A Word Before I Leave…

Tomorrow afternoon I will depart Narragansett and travel to Logan Airport and thence to England to begin my walk. I realized that I have given precious little information about the route I will follow. So here it is: Alfred Wainwright, a revered English fells walker, in 1975, mapped a route that would traverse the entire width of England from the Irish Sea to the North Sea. He dubbed it “a coast to coast walk.” Wainwright compiled a hand-lettered book which set out almost step-by-step descriptions of the path and augmented those with elaborate pen and ink drawings of the terrain and sights to be seen along the way. Other folks who enjoyed walking the countryside picked up on his route and, in no time, The Coast to Coast Path (now capitalized) became the single most popular walking route in all of England. People come from all over the world to accept Wainwright’s challenge to cross an entire nation entirely on foot. My brother and I accepted and met the challenge in 2022 and 2023. Earlier this year, the C2C, as it is popularly abbreviated, has been designated a National Trail and is now maintained by the UK government.

My walk this year is the eastern portion of the C2C, spanning 110 miles from Kirkby Stephen to Robin Hoods Bay. [See the map below] This omits the 80 or so miles of the C2C that crosses the mountains of the Lake District. The choice to confine my efforts to the eastern segment was influenced by loved ones who were rightly concerned about the risks of scrambling through mountain passes on my own. The other main consideration in choosing this year’s path was my affinity for the geography of the Yorkshire Dales and the North York Moors where I will spend the next ten days. The terrain is a bit more forgiving than in the Lakes but the views are no less spectacular. And I’m looking forward to experiencing the improvements that have been made since the government took over management of the trail. 

Wish me luck!