Coast to Coast - Day Two

Day Two: Ennerdale to Stonethwaite (16 miles)

First injury of the tour: I
break my tooth on a biscuit

This was our first day of walking in the Lake District (proper) and involves a climb of over 600 metres to a pass at Grey Knotts, which takes us from Ennerdale into Borrowdale.

There's the option of a high-level route over Red Pike and High Stile, but we had decided to stick to the easier track and, on the advice of Maggie, our landlady, we also took the slightly longer, but easier, north shore of Ennerdale Water on account of David's knee, which was troubling him.

The day began with a drive back to Ennerdale. Maggie's husband did the honours in another Jaguar and it turns out he's a policeman specialising in armed response. You wouldn't think Cumbria needed armed police, but of course, there was an incident in 2010 when taxi driver Derrick Bird went on the rampage with a shotgun and killed 12 people plus 11 more injured. Maggie's husband hadn't been on duty that day, but remembered it well and gave us a run-down of what happened, including lots of lucky escapes.

It was another beautiful day in the Lakes and the walk around Ennerdale Water was not without a climb and scramble, but was certainly easier than the southern path. It also meant we got to see Crag Fell and Robin Hood's Chair. Where the two paths joined, we met a lone woman hiker looking a little perplexed and I wondered if it was Juliet, still trying to find her way to St Bees.

Not Juliet, but Sue. We never did find Juliet.

We offered the help of our combined navigational skills and it turns out the woman was called Sue, she was from Australia and she was walking the coast to coast on her own. She joined up with us for the rest of the day and we spent the next nine days walking with her as far as the North York Moors.

The valley path takes you on a good track to a youth hostel called Black Sail Hut near the head of Ennderdale. From there, you can see a path that goes steeply up the head of the valley and over the top via Windy Gap. Sam and I walked that route maybe 18 years ago. We'd been up to Wasdale to climb Scafell Pike and the following day we were going to go up Great Gable but the cloudbase was too low and it was rather windy, so we decided to climb up to Styhead Tarn and then up the path (Windy Gap) between Great Gable and Green Gable, around the back of Great Gable and then down again into Wasdale. It was a steep old climb and I almost turned off down the path we could now see, which would have taken us into Ennerdale. Luckily, Sam proved a better navigator and we stayed high before dropping down into the right valley behind Kirk Fell.

Well Windy Gap was not for us this day, but we did have a steep climb to the north alongside Loft Beck and up to the side of Grey Knotts. Before that, however, disaster struck! We were eating lunch at the Black Sail and Maggie had provided us with some homemade biscuits. As I bit into it, I felt my tooth move. Quickly, I disengaged my gnashers but it was too late, my poor tooth (an old bridge) was hanging loose and I pulled it off and popped it into a little plastic bag supplied by Sue. So now I had no choice but to complete the walk either looking like a complete chav or not smiling - it had to be a front tooth didn't it!

David and I at Black Sail Hut

After Black Sail Hut, the route is indistinct and boggy in places, although spring has been quite dry after the rains of December, so we weren't in danger of going over our boots. It's a hard, rocky ascent and then a more pleasant walk across the top of the pass alongside Grey Knotts before dropping down into Borrowdale, via Honister. The views of Haystacks and down to Buttermere were good and, because it was a Sunday, there were quite a few people about. Heading north, we hit the course of the old tramway from the Honister Slate Mine and followed that down to the visitor centre (it's now a tourist attraction). It was already late afternoon, so we had tea and cake in the cafe before heading off to Stonethwaite where we'd stay for the night.

David had found the descent very tough and his knee was hurting, but we still had some way to go. The rest of the walk was downhill and easier. It's amazing how quickly the landscape softens and becomes more lush as you lose height; it's also amazing how long and hard those last few miles feel each day.

Our accommodation was in Stonethwaite, which is a mile further on than Rosthwaite (the standard destination for stage two), so with our extended walk around the lake and this extra mile, we'd probably clocked up 18 miles today. We found our landlady for the night sitting in the early evening sun in her front garden, so we said hello and then went to the village pub, The Langstrath, for medicinal alcohol. It turns out that Sue can down a gin and tonic like a suckling lamb. Sue was also staying in our B&B and we arranged to meet for dinner at the pub later. I wished we were staying at The Langstrath as our B&B was a bit more basic. The Langstrath was built in 1590 as a row of miners cottages and has been extended and altered over the years. Food was good and we met up again with Karen and Jess, who had passed us on the first day. They are good fun. Karen is in her forties and determined to stay fit; Jess is fit, but is quite a big chap and has a voice not unlike comedian Johnny Vegas.

There was a group of young people in the pub, who were very drunk. I got talking to one in the gents and he said they were from Workington and had been swimming in Stonethwaite Beck. Apparently, there are waterfalls and pools further up and he got his phone out (one handed) to show me the pictures. Nothing interrupts the flow of urine like looking at pictures on a stranger's smartphone. The only thing that spoiled their day was there was no Jagermeister in the pub for Jager bombs.

I'd like to go back to Stonethwaite one day ...