Coast to Coast walk Day 7 – Keld to Reeth

Track today’s walk live.

Day 7 of the Coast to coast walk is another shortun with what is notionally  gentle stroll between Keld and Reeth. There are two route options though. There is the high road taking in the mines or the low road along the river Swale. Both are nice walks.

The distances and elevation used here assume the river route as the weather forecast is not good and Alfred Wainwright recommends we avoid the higher routes if it is wet. This may be a bit of a copout and we may well feel like going for the climb after the acclimatisation of the previous few days. We shall see.

Update

Swaledale is a beautiful valley, especially in its upper reaches. Idyllic. No mobile signal and crappy broadband but hey…

Fried bread with breakfast was a first. We were pretty impressed with the Keld Lodge Hotel. Just the job. The manager Dave (owner?) was a real character and most helpful.

Keld is just a tiny hamlet in the middle of nowhere and so far probably my fave place to stay. We had a good dinner. I had grilled goats cheese followed by braised steak and then  cheese board – all local cheese. Wine was good. Everyone enjoyed themselves.

Everyone staying at the Lodge was a coast to coaster so we all had stories to tell. Ajax and Luke were at another b&B down the road but came to us to eat. Paul and Lori the Canadians from Patterdale and the New Ing Lodge in Shap were also there.

Feet still hurt btw. I put new blister plasters on this morning and am hoping that by tomorrow they will start getting properly hardened up. They need to be on form for the 22 miler from Richmond to Ingleby Arncliffe. Pace at the mo is still too slow.

Starting B&B	Keld Lodge Hotel, Keld DL11 6LL
forecast/actual km	18.98/20.11
forecast/actual time	6h 36min/7h 06min
weather	beautiful sunny day
forecast/actual ascent m	484.1/723
breakfast	full english no eggs but with fried bread!
lunch	ham sandwich at the pub in Gunnersbury
dinner
finishing B&B	The Manse, Reeth DL11 6SN

Link to Coast to Coast walk Day 7 Photo Album. Photos will upload as soon as there is connectivity and I will move them into the shared album each evening when I get to the pub for dinner or if there is a decent connection, periodically as we go along.

While I am walking I will be using Runkeeper to live track my progress. You can find the link for each day’s progress at my twitter page or at my Facebook profile page. I will also be pinning photos within Runkeeper as I progress. I am also using a Fitbit Surge to provide me with additional monitoring data.

Don’t forget I’m raising cash for Cancer Research UK whilst on this Coast to Coast walk. JustGiving page here. The start date of the walk coincides with the anniversary of my mother’s death on May 1st last year. Mam was Chairman of the Marown & District branch of the IoM Anti Cancer Association.

Forecast numbers are based on Ordnance Survey mapped route. I add 1 hour for each approx 500m climb plus an hour for lunch.

A lot of people have helped me in the preparation for this walk. Firstly Mat Kiddie of Amigo who I met on a plane coming back from Mobile World Congress and who sent me a mobile battery charger. Then there is Aideen O’Colmain of Fitbit who very generously donated a Surge. Finally there is Dan Cunliffe and his team at Pangea who provided me with a mobile tracking device that allows me to track my progress independently of having to use my phone.