It’s almost the end of the year and typically by this time, I’ve already got next year’s long distance path planned and often booked as well. This year though I’ve been concentrating on the Pennine Way, right up until last week and thoughts of anything else have been thrust into the background.
I still have loads to do on that project, the walking maybe almost done, but there’s still the bulk of the book to write before I can consider the project done and dusted. But I have been thinking about next year’s walk this weekend and I think I’ve come to a decision.
I still want to finish the Southern Upland Way, but I can do that as a short walk, taking a week or so, sometime in the late summer or early 2015 even. It doesn’t feel like a new walk anymore and I need something new for next year.
My initial thoughts were one of the other Scottish long trails, perhaps the East Highland Way or perhaps a couple of short trails stuck together. But the logistics of doing those far Northern walks are troublesome and the day needed to get there and back again strip away holiday days and I have very few next year in comparison to previous years, since I started the new job.
I’m thinking of a Coast to Coast walk again. Not THE Coast to Coast I hasten to add. I’ve been there and done that too often in the past few years and it will be a while before I return to Wainwright’s path. I have another idea in mind though.
Following the inspiration of AW and of my good friend Rambling Pete, I’m going to draw a line between two points on the coast and plot as scenic a route as possible between them. On the way my route is going to pick out as many trig points as is feasible. My walk will be built around them and the route will essentially be a huge trig point walk from one coast to the other. The walk is probably going to start at the southern end of the Lake District, at the toppled pillar of Annaside Banks, progress through the Lakes, the Northern Pennines and Northumberland, ending at the trig point on Holy Island and Lindisfarne.
I’m probably going to set myself some guidelines in terms of number of trig points per day, but I’m hoping to rack up about 50 along the route, mostly new ones as well wherever possible. It’s likely to be a B&B walk, I like my evening comforts and I still don’t think I’m ready for a multi-week backpacking trip, despite how much flexibility that would give me.
More news to follow as I firm up the plans and if you have any suggestions for adding some spice to the route, then please feel free to shoot out.
8 thoughts on “Thinking ahead”
Another bizarre coincidence is that I’m planning virtually the same walk myself for March 2014. I shall start at Ulverston, follow the Cumbria Way to Carlisle, pick up the Hadrian’s Wall path and leave that after three days to follow the St Oswald’s Way to Lindisfarne and finish at Berwick. I shall check back to see how you get on. Good luck! Dave
It’s strange, I didn’t realise how popular that diagonal route across the country was, but strangely I’ve found no journals on-line from anyone who’s done any of the different alternatives. There’s another book I forgot to mention, called Lakeland to Lindisfarne, by John Gillham, which I shall add to the next update. It would be good to see how your planning progresses too Dave, so do feedback.
Hi. I did the John Gilllham route in 2008. The route is great. There were so few people around, especially in Northumberland. I’d do it again. I blogged as I went at http://litehikersblog.blogspot.co.uk/search?updated-min=2008-01-01T00:00:00Z&updated-max=2009-01-01T00:00:00Z&max-results=48
Thanks for sharing the link Geoff. It’s great to read other peoples experience of a path I’m about to do.
John’s book arrived earlier this week and is beside my chair at the moment, to be pulled out when the wife puts some crap on the TV 🙂
I’ll be doing a variation, but of the three books and routes, I think his is closest to what I want to do.
I Like the idea of your Coast to Coast Trig pillar bagging walk!!!!!
Hehe, thought you’d appreciate it 🙂
I did a walk some years ago (in three or four bits) loosely based on John Gillham’s “Lakeland to Lindisfarne: Ravenglass to Holy Island (190 miles)” (ISBN: 9781852239756)
It was a terrific walk with lots of optional route suggestions. You might find the book useful as a starting point for planning.
Wow, that’s a bizarre coincidence! I emailed John Gilham just last night, trying to get hold of an old, out of print version of his Bowland-Dales Traverse book. I didn’t realise he done something along the lines of what I described here. Thanks for the tip, I’ll have a look on the second hand book sites and see if I can find it. It may well prove to be the core of a route I can modify to my own needs.