Wainwright's UK Coast to Coast Walk: Day 1 - St Bees to Ennerdale Bridge

This is leg one of our hiking journey along the Coast to Coast trail. The start was about a km or so from our Inn and ends in the little village of Ennerdale Bridge.

Here we are at the start of the trail at the Irish Sea.

We struck out on the trail with a climb to St Bees head.

The trail was along the cliff side and we could catch a glimpse of the Isle of Man in the distance, a rugged shoreline and pastoral fields of sheep and cows.

We continued around the Head and then started our trek inland. Beautiful countryside.

The first town we encountered was Sandwith.

A little further on was Whitehaven.

Here we are at the seven mile marker. Still looking good.

We encountered this blue eyed horse along the Wainwright Passage.

We stopped at the Clestor General Store, Mark needed to stock up on bananas....

Shortly after the tough part began. First we encountered some nasty boggy woods, an uphill climb on muddy trails.

This culminated with the climb up Dent Hill, it seemed never ending.

The summit provided great views looking back to the Irish Sea as we rested.

The way down, however was really challenging. First, a nasty boggy section where you would sink to your ankles in the mud if you didn't follow the downhill "stream" path hopping from rock to rock.

Then a very sharp downhill for probably a half km where you were just on the verge of slipping the entire distance. I did land on my ass once.

Finally we were in the valley and slowly climbed again back to the road to the tiny village of Ennerdale Bridge. That's it in the distance, a beacon of hope.