Coast to Coast Guided Explorer - 17 Days

Make your own way to the starting point of the Coast to Coast walk in St Bees. It's located on the edge of the Irish Sea with views across to the Isle of Man (where we offer a walk as well). If you have time, visit the Abbey church, which has features on the local history and has a display on a mummified knight that was discovered in a lead coffin from the graveyard. If you have an extra night here, you can walk the coastal path or quiet inland roads to the attractive town of Whitehaven with its marina and great museum. It is famous in the annals of the US navy as the site of an elaborate raid on the British mainland by one John Paul Jones during the American War of Independence. This evening you will meet your fellow walkers and guide for a trip briefing.

Today is our first day walking the Coast to Coast! We start with a climb from the beach taking a footpath along red sandstone coastal cliffs of St Bees Head. It has England’s only breeding colony of Black Guillemots (until July). We then move inland over hilly ground to the edge of the Lake District National Park. Dent Hill is the first real fell that we encounter and will give you some indication as to whether you are fit enough for the following days! The path descends to Nannycatch Gate and Beck. It is a delightful stroll which brings us to the final descent to leafy Ennerdale Bridge. The day’s total ascent 780m / descent 665m.

Walk on a quiet and scenic footpath along the shore of Ennerdale Water, with a bit of an easy scramble under Angler’s Crag at Robin Hood’s Seat. A long walk on a forest track then continues to Black Sail Hut, which is the smallest youth hostel and originally a shepherd’s hut. A steep climb follows up the Lowther Beck before traversing some of the Lakeland fells, perhaps with views down to Buttermere. Finally you reach the ‘drum house’, which marks the descent path to the Honister Slate Mine workings & cafe and Borrowdale. This is perhaps the most delightful valley in the Lakes with its crags and broadleaved trees. Borrowdale is a delightful ensemble of hamlets: Seatoller (Close to the wettest place in England), Longthwaite, Rosthwaite and Stonethwaite. Delightful riverside paths connect these places and their pubs together - if you have sufficient energy left for the evening. You might be interested to know that ‘thwaite’ is old Norse for paddock. The day’s total ascent 765m / descent 785m.

Enjoy classic Lakeland scenery on the traverse over Greenup Edge to Easedale and Grasmere. Its a stiff 500m climb up to the edge via Lining Crag where you may get great views back down into Borrowdale. The once boggy trail over the pass has been improved with the laying down of hundreds of Flagstones. After the pass the trail becomes rough and descends steeply into the flower meadows on the ouskirts of Grasmere. Grasmere is one of Lakeland’s most celebrated villages and hopefully there is time either this afternoon or tomorrow morning to visit the poet Wordsworth's home at Dove Cottage and drop into the famous Ginger bread shop! The day’s total ascent 750m / descent 760m.

A great walk over Grisedale Pass (609m/2000ft) and around the small mountain lake of Grisedale Tarn to Patterdale. In good weather and if our group is reasonably strong, we recommend that we take the detour route up St Sunday Crag. It will give some exceptional views down across Ullswater on the descend to Patterdale, possibly the most breathtaking of the trip. The day’s total ascent: 900m / descent 805m (via the optional route over St Sunday Crag, less if we avoid this). *Add 1½ hours for the detour of St Sunday Crag.

After completing today's walk, some would say this was the most difficult stage on the Coast to Coast walk. The day starts with a steep climb up past pretty Angle Tarn. We'll then hike up and onwards to a critical cairn where we turn off the route to High Street. It will take us up and over Kidsty Pike (780m / 2560ft), the highest point on the Coast to Coast, and then descend steeply to walk along Haweswater. This is a huge body of water that was conceived in 1929 to supply Manchester with drinking water, drowning a couple of villages in the process. We then undulate through fields to Shap Abbey, the most easterly point of the Lake District National Park. This was the last abbey to be founded in England (1199) and the last to be destroyed (1540). It nevertheless is a pretty place to take a break with some new interpretation signs. After this, we continue into Shap, the old granite mining town with several pubs and shops. The village offers an interesting insight to the history of the area. The day’s total ascent 1174m / descent 1009m.

There follows a hilly section across Limestone Moors with limestone pavements in places strewn with ‘erratic’ boulders moved there by glaciers. Finally we drop into the gentler climes around Orton. From here, a diversion of about a mile can be made to this quaint picturesque village that is home to Kennedy’s Chocolate Factory shop to lead you into temptation. Walking now between Cumbria and the Yorkshire Dales, there is a lot of attractive farmland to cross with a section of moors around Sunbiggin Tarn - an important site for birds. A steep descent to the Scandal Beck at Smardale Bridge makes for a nice afternoon break stop. Then ascend over Smardale Fell for the pretty descent into Kirkby Stephen's attractive market town. Its St. Hedda’s Church contains the 8th Century Loki stone relating to Norse Mythology. The day’s total ascent 808m / descent 950m.