C2C Day 15&16 North York Moors

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Osmotherly to Blakey Ridge (North York Moors)

July 28

19 Miles

This was our longest hiking segment of the trip. We got up extra early today because we figured on about 9-10 hours of hiking to get to The Lion Inn at the very remote Blakey Ridge in the North York Moors by 5:00 P.M. So, we coordinated with the very accommodating innkeeper of the Golden Lion the night before to have cold cereal out for us around 6:15 A.M. since breakfast didn’t officially get served until 8:00 A.M. We had coffee capability in our room, as with all places we stayed.

The connecting point to Wainwright’s C2C was about 2 miles away. The night before, the innkeeper had validated the best route for us to get back on the trail. The extra mileage off the trail made up for the bit of trail we skipped between where we got off the trail the day before and where we would be picking it up. After breakfast, we got out on the road at 6:55 A.M.

We were on an unbusy, small road along the Cod Beck reservoir until we caught up with the Coast to Coast trail. We creatively traversed some very deep puddles that consumed the road at points. The narrow road was bordered on both sides by avoidable soggy brush.  A roaming herd of cow passed us.

At this junction was where Wainwright’s Coast to Coast trail shared a segment of The Cleveland Way trail. The Cleveland Way trail is recognized as an official English walking path. It is very well maintained, and well-marked…traits that cannot be attributed to the C2C trail. The next couple of miles was fairly easy walking along mostly flat, well-packed dirt path, and through beautiful green forest, and a couple of farms. The inclines we did hit here were nothing compared to what we would be hitting shortly through the North York Moors.

We got to the Lord Stones campground after a few hours and stopped in to their very nice café for a hot drink, and to use the restroom. Ironically, we timed it perfectly to see Mark and Dave’s wives there! They had driven to eat at the café.

Here, we also met a Dutch family of four who were hiking Wainwright’s C2C trail in the opposite direction, and so were only in their third day. The parents and two teenage kids had already gotten lost one day and needed to hitchhike, and they were considering stopping because of the wet weather forecast the next few days in that direction. We hope they continued, but if they got lost on this “easier” segment of trail then they will definitely get lost several times more up ahead where we came from, so it may have been for the best.

After our 20-minute break at the campground café we got back to it and before long we were hitting the first of several difficult climbs along the Moors. We climbed one hill, then down, then up, then down. These were steep and high. We stopped often to catch our breath. It was also cloudy so we found ourselves in cloud and haze at the tops, so views were sporadic. The landscape was beautiful; green, and covered in purple heather. We saw lots of pheasant and local day-hikers. The book said that we were to be capable of seeing the North Sea in the distance at one peak, but alas, just pea soup.

On the second to final peak we came across a cluster of very large rocks that hikers needed to scramble through. It was a cool formation of boulders to navigate, but we mis-read the GPS tracklog and took a wrong turn, going around them along the steep-sloped hillside instead of through the middle of them as we should have.

This less beaten route took us along a very narrow path that scarily clung to the side of the hill at a sharp angle. A wrong step to the left, or a gust of wind and we would have fallen a few hundred feet. We scrambled up the side of the hill on the lightly used path using hands and knees. We think this light path was carved by others who made the same wrong turn. It was exciting but nerve wracking until we got ourselves back on the trail atop, and just past the gaggle of large rocks. If this weren’t such a long hiking day we would have probably hung around the boulders, exploring a bit, but we kept forward.

 

Once on top again, the trail leveled off for a while and though still foggy/cloudy (adding just the right amount of eerie, Moorish ambiance) we enjoyed the colorful heather and flat trail for a couple of miles. Upon eventually navigating a long, steady descent, and stopping at the bottom at Clay Bank, we ate lunch on a bench that must have been placed there just for people like us.

From here we had one more dastardly climb before we were to be able to enjoy level trail on the ridge for the final 8 miles. We somehow found it in us (largely because we had no choice) to ascend this final climb of the day. The one good thing about this day’s climbs was that we were along The Cleveland Way, and so the hills were maintained, and there often were steps. We encountered a lot of day hikers again, all of whom passed us…of course.

