St. Bees to Stanley Pond- August 1st

One of the customs associated with the Coast to Coast (C2C) walk is to dip your toes in the Irish Sea on England's west coast, pick a pebble from the shoreline, carry it with you as you traverse England, and drop it in the North Sea, on England's east coast, when you finish your trek. We didn't dip our toes, but we decided to follow at least one of the C2C customs so we each chose a pebble to carry with us. Let's see if we remember we have them with us when we get to Robin Hood's Bay. 

C2C walkers with our 'pebbles' from the Irish Sea

The official start of the C2C is on the beach at St. Bees. From there the trail heads up the cliffs to St. Bees Head, which is comprised of the North and South Heads, divided by an inlet called Fleswick Bay. So, once we walked to the top of North Head, we went down toward the bay and then headed back up to South Head. 

Although the day was cloudy (and we couldn't see the Isle of Man from North Head due to the clouds), it was a perfect day for walking. When the day was done, we had walked almost 9 miles with 1300 ft. of elevation gain. 

Ready to go!

View of North Head


Trudging up North Head

                                                                                      View from South Head
 

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