First Post: prep time in Los Altos

Greetings to anyone paying attention!  

Over the next 3-4 weeks I will be attempting to chronicle our "walk across England" and the travel before and after the walk itself.  I will try to record the mundane as well as the sublime, the freezing rain as well as the warm sunshine, the gorgeous views and the foggy miasma, the exciting frolics through flower strewn meadows and the tedious slogs through marsh and swamp  --  well, you get the idea.  We expect that this walk will be full of contrasts, adventures, and memories!

We welcome, encourage, and will enjoy any comments that you send to us via this blog site!

First a few basics:

Personnel: Judy and Ben Roberts and Toni and Joe Bagley - friends, neighbors, and companions.

Calendar: leave home early morning Wednesday, August 7 for SFO and fly to Manchester via Dulles

Aug 8 - arrive Manchester early morning and take two trains to the start of the walk: St. Bees

Aug 9 - begin walking after a restful night in a B&B and a giant english breakfast

Aug 9-20 - walk through the Lake District and the Yorkshire Dales along the Wainwright trail to Richmond, 120 miles of actual trail in 12 days (including a rest Day in Grasmere) - more details about the walk anon.

Aug 21 - Judy and Ben take train to Manchester, Joe and Toni spend a night in Richmond and then continue walking to the end of the trail at Robin Hood's Bay (72 additional miles).  Alas, the intrepid companions split here and Joe or Toni will continue their saga separately.

Aug 22 - Judy and Ben fly to Shannon, Ireland and begin a five day driving tour of the west coast of the Emerald Isle!  (First time in Ireland for each of us!)

Aug 27 - Ben and Judy fly home from Shannon, full of stories and, hopefully, still hale and healthy!

Logistics: 

we have selected a UK logistics company, called Contours, to book our sleeping accommodations, cart our luggage from B&B to B&B, provide maps and advice for the walk, and be available to cart our aching bodies if any of us needs to skip a section of the trail.  Breakfasts are provided each morning and we can either order a sack lunch for the trail or stop at a pub for a pint and a hearty lunch (when such convenient pub is available).  Guess which option will be selected whenever possible!  We will find dinner somewhere each night in a local pub or restaurant - or sitting in our hosts kitchen if nothing else is available.  God willing and the creek don't rise (literally), we will make it each day to our planned destination, to be greeted by our bags, a warm bed, and a friendly host.  The next morning we leave our packed bags for pickup at the B&B, gird our loins, and head up the trail for our next adventures!

So, what are we doing to prepare?

  How much time do you have to read this?  Keeping it short, considerable time and thought has gone into all four of us running around getting most of the items that the many information sources suggest. The greatest preparations center around preparing our bodies, obtaining appropriate gear and clothing to deal with wind, rain, cold, heat, sore feet, sore muscles, rocky terrain, and minor maladies.  High on the lists are: comfortable quality hiking boots, good socks, hiking poles, rain proof pants and jackets,water resistant day packs, and layers of clothing with NO cotton

Since we are all "of a certain age", getting our bodies ready for the onslaught is no small matter.  Toni and Joe have been hiking locally fairly regularly.  Judy and Ben have been hiking only sporadically, due to much travel and Ben's sore Achilles' tendon. Ben has been going to PT and seeing a foot specialist but the tendon is healing slowly.. a bit too slowly to ensure a pain free walk.

I will provide details of the planned hike, day by day, in my next entry.

We are getting excited!