The morning after the evening at the Seacoate Hotel was horrible for several reasons. The beds were 30 years old and akin to tables found in every morgue in the free world. The breakfast was greasy and severely lacking in quality and taste. Dale had a word with Mrs. Fawlty and expressed our list of displeasures. But that was now behind us so we put on our backpacks and made our way to the Irish Sea for one purpose only. We dipped our toes in the water and took a small pebble from the beach. This pebble was for our pockets on the journey.  

Tradition says to leave it on the beach at Robin Hood's Bay in 12 days from now.We set off along the headland and began the regular occurrence of meeting folks from every corner of the globe. The weather was perfect and the trek began with an aura of happiness. We ascended north along the coast to St. Bees lighthouse. Stonkinly good fun as we got a groove and a pace.We left the lighthouse and walked the country lanes and paths easing us through two little towns that were adhering to Sunday's closed policy. Who cares, what's 17.5 miles up hill and over dale with no water or snacks.

Not even a pub with a friendly face. The pain began to set in soon after. Straight up & over the fells. Pulses racing and muscles trembling our course was set for 8 hours on the path. Everyone stopped to give us their well intentioned advise. We regularly used that advice as it goes. The Fitbit showed us just over 40000 steps were taken by the end of the day and over 10000 calories burned. Now if we could have combined that with happy feet and zero muscle strain I would find a way to bottle that.The ups were hard but the downs were a real challenge. There have been two deaths on the coast to coast this week. One fall from a cliff and one massive heart attack. When we arrived in Ennerdale Bridge all sweaty and tired we dropped our packs and took up position in the back garden of the Fox & Hounds.

This beautiful little pub was unique in that it had been run by the community since the owners walked away as a result of little trade. The folks at the table next to us blame the impaired driving laws. Regardless we had a pint and a gallon of water. Upon finishing our pint we walked on to the Shepherds Arms which was our B&B for the night.  The S.A. was 180 degrees from last nights debacle. The room is quaint and dinner was top notch. I did feel sorry for the chef as he was also at the front desk and showed us to our room. I would recommend anyone craving the real pub experience to stay here when nearby. Well, all my body parts throb and Dale is sleeping. Tomorrow is said to be quite challenging. What could go wrong???

Regards'

Mark