Distance: 15 km
Time: 4h20
elevation: 506m
We woke up the next day with not the best night’s rest. Both getting used to the tent, plus (my) three midnight peeing adventures. We quickly packed our tent, which was surprisingly dry for once, and put everything back in our packs. I was surprised at how well I was still ‘trained’ at this and Ylva, the well-organized person she is, was done just minutes after me. We had some breakfast crackers and decided how far we wanted to hike that day.
The first part was a road walk where we noticed that the marking was falling a bit short. Luckily I we both downloaded the route, so we could always check the route if we weren’t sure. A nice elderly man was sitting in his front garden and after greeting him, I asked him if he could fill up our bottles as they were nearly empty after camping. We still had water in our camelbags, but with a climb coming up and the sunny weather, having enough water was important. I felt a little bit guilty for asking him because he struggled a bit to get up from the bench, but after just a moment he returned with our filled bottles and two spare ones he gave to us. It was so sweet and kind. A little bit of trail magic already on the second day.
We continued by guiding our way on the app, the markers were completely gone. The hardest challenge thus far was getting through the kissing gates with our large backpacks. Not all of them were a struggle, sometimes we could both fit in at the same time with no problem. But on that second day, the kissing gates were so small, we could fit a person with backpack in. We had to elevate ourselves, so the backpack was outside the gate and we could squeeze in a corner in order for the gate door to pass us. Very amusing and both didn’t manage it very gracefully, but Oh Well.
What I expected to be the hardest part, was the climb to Dent Hill, with a 300 m elevation gain. At the start, we had a small preparation break. Sunblock, snacks, blister prevention tape, and so on. During that break, a group of 4 Americans passed us. Had a small chat and they continued. We started not long after that and we could see them climbing up. As the hill became steeper, our pace remained high and in the last stretch, we passed them. Always a nice feeling as they only carried day packs. Although the fact that they did the C2C as a gift for their 70th birthday took some of the achievement away.
After the accent came a steep descent with more nice chats with Australian hikers who were going in the opposite direction. The descent ended in a gorgeous valley with a little stream and lush grasses. A pity we could camp here today, because it was still too early, but also could it make it this far yesterday. So we just enjoyed the walk.
Out of the valley, it looked like we had some road walking to do until a mountain biker stopped and pointed to a walking path just beside the road. Which was much better and much nicer. And so we walked into the town of Ennerdale Bridge where we had soup for lunch and enjoyed a well-deserved break. After lunch, it would only be 5 km along a lake and a total of 8 km to our camp spot. Nothing too crazy, or so we thought.
Walking passed the first lake in the lake district was stunning! Amazing view and at first we couldn’t see the end. The trail was fun with some rocks and roots you could step on and over. However, after a few kilometers, the end never came close and the uneven path became challenging. With a backpack full gear, your center of balance is different, and every step you need to adjust. Especially for Ylva this was challenging as she had never done anything similar. But we kept moral high, took an extra break and snacked on some of our nicest treats. With some sing-along music we continued. Soon we finished the lake and it we had to hike the last remaining kilometers.
Arriving happy but tired at our destination, we were surprised to hear that they had a private event and we couldn’t camp. The owner recommended us to wildcamp further ahead. A reasonable option, but we would need more water. However, when I asked if we could fill up our bottles he refused. My surprised ‘Really??’ didn’t change the matter. To both of us, this was so unbelievable. Why would you refuse anyone a quick refill of water, a life essential?!
Deciding not to let this get to us, we decided to hike a few hundred meters back, where we passed an outdoor activity center. According to Guthook, you can also camp there. Again there was a private event, but after a phone call to the organizer of the event, we were allowed to camp. Thank you!! We quickly put the tent up! And took off our shoes. Ylva had some really nasty blisters. Obviously the prevention before Dent Hill wasn’t enough. I still cannot believe she hiked for so long with those blisters without complaining!
That evening we had a lot of fun mingling with the group and after the tough afternoon, we ended the day on a high.
Zilla-in-the-wild 