Day 15/Hike Day 13: Glaisdale to Robin Hood's Bay (The Finale!)

Greetings from Robin Hood's Bay, friends! We had an absolutely excellent hike today: somehow, this last stage managed to encompass a little bit of every day of the hike thus far. Our weather was mostly a mix of sun and clouds, with a couple of sprinkles thrown in, because this is England after all.

Speaking of all the quirky little things that made the Coast-to-Coast what it was, this hike had:

Lovely trails through the woods:

Adorable tributes to dogs (Brits LOVE their dogs!):

Seen on a bench today: I'm not crying, you're crying

Beautiful Architecture:

A good old fashioned uphill climb (as the book forewarned us, it was "calf-popping"!):

Plenty of blackberries to pick along the way:

Death-defying cattle grate crossings (seriously, these are worse than the bogs!):

But speaking of bogs, there were naturally a few miles of those:

Some cutely-posing Swaledale sheep (Do these gals take classes or something? They make it look so easy!):

Plenty of moor land, with dales tucked behind:

But today. Today was a special day, as we wandered through Little Beck Wood, which most certainly was the inspiration for Narnia, the Hundred Acre Wood, and any and all fairytale forest you can think of. It had...

Beautifually carved fallen trees:

A mysterious hand-carved cave from the 1700s:

The most beautiful trees and moss-covered stone walls:

And a mystical river, which led to...

A 20-meter waterfall, known as Falling Foss:

And then, what would appear beside this waterfall, but the cutest little cottage, which turned out to have a tea garden with the most delicious freshly-baked scones.

In case you were wondering what pure joy looked like

Oh, and to settle any debate: it's jam, then cream! And while man cannot live on bread alone, I'd be willing to try living on this delight for the rest of my life.

Once we left our dear wood behind, we were greeted by sheep doing sheep things:

That's right folks: even when we're on vacation, we're still a couple of vets out there saving lives. (Not shown: Dad menacingly waving his hiking pole at this particularly sheepy sheep)

There were more snacks had, including peach leather I made for the trip (thanks Uncle Brad for the peaches!):

And then we turned a corner and were greeted by...

The sea! Of which we took many, many more pictures:

Before, after what seemed like miles (oh wait, it was), our final destination came into view!

We hiked our way down, dipped our boots in the sea, and released the pebbles we had picked up in St. Bees, 200 miles ago:

We made it!

There was much celebrating afterwards, with a pint, some cider, and fellow hikers we had met along the way.

Note all the backpacks hanging on the fence :)

The log book was signed in the Wainwright Pub at the Bay Hotel:

And of course...

Because...

Who am I to argue?

One last B&B for the trip means one last photo of Kelsey and Brian in front of a B&B sign :)

Tomorrow we take a bus and a couple of trains to Cambridge, where we will enjoy exploring the beautiful university, museums, and city. I will continue to write about that portion of the trip, as its sure to be rewarding too! But the feeling of walking into the sea at Robin Hood's Bay: that will be hard to beat. It's hard to reflect on the entirity and enormity of this trip now, but after some time on the train, I'm hoping the words will come. For now, I'll leave you with one of my favorite quotes from Amelia Earhart: "Adventure is worthwhile in itself."

Until tomorrow!

Kelsey and Brian

Step Count: 44,799

Miles Hiked Today: 19.33 miles

Elevation: 2,311 ft

Time Hiking: 6 hours, 57 minutes

New UK Breeds Seen Today:

I cannot even begin to explain how many dogs were also vacationing at Robin Hoods Bay today! I think I captured as many breeds as I could: English Bulldog

Staffordshire Bull Terrier

King Charles Cavalier Spaniel

Greyhound

Parson Russell Terrier

And probably a lot more...they were everywhere!