Coast to Coast! St Bees to Robin Hood Bay 200ish miles - going solo

A passing suggestion (hmmm yes, that's all it takes these days!!), a trotting passenger of 200ish miles, a giggling suitcase, standing on top of different mountains at dawn, misty moors, following a random male runner* for a 10 mile detour ;o))))))))))), a pressure blister, an old JW on hot coals, a few river dips, stunning t-shirt tan, passing many fantastic people, conversations and giggles with even more amazing people, cold beer at the end of each trot, 'heat wave' and of course not forgetting those who let me go. There are too many memories to put here - just ask the very kind and lovely London bus driver who just kept on laughing! ;o)))) 
 


Beach of St Bees - Starting point.

The starting point with two stones.
The only black and white stone that I could find ...
and the only yellow 'sun beam' flint stone
that I could find on the beach at St Bees.
 




My home for a few nights ;o))

This whole 200ish mile solo adventure was initiated by a passing RC who will never appreciate the impact.  This short journey went way beyond foot miles. Thank you ;o)))))).
 

 
 
  Ohh the  Cumbrian hills - amazing! This adventure lasted 7.5 days - it should have been 7 days but I was unable to carry enough water on one very hot day so had to split my 42 mile day into two! This of course has now resulted in me buying a cement mixer!... for the huge chip! ;o)))) 

Flat fields - hard underfoot - the sun was amazing! I was trotting between 25 - 35 miles per day (number of mountains in between pending) .... with a day around the 15 mark. Not a hint of stiff muscles during or after the trot! I arrived in most days early/ mid afternoon. - so made quite good time. 



Moors - adding to the variation.

Room with an amazing view ;o) shame about the midges in the morning ;o)))))))))

...and of course the woods too!

 
 

 
 



The finish- at Robin Hoods Bay - both rocks made it too!

 

 Robin Hood Bay! Quite an amazing feel.  Walking down to the beach and out to the water through crowds of people who had no idea that my (and many others) walk to the water had 200ish miles behind it. However, during the 200 miles ... life shifted in quite a profound way.......  
So what did I learn? Well that is a conversation for another day ;o)) but marker it left that's for sure ;o))

 

So much to say, so many memories, 10 mile detours and wonderful thoughts ... too many to write here although the passengers that had to sit next to me on the train back from Leeds to London may have a different take! ;o)))))).  ooops! luck of the draw ;o))))

 

*ok, so the male runner was part of a race across the moors to the coast - the race ( I had passed through some of their checkpoints) seemed to be on my path ..... so when I became lost on the map .... I followed.....and 10 miles later I found out that it was a race to another part of the coast!! ;o)))))))