The Second Marshmallow: 9.5 miles and getting nowhere fast

The Irish Sea and the coastline of England

As a child I read a fable about the sun and the wind having an argument about who was the stronger. They decided to have a contest to see who could make a man walking along the road remove his cloak. The wind blew and blew and blew and as the gale force winds buffeted the traveler, he pulled his cloak tighter and tighter around him. The wind had blown himself out and in frustration gave up the fight. Next it was the sun's turn. The sun slowly peaked from behind a cloud and sent his gentle, warm beams down on the traveler. After a short while in the sunshine, the man removed his cloak, draped it over his arm, and smiled as he strolled merrily on his way. What is the moral here? By being warm and gentle, you are much more persuasive than if you are cold and blustery.

What prompted this memory from my childhood was our walk today--the official beginning of our Coast to Coast trek across England.

At 9:00 we made our way to the Irish Sea at the edge of St. Bee's where we selected a pebble to carry to Robin Hood's Bay (the end of our trail) and dip our boots in the water, a baptism if you will, that officially began our walk. The weather was cold, overcast, and blustery; so we had all donned multiple layers and anticipated being drenched in the rain forecast to begin within the hour. As we traveled up the cliffs along the coast, we continued to be buffeted by gusts of between 30 and 40 m.p.h., yet our enthusiasm was undeterred and we trudged onward to be rewarded by a beautiful vista of fields, village and beach. (see photo below)

Throughout the day we shared pasture land with sheep and cows, learned how to efficiently step over and through stiles (gates), forded small streams and looked out over numerous picturesque seaside villages. One town was the birthplace of John Paul Jones, founder of the American Navy, who attacked the village during the Revolutionary War. Some say he captured the city and imprisoned several English soldiers. Others say his sailors landed, immediately went to the pub, got very drunk, and left.

By 11 a.m. the wind had not diminished but the rain clouds had parted and the sun warmed our bodies and spirits. Eventually we turned inland and the wind lessened and lessened. Soon folks were stopping to remove layers of clothing and praising the perfect hiking weather. We stopped in Sandwith to have our sandwiches (that's not a joke) and soon headed on to Ennerdale, arriving earlier than predicted by our leader. In fact, we are the fastest group yet! Unfortunately, I think that means our leaders think we are good enough to add more mileage to our trip. :-)
After a beer at Ennerdale, we hopped on our van which dropped us back at our b&b's in St. Bee's.

Tomorrow we are scheduled to hike 13.5 miles (and gain 2000 feet of altitude) and we actually will make progress west!