Day 17 - Somewhere in England
Chop Gate, Yorkshire, England
Yesterday, June 19th, the 16th day of our Coast to Coast walk, was challenging. It may have been the third or fourth most challenging day so far. It was almost 13 miles, had five significant climbs, and had an extremely short one to finish (I have included an elevation profile in the images). In addition to the challenging terrain, almost the entire day was shadeless and warm, 74° F, which is very warm for England. Every part of my arms, neck and face I missed with sunscreen is burnt crisp. The top of my right ear is severely sunburned.
It is difficult to complain about the weather. We have been so fortunate. We packed for rain and mud (bogs and moors); almost every day has been warm and dry. We did not fully understand or anticipate the challenge of the terrain—shame on us. We could have done more research, but I am unsure what would have changed. We might have started training a little earlier and made some trips to New Hampshire to train in the White Mountains, but it would have been challenging to fit all that in with our busy schedules. So here we are, tired, sore and sunburnt—well, me anyway.
While not diminishing the challenge of the day for the others in our group (Therese's niece and her husband have joined us), the terrain, especially the descents, are painful for me. I have put an image of the hardware I have in my lower left leg, a legacy of a motorcycle accident. That hardware has not previously limited my activities until this trip. We did the Camino de Santiago, 500 miles across Spain, 7 years ago, without any problems, and last summer's walk in Italy with no problems.
I have worked very hard to regain the strength and motor control of my right lower leg from nerve compression, the outcome of a back injury, for the last two years, but have not been entirely successful. I suspect that the weakness of my right leg, combined with the severity of the terrain, is the issue.
The first difficult sections were at the beginning of the walk in the Lake District. I depended on my left leg to take most of the impact on the long and steep descents. As a result, my left knee has been painful on and off during the walk and often swells up and stiffens overnight. With a generous dosage routine of napricin at night and ibuprofen during the day, along with Therese's assistance, we have managed the pain and swelling.
The issue has not hindered my enjoyment of the walk for most of the days since leaving the Lake District. I was comfortable enough to enjoy the walking, take in the glorious scenery, and take photographs. Yesterday was different, and the lack of images indicates how the challenging terrain had me focusing on the walking.
Ultimately, I did not have to climb or descend the last major and short finishing climb. Our accommodations for the night were several miles from the designated finish of the walk, and Therese and I could divert off the route and take what appeared to be a gentle descent of two and a half miles. While not nearly as challenging as what we missed, that descent seemed to go on forever!
Our accommodations are not quite up to the standard of the previous ones. The hotel where the various tour companies have placed walkers in previous years is closed for renovation, so the tour companies have sought other accommodations elsewhere. One of the Australian couples we have become friends with were transported back to the accommodations from the night before and brought back to the starting point the next morning!
We are staying in a pub/hotel, thirty minutes from the designated finish. It was a stopover for cattle drivers in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The owner was born in Germany but lived most of his life in Australia, and does not have a trace of a German accent. He has decorated the place with beer steins and other German paraphernalia. The dinner menu was a chalkboard on the wall of the dining room. The day's menu had six items—a spicy goulash, two schnitzels, a five-bean pie, a New York steak and pan-fried salmon. I had the goulash, and Therese had the salmon. The food was surprisingly good, and the Oreo Cookie brownie I had for dessert was amazing. German beer was also on tap, a welcome break from English ales!
The shower worked, and we slept well, so it is difficult to complain, but the rooms have no internet access. We have to go to the pub/restaurant/lobby area to get online, and even then, the download and upload speeds are anemic. As a result, this post will not be up until tomorrow. Ah well. According to the route profile, it is time to prepare for today's walk, which is a slightly less challenging route.
https://www.reedpikephotography.com/coast-to-coast-photos/day-17
P.S. There were some highlights—where we stopped for lunch there were para-gliders taking of and maneuvering in front of us, and we watched a family of Grouse (4 little chicks, mom and dad) feeding in the scrub brush in front of of us.