This final climb of the day was brutal not because it was harder than others, but because we had already hiked 10 miles, much of which was already uphill. When we finally peaked, after several breath-catching stops upward, we rejoiced in knowing it would be flat from here on in to Blakey Ridge. But that rejoicing didn’t last long. The next couple of miles were nice, straddling rough Moorish landscape. But at the 14th mile we hit an old elevated rail trail. It was just before this that we ran across recent acquaintances Brian and Liz from Austin, Texas who we had been leapfrogging since meeting them at the BnB in Richmond. They stayed ahead of us though since their pace was faster.

This North York Moors rail trail was monotonous and very boring. We could not see much because of the fog and mist, and it just seemed to go on forever!  There were several bouquets of pheasant.  We were supposed to be able to see the Lion Inn on Blakey Ridge a couple of miles out, but we couldn’t even see Brian and Liz who were a few hundred feet in front us. We just walked for what seemed forever on the unending rail trail surrounded by a no-man’s land of un-navigatable brush and bog until we finally came to the Lion Inn, which we couldn’t see until we were about 30 yards from it! It was like hitting an oasis in a desert.

We were so ready to be done with this 19-mile day, especially the last 5 miles. But…we did it…19 challenging miles!!

At the Lion Inn we found Brian and Liz who already had drinks in hand. We also re-united with Xavier and Katrien, who, like every other C2C hiker we knew, except for Brian and Liz and us, had the 19 miles broken into two days. However, they all complained that their 8-mile day was too easy for them. They ended up getting to Blakey Ridge too early, at noon, and there was nothing for them to do all day, since Blakey Ridge consists of the Lion Inn, sheep, fog, a road, and…nothing else.
We had a nice dinner with Xavier and Katrien at the Lion Inn since Blakey Ridge consists of the Lion Inn, sheep, fog, a road, and…nothing else.

Our room at the Lion Inn was so small that I had to rearrange the furniture to make room for our bags and us. We went to bed amazed that we had completed (survived) this day.

 

Blakey Ridge to Grosmont

July 29

14 miles

We had breakfast with Xavier and Katrien at The Lion Inn since Blakey Ridge consists of the Lion Inn, sheep, fog, a road, and…nothing else. Xavier ordered kippers, and the smell was so bad that Katrien made him get rid of the plate as soon as he finished, saying that she didn’t love him that much! Neither did we.

The day in the North York Moors began with some light rain so we started with our rain gear on. After about 30 minutes we had stripped off the rain gear and enjoyed a mild weather day. The mist and fog prevented us from seeing in the distance and so again could not spot the North Sea at points that we otherwise should have been able to. We did get some nice green scenery of dales and moor.

The hike was a fairly easy one, meaning flat most of the way…and heck, it was only a 14-mile day. We passed several old stone churches, and disused trough and toll houses. We stopped into St. Hedda church in Egton Bridge to find a restroom. There was no restroom but the church was surprisingly beautiful inside. It was a nice pit stop even without urinal relief.

Just before the church, we had hit some climbs when we left the open space trail and entered a lush green North York Moors forest. There were rail tie steps and embedded slate and stone steps to make the climb a bit easier, but it was still strenuous. This only lasted a short while as the trail leveled off and we again had mostly flat, easily navigatable trail into the cool rail town of Grosmont. Katrien started a geocache and we found two objects on the trail.

Though today’s hike was 14 miles, it was easy compared to the arduous 19-mile hike the day before, so when we got to town, we weren’t really that tired. We all stayed in town at the Geale Gallery. This is an artist’s workshop and gallery that the artist uses also as a B&B. (As of now, the BnB is no longer viable…the café and gallery remain, and are worth a visit on their own).

Em and I arrived and checked in just after Xavier and Katrien, so we went up the street by ourselves to a pub and had a pint with some locals. Turns out that Brian and Liz were there as well. We hadn’t seen them since the end of the hike to Blakey Ridge yesterday. The town of Grosmont’s main feature is the steam train depot. It was very active with people taking 1-hour rides on the steam train. Huge gates would regularly swing open and shut, closing the only road through town as the train would pass and stop to load and unload. It was actually pretty cool to watch from the pub’s outside deck.

We then had pizza at the BnB with Xavier and Katrien. The Geal Gallery chef, Nick, brought the pizzas to us upstairs on the sunny patio off of the B&B dining room. It was a warm sunny evening and we really enjoyed the feeling of eating (and drinking) at home on the deck. The pizza was excellent.

Then off to bed to prepare for our final leg of Wainwright’s Coast to Coast hike the next day to Robin Hood’s Bay.

Next: C2C Day 17 The Last Day Robin Hood’s Bay