’ve planned my route in advance and booked accommodation along the way. This is really driven by having a set amount of time off work, I have to co-ordinate with others joining me along the route, and I want to get to a certain point on the walk in time for my birthday. And maybe because I’m that way inclined?

 

To give myself the best shot at hitting a fixed schedule I’ve tried to keep the daily distances moderate. My 15 day schedule seems be somewhere in the middle of the range of difficulty, with timetables commonly running between 12 and 18 days.

 

Wainwright prescribed just 12, but I’m told he never did it this quickly. Compared to his documented route I’ll be crossing the Lakes in five days from St Bees Head, adding an overnight stop at Grasmere and finishing this stage at Bampton. This is largely because I know the village and have stayed there before at a very nice inn. I’ve then added stops at Orton and Danby Wiske breaking up two of the longest stretches.

 

I’m planning to cross the North Yorkshire Moors to the east coast in the same three days as Wainwright but following a slightly different strategy. I’ll be staying overnight at Osmotherley rather than Ingleby Cross, but this is only a slight variation. Then, coming off the back of a short day I will undertake the longest leg of my walk, 21 miles and a fair bit of ascent and descent across the moors to Blakey Ridge. This happens to be my birthday (something to do with proving that I can still do it at such a grand old age maybe?) and is also the same route as the first half of the Lyke Wake Walk – a path I have trodden twice before, on both occasions at night. It will be nice to compare the views in daylight. My final stop will then be at Grosmont, finishing at Robin Hood’s Bay on day 15.

 

Here is the full schedule:

 

Day 1	St Bees Head to Ennerdale Bridge
Day 2	Ennerdale Bridge to Rothswaite
Day 3	Rothswaite to Grasmere
Day 4	Grasmere to Patterdale
Day 5	Patterdale to Bampton
Day 6	Bampton to Orton
Day 7	Orton to Kirkby Stephen
Day 8	Kirkby Stephen to Keld
Day 9	Keld to Reeth
Day 10	Reeth to Richmond
Day 11	Richmond to Danby Wiske
Day 12	Danby Wiske to Osmotherley
Day 13	Osmotherley to Blakey Ridge
Day 14	Blakey Ridge to Grosmont
Day 15	Grosmont to Robin Hood’s Bay

 

Finally for now a word about Suzi’s Taxi Service of Keswick.

 

When I tell people that I’m planning to walk from the west coast of England to the east they are invariably impressed, and make an assumption that I’m going to make the journey unsupported, carrying my own gear and camping along the way. When I explain that I’ll be staying at B&Bs and Inns they become a little less impressed, and then as I confess that I’ll be using a courier service to ferry most of my gear from location to location they look at me as if I’m some sort of wimp. Whatever – and by the way, which of us is walking from one side of the country to the other?

 

Anyway, without any service yet having been provided I’m really impressed with Suzi’s Taxi Service. Her response to my (really quite detailed) questions was great and she has put together an all-in plan for the various baggage transfers for me and others, and for ferrying people back to cars after they have walked their sections, all for a fixed price.