Tips & Advice
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Feel free to ignore any or all of the
information on this page. There is loads of stuff on other web pages about what to
wear, the Country Code, how to stay dry, how to avoid sunburn and hypothermia, etc, but
here I will concentrate on the Coast to Coast route and my personal experience.
Make sure that you have proper Ordnance Survey maps, since the Coast to Coast has very little sign posting along the way,and it is not exactly a fixed path like the Pennine Way. Outdoor Leisure maps 33, St Bees Head to Keld (ISBN 0-319-26046-1) and 34, Keld to Robin Hood's Bay (ISBN 0-319-26047-X) cover the entire official route. Waterproof versions of these maps are advisable. The Osmotherly Youth Hostel is off the main route, near Ingleby Cross, so you will need an extra map. Parts of the route, especially in the Dales, are very remote with little or no human habitation or even other walkers. Make sure that you have a compass, emergency blanket, etc just in case you run into trouble. If you are not camping, then book your accommodation well in advance, since this is rather limited during the Summer months. Try to avoid blisters; they are one of the biggest problems:
To cut down the amount of clothes that you have to take, pack 2 walking outfits, but keep one for going to the pub at night. In the Summer you can wash and dry T-shirts, so that two T-shirts should suffice for walking during the day. What you can't do is carry 14 changes of clothes! But then again, the Packhorse bus can have its uses. Make sure that you have enough money, since cash tills are few and far between in the wilds of northern England. Don't drink from the streams, unless you can purify the water. Also carry plenty spare when it is hot. Watch out for grouse shooting in the Yorkshire Dales and Moors after 12th of August. The path itself will be alright, but don't stray into the heather, and don't ignore people waving flags. Go for a series of practice walks, with your walking partners, on a set of fixed dates in the months before the proper walk. If you don't like the weather on some of the practice days, go anyway, since you won't have any choice on the real walk. Make sure that you can walk 23 km (15 miles), and still have energy to spare. I used a 24 mm lens on a 35mm SLR camera for photography. This was a bit too much of a wide angle, since the lens hood caused vignetting. A 28 to 70 mm zoom would probably be the bet. If you really want to save weight and have a camera that is easy to get out quickly, then a disposable 35 mm can be carried in the top pocket of your rucksack Its small size means that you can whip it out, without having to remove your rucksack. Take a small torch with you. Living in a city I tend to forget how totally dark the countryside can be at night. |
Wainwright's Coast to Coast walk