30/07/16 - St Bees to Ennerdale Water (me, Luca)

Luca and I drove up to the Lakes through thick traffic for what turned out to be a late start to our walk and wild camp trip. By the time we parked at the St Bees camp site and set off it was nearly 3pm. The weather was warm and bright as we set off on the beginning of the coast-to-coast route. I'd got a couple of days off and so we were in a position to walk up to 4 days, though I knew that this was likely to be just 3. We'd got all the gear we needed, but were a bit light on food, however I was intending on stocking up along the way, possibly at Keswick, if we got that far.

The walk along the coast was pleasant and was providing Luca with ample opportunity to take some nature photographs which he needed for his Art Graphics course work. We'd spread the weight of the bags more evenly this time and so his bag was nearly as heavy as mine. We made steady progress over reasonably easy terrain.

We had a bit of a trauma passing through a field with a (very disinterested) bull in it, but soon came to the point where we headed inland - keeping (for now) to the coast to coast route. The route became a bit less interesting here as we passed across fields, through the occasional village and along country roads. I was searching for the best route to get to the hills, but it seemed to be taking a long time to get there - I started to wish that I'd planned this a bit better. Luckily the weather was supportive and Luca was in  jubilant and surprisingly chatty mood.

Eventually we found somewhere for tea and stopped off. I'm not sure where it was. I'm not sure ho welcome we were, there was a wedding party taking place. I resisted the urge to have a pint. A man gave as some advice on how to proceed with the walk. We made plans to get as far as Ennerdale Water and set off for the final stretch.

The evening was setting in and it was getting dark by the time we got to Ennerdale Water. We were both pretty tired and the ground was too uneven to make camp. Luckily we found somewhere right on the waters edge in a small patch of trees. It was gravelly, but sure enough to hold tent pegs with the weather being so still.

GPX