Dent Hill

Day 1 of the Coast to Coast Path is in the books! The 24 kilometers (which ended up being 25km if you count the steps from our BnB) was a mix of sun and mist, ohhh and ahs, hills and flats, paths and roads. Perfect kick off!

At about 9am (after a delicious full English breakfast) we left the Stonehouse Cottage B&B in St Bees – lovely place. A quick detour to the Post Office Store for our lunch goodies (buns, ham and cheese) and we were on our way.

We took our starting line photo in front of the Coast to Coast sign, christened our boots in the Irish Sea (well actually a small tide pool, the tide was quite a ways out by 9am) and grabbed our pebble to carry on the journey and drop in sea at Robin’s Hood Bay to celebrate our finish!

Then it was up up up a beautiful path to the coast cliffs for the first 7km. Between the sunshine (which we knew was only a treat for us this morning) and the amazing views, we were feeling blessed! Until Dad kicked our butts up the climb and then we had to get serious – Strachan’s can be rather competitive!

(That’s Dad way ahead! Get em!)

The views from the top of the cliff were amazing. The waves were showing off small white caps and the nesting sea birds were everyone tucked into the cliffs. They had a few fenced areas where you could stand from the shelter of the winds and bird watch. Shar and Hai struck up a conversation with a couple and got to borrow binoculars to see Puffins!

At about kilometer 7 (after the St Bees Lighthouse), we took a hard right and started the Eastward 300 kilometer journey to England’s other coast. In a small hamlet called Sandwith (which we of course pronounced sandwich) we took our little 11sies break on some picnic tables outside a closed cafe.

The clouds were now above us and we could feel the change in the weather approaching but didn’t expect anything torrential. To be prepared though, before departing from our break spot we put the waterproof pack covers on, pulled the waterproofs (pants and jackets) out of their compression sacks and put them on top in our backpacks for quick access.

After a bit of quiet road walking, we were onto paths with a mix of fields and track, between farms and sometimes right through people’s farm buildings. The public access rights always amaze me in the UK – wonder how that would work in Canada for us. I would love it!

During our mid day stroll, we passed the ‘Wainright Passage’ sign. He is the guy who created the Coast to Coast Path so of course a quick pic was required. I sent that one off via What’s App as mid-day proof of joy to the family following along back home.

At about 130pm we were ready for a proper lunch stop and were so excited that the timing was perfect to visit St Leonard’s Church in Cleator.

The church often has a Honesty Box of tea, coffee, and chocolate inside. A simple make a donation and enjoy system! Sadly it was not one of those days at the Church but they had a welcome Coast to Coast walkers sign so we took that as a signal that we could respectfully use their covered benches for our lunch break out of the misty rain that had stayed about an hour before.

Gaiters, boots and socks off (so important to give your feet some breathing room after hours in gortex!) and we enjoyed a great lunch. Nothing like ripping open a fresh bun, and tearing off a chuck of cheese when you are hungry, followed by some sweet snacks.

After lunch, we headed for what should have been the big challenge of the day – the 350m climb through the forest up and over Dent Hill. However, it looks like the last couple weeks of thunderstorms wreaked havoc on the forest though and the path was covered in dozens of felled trees. The diversion said there were ‘dangerous trees’ – we had visions of the scary trees that chase Mickey and Donald out of the forest in the Halloween Disney Special but I am sure that is not what they meant.

The Coast to Coast Path team (not actually sure who that is) had a very well marked diversion in place for us – thank you!

Following fluorescent yellow dipped sticks we instead made that climb on a very quiet country lane. It was a climb to a bend in the road, to discover another climb to a bend in the road, and another and another. The long, sustained incline is always extra fun in waterproofs but we made good, sweaty progress. After a couple kilometers, the diversion took us onto a rocky path in the valley between the hills – I LOVED this part! The mist made it feel so quiet and isolated, the sheep dotting the hills and path were adorable and the walking very easy under foot.

Speaking of mist .. don’t actually think we were being rained on all afternoon but rather walking in the clouds or at least thick fog. It was a gentle falling / swirling mist really. Light enough to not want a rain coat but misty enough to need one. We were Care Bears making our way through the clouds – obviously the Care Bears theme song came up often and out loud!

The volume of rain though over the last few days was still very obvious. The path was pretty muddy and many little baby stream crossing were more like impromptu small river crossings. A mix of large leaps across, quick steps on water logged stones or a full on step right in the water (that was me by accident, oops) got us across all of them.

About half way through this valley path, we were reunited with the actual Coast to Coast Path at a place called Nannycatch (which is basically a gate as far as I could make out).

A group of 2 English couples who we had been just behind all day could be seen doing the same river hopping dance as us about 100 yards ahead on the path. I suspect we will be seeing this group a lot the next days on path, we seem to have the same schedule and even accommodations. We had a good chat with them at supper and they are sweet and very seasoned long distance walkers.

After a few more official and less than official Coast to Coast Path markers we found our way to the final stretch of quiet road into Ennerdale Bridge. I cannot believe how many homemade C2C signs we found – from spray paint on rocks, to sharpie markers on red lids nailed to posts, to laminated home printed signs. I love that. Nothing better than knowing you are going the right way!

We made it to Shepherds Arm Hotel in Ennerdale Bridge for about 530pm, checked in, got the wet gear and boots off to the drying room and then feet up with a tea for a bit!

We enjoyed a fantastic meal right at the hotel – roast beef and roast turkey was on special served piping hot. The perfect contrast to my ice cold Lager. Yummy! While at super, we order packed lunches for day 2 and arranged our breakfast time too.

All of us tired and happy we made our way back to the rooms and hit the hay pretty quick around 9/930. Felt good to get flat. What a great day 1 and fantastic start to this epic journey!

A quick Coles Notes for the speed readers:

Date: Sunday June 15 2025
Trail: Coast to Coast Path, England
Day: 1 of 17
To/From: St. Bees / Ennerdale Bridge
Start/Finish time:
Distance: 24km (25.01km Hiiker)
Steps: 37,074
Terrain: mix of cliff side path, quiet road and rocky (wet) track
Breaky: full English cooked breakfast
Lunch n Snacks: 11sies cookies, lunch ham and cheese sandwich and cookies, 2sies gummy worms
Dinner: crispy pork belly stack with black pudding and bacon and mashed potatoes, a couple of Lakeland Lagers
Tonight’s home away from home: Shepherds Arm Hotel (good vibe, great food, amazing shower, soft towels, hard squeaky beds)
Mood: feeling blessed with sunshine for any part of today, good company and a healthy family that can do this together
Body: feeling good, no blisters yet!
Highlight: the path in the valley and confirmation that I am, in fact, a Care Bear
Lowlight: the big ole step I took right into the ‘stream’ filling my boot with water
Deep thoughts: keep you eyes ahead of your but not so far that you don’t see and enjoy today! Aka don’t worry that tomorrow is a pretty sketchy and remote section of the trail, that’s tomorrow!