My Advent Calendar - Day 23

December 23^rd

Welcome to Day 23 of my Advent Calendar, where I am reliving my Coast to Coast adventure!

Day 14 – Part 2

~ To the coast, We are passed by Superman, Scattered showers, Treacherous cliffs, Familiar faces, Final miles, Down the hill, Robin Hood’s Bay ~

As we gazed out at the endless ocean we realised that we still seemed to be heading towards Whitby. We checked the map and discovered that we would start to turn right soon as we headed due east towards the coast.

            The road was beginning to get a little tedious and we noticed that we were actually quite tired. We had no excuse however when we were caught up by a new walker. He was about our age, carrying all his gear (which we were pleased to see) and alone. He was also doing a terrific pace. As he came along side we chatted with him and soon found out that he was walking the Coast to Coast in seven days, half what we’d done it in. In fact he eventually finished in 163 hours (including rests). That morning he’d got up at 3:30am, from The Lion Inn, where we’d been the day before! We realised we were in the presence of Superman (although he was a bit shorter than I expected him to be). He didn’t stay with us for long, clearly we were holding him up and he sped away.
            The rain returned in patches, which was annoying but, aside from a brief stop for some lunch, we kept going and soon saw a sign post for the cliff top path. Bizarrely this meant walking through a caravan park but sure enough, on the other side, were the cliffs and the sea.
            We hadn’t finished yet, though. The cliff path runs to Robin Hood’s Bay, the final destination, and that was still more than three miles away. So, like the very start of the walk the journey ends with some treacherous cliffs. The wind was blowing and the rain made the surface slippery, and our aching legs seemed to drag. Slowly we inched along, creeping nearer to our goal.
            Then, just as we were making progress we were accosted by three badly dressed people (for walking in the rain) and a dog; namely, our family. Together we marched to the finish, which included a steep descent through the town of Robin Hood’s Bay. The rocky beach greeted us, as did the two guys ‘doing it in 12 days’ and we dipped our toes in the water, before throwing the pebbles from St Bees into the North Sea, a memorable moment from a very memorable adventure.


Please return tomorrow for the final instalment of this Advent Calendar!

 

The camp site, where we joined the cliff top path

 

Dipping our toes in the North Sea