my friend erica is doing the coast-to-to coast walk through england, all by herself.  she is very brave, and a very good walker.  she’s walking for 12 days, and today she’s hopefully finished half of her trip.  she’s walking a total of 12 days, and i think she’ll be walking up to 23 miles in a day.

she sent me the link to her itinerary, which includes all the hotels and b&bs she’s staying at, plus the mileage each day, and i’ve been checking out the different sites and the weather there.  it seems it’s been very lovely, with highs in the 60s and lows in the 40s, but now it might be cooler, only getting into the 50s.  not bad for walking, though, and i don’t see any rain in the forecast.

the name of the company she’s going through is called Sherpa Van.

Here’s a description of the walk:

This classic route was originated and described by the celebrated A.Wainwright, author of a well-known series of mountain-walking guide books on the English Lake District.  The route is 190 miles long, which works out at an average of 14.5 miles per day. Shorter days occur early in the tour, where steep gradients and rough going are encountered during the crossing of several high passes in the Lake District. The days get longer towards the end of the tour, with 24 miles, mostly on level ground, between Richmond and Osmotherley being followed by a day of 21 miles over the Cleveland Hills and North York Moors.

As well as providing a challenge, the route is renowned for its variety of beautiful scenery. Particular highlights include the idyllic lakeland valley of Borrowdale, the historic cobbled streets and market square of Richmond, and the marvellous heather-covered plateaux of the North York Moors. For a sustained walking tour such as this, with often rough going underfoot, steep gradients and long days, a good standard of fitness is required before starting. Boots should be broken-in and feet accustomed to wearing them during the period just before the tour.
it’s a similar kind of thing to our bike trips, where her luggage is transported from hotel to hotel each day.  the difference, though, is that this company lets you choose your hotels at each place you stop.  this is a great feature, because you could book a really nice place, or a cheap place, and you could thoroughly research all the places before going.  it also lets you choose how many miles you walk each day.  i think she’s doing the most hardcore walk, with lots of miles, even on very hilly days.

before she left, i told her that at least she won’t be trying to ride a bike up the hills.  there’s something very appealing about the thought of walking, but i do want to take another bike trip sometime, because i like covering more ground.  but then again, when it comes right down to it, does covering more ground really matter?

last night she stayed in a town called Newbiggin on Lune.

tomorrow night she’s staying in a place called the KELD LODGE.  it looks very lovely.

here’s a photo of the lodge.

enough of lolling around, i must get back to painting.

ok then,

mrs. monday hughes.