Coast to Coast Walk Season 2008

Chestnut House, Crosby Garrett, Kirkby Stephen, Cumbria CA17 4PR, UK
Phone / Fax: +44 (0)17683 71777
packhorse@cumbria.com

Planning your Coast to Coast Walk Schedule

The most important aspect of your walk is the planning! Your walk should be one of the most enjoyable experiences of your life and certainly not a gruelling ordeal! It is very important therefore that you construct a schedule that suits your own particular needs and circumstances and which allows you to walk within your own capabilities. Remember this is day on day walking and not a single day. As well as studying your Guide Book, you might want to consider the following factors factors in constructing your schedule and determining the number of nights accommodation you will require:-

1. How many nights / days can you spare at most?

• If time is really tight - you might want to consider doing half or some proportion of the walk rather that trying to fit the whole thing in and over stretching yourself. You can always come back later in the year or the following season to finish things off!

2. Where are you travelling from to start your Coast to Coast Holiday?

• If you are travelling from overseas you might find travelling by rail directly out to St Bees and back from Robin Hood's Bay your easiest option. In this case your first night will be at St Bees rather than Kirkby Stephen.
• If you are travelling by car, your easiest option is to drive up to Kirkby Stephen, centrally situated just off J38 of the M6. Here you can spend your first night before parking your car in our secure pound in the morning and taking the Packhorse Minibus out to St Bees to start your walk.
• If you live close to Kirkby Stephen and can get to us by 8.15am - you could drive directly to us, leave your car and catch the minibus departing at 8.30am prompt.

3. How far can I walk, and how much difficult terrain can I handle per day?

• Just because the Guide books break the walk into 12 stages, it does not mean you are compelled to walk these stages in full! Some at least, can be broken down to create less taxing daily stages. Some however, because of the absence of available accommodation on route, are less easy to break. So it does make sense to use to the break options that do exist.

Rosthwaite to Patterdale: This is a long walk with some pretty demanding terrain. We do recommend Grasmere as a sensible stage break.

Patterdale to Shap to Kirkby Stephen: Patterdale to Shap taking you up and over the Coast to Coast high point of Kidsty Pike is about the tougest day on route. After this tough terrain 16 miles you then have 21 miles between Shap and Kirkby Stephen: Although the terrain is not as demanding over this section, at 21 miles this is nevertheless another long day. The alternative to these tough couple of days is to route Patterdale - Bampton - Orton - Kirkby Stephen: This will then give you three fairly even days (12 miles / 13.25 miles / 12.75 miles) rather than two tough days (16 / 21)

Richmond to Ingleby Cross: Although there is a lot of flat field and road walking involved in this stage, at 23 miles it is a long haul. For those who want to reduce the mileage, Danby Wiske offers an excellent break point at 14 miles. For those who have stopped at Danby Wiske, Osmotherley offers an alternative option to Ingleby Cross and is a little further on. Alternatively those not wishing to stop at Danby Wiske but nevertheless wanting to take the edge off the long day to Ingleby Cross, may instead consider extending their day from Reeth to walk though Richmond town and on another 3.5 miles to an accommodation about a mile short of Catterick Bridge ('St Giles Farm').

After Clay Bank Top there are a number of options for the remainder of the walk across to Robin Hood's Bay. Blakey, on top of the North Yorkshire Moors, offers an excellent break point for the next stage to Glaisdale. From Blakey you might also consider walking on further than Glaisdale; to Grosmont or Egton Bridge or Littlebeck . From here you can either walk straight into Robin Hood's Bay the next day or you can give yourself a shorter last day by putting a further break in at Hawsker.

4. Do I want to come straight back to Kirkby Stephen when I finish, or do I want to have a night at Robin Hood's Bay?

• If you want to come straight back to Kirkby when you finish your walk, bear in mind that the Packhorse bus departs at 3.30pm from Robin Hood's Bay. To catch it therefore we suggest you walk from no further away than Grosmont on your last day.
• You will need to decide whether you want another night at Kirkby before setting off home, or whether you want to jump straight into the car and head off at about 5.45pm when the minibus gets back.

5. Do I want to include any rest days in my schedule?

• You can build any number of rest days into your schedule at any location(s) you choose.