Thoughts at the end

Well -it's all over -we made it! Here are a few photos from our last day and arrival in Robin Hood's Bay where we joined fellow walkers at the Wainwright bar for a local brew in the Bay Hotel. As everyone has done before us since Alfred Wainwright first did this walk in 1971, we went down to the beach, dipped our boots in the North Sea and threw in the pebbles we had carried with us from St Bees. Yeah!!

My feelings at the end? For me the walk was an odyssey, conceived and planned for over a year -something that I had to do. I loved every moment of it, wind rain, sore feet and all and I feel so privileged to have had this chance to walk through some of England's finest countryside and meet such lovely people and raise money for Yes to Life at the same time. I found my walking legs - painful at first but they became stronger and stronger and carried me all that way without too much grumbling. Another really big thing to be grateful for. I managed to be chief map reader and not get us lost too often - a big surprise I must say! I loved having the opportunity to spend two weeks with Imogen who inspired me to challenge myself and to enjoy an outdoor life whatever the weather. Imo went in the sea for a dip after the walk - too chilly for me! That's my main feeling - gratitude for having had this amazing journey with Imogen, David and Vidya and gratitude to all of the people who supported us with their donations and good vibes. Thank you all and thank you Alfred Wainwright!!
Jo

first day of summer!

and it was sunny and beautiful! we had a delightful 5 mile stroll today(our shortest day yet) and arrived at a lovely farmhouse with lot's of cats, cows and lambs and a classic friendly farmers wife. Today we had cute male company with a white fluffy dog-a friend of Immos(the boy not the dog). Then the day before we had some of the Daly family as Jo said. All this was sweetly distracting.
The day before was the biggest challenge.....trudging for miles and miles(22 to be precise)through extreme weather(gale force winds and freezing rain)across the bleak and potentially beautiful Yorkshire Moors.....there was nowhere to shelter, my waterproof pants leaked yet again and I was cold and soaked through and felt like i was walking in a wet diaper! We tried to stop to eat our cheese and branston pickle sandwiches in the rain but we got too cold and had to eat walking. It was a test to say the least but we all survived!
Today we really saw the sea on the east coast and it looked so amazing like a deep blue mirage. We were looking down on Whitby which is where dracula arrived in England(I didn't know he came here but apparently he did). Today is the summer solstice so we plan to do a little ceremony. Immo has sparklers and I have a twirling thing that lights up when you throw it in the air plus we are going to do a debriefing. Tomorrow is our big day....eleven miles to Robin Hood Bay. I think we are going to make it yeah!!!!!!!!!!!

Trial by Moor and Summer Solstice

Its been a while since we had internet access so this blog entry has to cover a lot of ground (like us). I will have to describe it backwards from this moment. We are at Intake Farm in Littlebeck which is only 10 miles from Robin Hood's Bay! Today as we walked across our last piece of moorland we saw the North Sea shining blue in the distance and we shrieked with delight - hard to believe we are actually nearly there and only one more day to go! Since our last post we have been tested by the gods and goddesses of the Yorkshire Moors who must have thought that we wimps from USA needed a greater challenge. On Saturday we set out at 7am from Ingleby Cross to walk 22 miles across the wild and untamed moors of north Yorkshire. Oh yeah! It started to rain as we left the farm and so we chose our "full metal jacket" rain gear with gaiters. Lucky. As we climbed steadily on to the moors the wind picked up to a howling gale so I was hardly able to stand upright and the rain came down horizontally "like stair rods" as they say here. We battled on (at least there were no bogs!)knowing we had no choice but to keep going and had one oasis in the form of a small isolated cafe called The Lord Stones cafe in the middle of nowhere where we had great cappucino and scones. Then we hurled ourselves out into the wind again. It was impossible to stop walking even to have sandwiches as the wind and cold grabbed you and threatened to toss you into the air so we just kept going -Vidya listened to her "moor mix" on her ipod and 10 hours later we staggered into the famous Lion Inn pub at Blakey Ridge. People were in there having dinner and they looked at us like we just arrived from an arctic expedition as we came through the door. After hot baths (and a gin and tonic) we were in good shape again and ready to greet our guests Robin, Nancy, Myrren and James who had driven from London to meet us. What a banquet we had that night!! Now as I look back on that day -it was wonderful - wild intimacy with the elements that is not something I usually experience and an incredibly beautiful moorland impression. Next morning -better weather - James and Myrren walked with us from Blakey Ridge to Graisdale where we had lunch together before they set off back to London. It was great to have had company! We walked on to the village of Grosmont last night which is famous for its steam railway. We were joined this time by Imo's friend Henry and his dog Louis who came up from Derby to walk with us. We had another pub dinner in The Station Tavern with other C to C'ers and one highlight of the evening was the look on the barman's face when Vidya asked if they had extra virgin olive oil! Today we set off in glorious sunshine for Littlebeck - a short 5 mile day to allow us to "rest" and enjoy the beauty of this delightful hamlet with a trickling brook or beck through the middle of little cottages. The farm where we are now is a working farm - we were greeted with tea and chocolate cake and then played with two tiny kittens - part of a gang of farm cats here as we waited for Shepavan to arrive with our bags. Tonight we are celebrating the summer solstice and reflecting on this amazing journey that we have been lucky enough to share. Tomorrow we finish!