Richard’s ReLive video covers almost all the day but I will add a few items. To get his ReLive, click here: https://www.relive.com/view/vYvExVgpRGq
14.37 miles, 2377 feet elevation gain. 60 degrees at 6:30.am, low 70’s when we arrived 11 hours and 17 minutes later.
It’s a beautiful day to begin the St. Oswald’s Way, even if we did get up about 5 am and did not have any breakfast until 10:30.
Safe crossing times for Saturday morning were from 4:10 am until 12:25 pm. The lowest point would be approximately 8:20 and we were advised not to leave at thr point the tide is returning. We played it safe by leaving early and exiting the causeway at 8:36.
We’ve finally reached our first marker after the causeway. On our way!
This is a new challenge—we have to cross the high speed train tracks. Luckily there is a phone and “You Are Here” marker before you enter the gate. A train dispatcher answers and asks how many people and how long it will take to cross. Then he tells us to hurry across, or wait. As we cleared the other side, it was not even a minute before a train roared through!
Finally we reach a coffee house in the only town on our trail today. Bean Genie in Fenwick has homemade treats and freshly-roasted coffee beans. They are welcoming and quite a find!
Fortified with pastries and coffee, we could now continue the uphill trek to the forest.
More bracken.
Trails are not so well maintained on the St. Oswald’s Way and sometimes it seems we must blaze our own trails. There is a lot of walking in pastures and next to agriculture fields. Of course, that means we have to hope for a gate or an easy stile when we transition to the next field.
We had a chance for a short side trip to St. Cuthbert’s Cave, supposedly only a short mile (it was more). When the monks fled Holy Island with St. Cuthbert’s body and some of the priory treasures, this cave offered them shelter for part of their seven year journey from Lindisfarne.
The cave is surprisingly large and is secluded on the side of the hill.
Time to head back to our trail. Of course, we had to climb up around the cave, and then retrace our steps to join the St. Oswald’s Way.
Finally we reached our Bed and Breakfast, and soon afterward, Simon arrived. We had a wonderful dinner to celebrate the beginning of our St. Oswald Way together, and Simon’s birthday.
2 Responses
The scenery you are hiking through seems to vary quite a bit throughout the day. Wonderful if that makes the day more enjoyable or more challenging?
Watching the Relive a second time. What a challenging day!! First the marshes and trains, the detour to the cave, traveling on a non existing trail!!! Don’t know how you manage all this!! Dan and Wendy