Here a Sheep, There a Sheep

Here's circling back to my Coast to Coast Walk for a few posts as the year ends! Old Mac Donald was most likely a sheep farmer, from what I could tell. The abundance of sheep on this trip was a constant delight to encounter. On the train, so many sheep on pastures the further north we rode. Sheep in St. Bees on the way to the hotel.

Sheep on the beach and sheep with the best views of the land and sea. The animals seem very engrossed in their non-stop meals, I'm not sure they are noticing. 

I personally noticed that very few sheep had been sheared so far. Our alpacas need to be sheared by early June if you don't want to deal with animal heat stroke, but northern England is indeed much further north than central Indiana and still quite chilly. Shearing usually happens in July up here. It was super windy on top of that plateau and I was glad I had my jacket on to keep from freezing despite the mild day. 

I loved how many sheep breeds we passed. The brown and grey ones below are particularly interesting and adorable. They are Herdwick, and they can survive the fell landscape by only eating forage without other food supplements. The brown animals are lambs or very young sheep while the grey ones are a few years old. They turn from brown-black to grey as they mature. Beatrix Potter had a flock of Herdwicks on her many farms and was instrumental in helping the breed survive.

Sheep enjoyed the landscape around abandoned monasteries...

The barren landscape and lack of trees (partly a side-effect of grazing sheep) makes it necessary to build fences with stones. These stone fences were everywhere, well-maintained, and thick. There were often stone barns and shelters as well. 

Oooops, these aren't sheep; they're alpacas! But since they were the only ones I saw during the entire trip, I decided to give them some room on the blog!

These guys really wanted to get out, or get our attention, or both. Lots of noise from this crew are we passed by!

The other sheep breed that was prolific was Swaledale, where the adult animals have beautiful round horns. The town of Swaledale was also near the walk. Above is a great example of the many stone fences that divide the landscape into pastures. 

Finally, this sheep seems to know that there are no real lions who live in the English mountains or on the moors, so might as well catch a snack on the hotel lawn. The employees were half-heartedly trying to get this sheep to leave, but it was quite happy and persistent. 

I hope you enjoyed looking at a few of the hundreds of sheep that I saw! I decided to spare you the knick knack collections that these animals inspired. There was endless kitsch in every little tourist shop. 

 

And So It Begins

I’m not sure how to tell this story. The Coast to Coast hike is one of the most diverse and mentally engaging hiking experiences so far, and there are many angles to the trip. 

Very close to the hotel is the marker for the beginning. The walk is not nationally recognized, which means there is no one correct path. There is also limited signage as a result. A map is crucial, and I have all the maps digitally available offline on the Gaia app. The satellite shows you exactly where you are and has saved us from making significant mistakes.

Before starting, it is the custom to dip your toe into the Irish Sea and select a small rock to carry to the North Sea. I picked a small white rock with some gray layers.

We have 190 miles to go! Since we’ve had to do a little backtracking already, I’m going wager that we will add a few extra miles to this number.

Ancient cliffs, looking back at the trail and forward on St Bees Head, the first section of the trail.

Many interesting birds live and breed on these cliffs this time of year. Most of the birds in the video are guillemots, but there were also plenty of the endangered herring gulls.

Every lighthouse should come with a set of cows! This is farm country, and livestock is seen everywhere. The next few photos show how many different types of paths the trail uses. Sometimes you walk through a field, on a country lane, through a town next to someone’s amazing gardens, actual hiking trails, logging access roads, a city walking path.

We made it to the top of the first summit, Dent. It was a pleasant climb to get started. We also had a decent view of some other cities, including Sellafield, a nuclear facility. THIS is the scarier article, if you want to go down this rabbit hole.

We met several other Coast to Coast walkers in the last section and enjoyed some good conversation. People are very friendly and there is a sense of community on the trail as our paths cross over time.

This concludes the first day’s views! I thought I would lump several days together, but it seems like this is a good place to stop. Each day ends in civilization, and I can’t tell you how nice it is to have a bed, shower, and yummy dinner waiting for you at end of each long hike!

Walk on the LEFT!

Sunday morning, 6:30 London time, I found myself stumbling off a red-eye flight and fighting against a crowd of oncoming people when I realized that the left side of the hallway was completely empty. Welcome to England, lassie! (When does one become too old to be called lassie? I’ve been called this 3x. Not sure how I feel  about this.) Just like driving, people walk on the left here. When traveling, I am often astonished how reflexive our cultural traditions are, how we don’t have to consider the rules when we are “with our people,” and how much effort it takes to become one with the new people we encounter. Since that moment, I’ve been in many other people’s way on stairways, sidewalks, going in the wrong door while others are trying leave by it, etc. I am constantly reminding myself to stay on the left.

Continuing travel to the rural countryside and ending in St Bees on the coast of the Irish Sea, I’m rediscovering that saying “hello” is specific to our location. My staid Midwestern hello, good morning, hi is greeted with an enthusiastic “Hiya!!” I quite like the excitement of the exclamation! It completely captures my mood on the trail in particular. Also, I usually don’t find the English language to be very musical, but spending time with Scottish people on the train and listening to how the English accents change from town to town, I am charmed by the lilting turns of phrase and syllables with slightly different pronunciation and emphasis from what I am accustomed to.

I am here to walk the Coast to Coast Trail. Much of the trail crosses private land, through pastures full of grazing sheep and cows. I am filled with gratitude for this tradition and the trust of the landowners to allow me and fellow hikers to walk on their land, a tradition no one back home would consider without getting somewhat uneasy. Strangely, there are many similarities to my treks in Peru (second trip still not documented on blog…) where many of the trails were covered with decaying animal dung and the temperature was a delightful 60*F.

Finally, just a little note about St. Bees, the village at the beginning of the hike. It’s a sleepy little town with a nice beach, hiking, charming houses, pubs, and B and Bs. We took a look into the church priory this afternoon, and it was a place for deep meditation and awe. It was founded around 1130 and history from every era was oozing out of every corner. The organ has 2000 pipes and was the last built by Henry Willis. Especially moving were sculptures by Josefina de Vasconcellos in the Lady’s Chapel. She also had sculptures in a garden outside of the church that was built at her request after her death.

Tomorrow we walk… on the left side of the trail!