Day 6 - Chips with Wainwright

With another twenty mile day ahead, it was a relief this morning to wake to a fine, dry day. According to the iPhone weather forecast yesterday, there was a thirty percent chance of snow, but fortunately that information was about as accurate as Stevie Wonder with a 38 special. Having ordered a packed lunch from the lady at Brookfield, who is becoming a legend amongst Coast to Coasters, it was necessary to rearrange the rucksack to fit all the food in, and then time to wave goodbye to the sleepy, country village that is Shap. That's a mainline railway to go under and the M6 to go over, via a bridge that surely must only be used by coast to coasters.

 

Despite its length, today's walk was billed as a recuperation day after yesterday's slog. It was certainly easier, but perhaps not as exciting, or with as much varied scenery as the days already gone. No less enjoyable, though and it still had its moments, like the viaduct on the disused railway in Smardale.

We also encountered a few limestone pavements, which gave me a chance to educate Mike, and now you, in the correct descriptive terminology for these features. The stones and the gaps between them are called Clints and Grikes. The compass sows that some of the Clints point northwards, meaning that those at ninety degrees must be... Clint Eastwards.... (sorry).

 

Mike's leg still hasn't fallen off, so I've not had to shoot him yet. This is fortunate, as it was his round in the pub after we had supper at the Coast to Coast chip shop which claims Wainwright as its most famous (late) regular customer.

 

So far, so good. I have to recommend this walk and I must be extremely "mellowed" by the experience, I've even noticed a distinct lack of profanity in my language, which is normally peppered with naughty words. Tomorrow we may pass by Nine Standards Rigg, a series of massive cairns atop a hill., and completely surrounded by killer peat bogs. Whether we do or not, the day is described as the "watershed" on the trip. Perhaps, as on the BBC, my language will deteriorate post watershed, but I f****** well hope not.

The end of the day will see us in Keld. Time will tell whether this fine hamlet has Internet access, we've just found out that it has no mobile signal...