Coast to Coast - Day 10 (Part 2)

Colburn to Ingleby Arncliffe - 20 miles

Considering I camped in a beer garden, I was only woken up by loud laughter four times. I was way too tired to care and managed to pass out within seconds. I was awake, packed, and ready to roll by 7 in the morning. So was Alby. His friend was supposed to bring us some sandwiches for breakfast, but the long partying must have caught up with him we left slightly hungry but still happy as the weather was kindly dry.

I knew that this day would be long but also straightforward. A lot of fields, occupied by sheep/cows and horses, have a lot of styles to cross/climb and squeeze through, a lot of road walking, and one single busy road crossing. I love walking through fields with sheep. They are cute, they baaah and then they run away. I'm not very fond of crossing fields with cows, however. Lucky for me, they kept to social distancing rules, and we didn't have to discuss human/cow etiquette in great detail. After a short drizzle, I actually noticed some blue sky. The moment was so momentous that I took several pictures, all of them with a huge smile, of course. And yes, dancing may have been involved. One of the most memorable stops of the day was the church in Bolton on Swale. It kindly offers a huge selection of foods and essential goodies for a small fee; hot drinks and a warm place to enjoy it for free. It was a lovely place to rest.

I was having a great time and managed to get to Danby Whiske just before 1 p.m. I was well-chuffed and even had a nice long break and reading session while my socks and boots had a well-deserved drying session. I was so eager to start the remaining 8.5 miles that I completely forgot to fill up my water bottle. According to the map, there were a lot of streams everywhere. Sadly, they were all stagnant and too dangerous to use even with my amazing filter. When I got down to my last sip, I simply knocked on the next available farmhouse door and begged for some. All sorted.

After I hit 15 miles, I started to lag. My steps slowed, my feet dragged, and my soles were singing opera. That's when I introduced hourly breaks with a lot of munching. It worked like a freaking charm. By the time I got to the infamous A19 crossing, I was singing about Ziggies and Zaggies (too long to explain, but my brain was occupied with something other than the pain).

So, at 5.05 pm, aka rush hour time, there I am staring at this busy road with cars flying past like F1 rockets. I actually laughed and may have used the F word a few times. I can't explain the sudden spurt of energy (or adrenaline) I received when I saw a break in the flow. My 17kg backpack and my not-so-heavy feet flew across with the speed of a gazelle, but definitely not its grace. As there was a safe zone in the middle of the road, I was able to breathe, pray, and do it all over again. No incidents, luckily, phew.

10 minutes later, I was in Ingleby Arncliffe and had no clue whatsoever where the campsite was. While I investigated, 3 police cars drove past very slowly. I don't know if this village is the dangerous sort, the very posh sort, or if they check out every weird C2C walker! Based on the size of every house I passed, I would go with door number 2 (and possibly 3).

6 minutes later, I found the campsite (another pub), 5 minutes later, my tent was up, and 3 minutes later, I was enjoying a scolding hot shower. My knees and feet were so stiff that I literally had to waddle back to my tent. Dinner was enjoyed with gusto, and I crawled into my tent just before 8 p.m. for a long rest.

It was a good day, and the next few days should be up in the famous North York Moors. I'm looking forward to it.