Day 3/Hike Day 1 - St. Bees to Ennerdale Bridge

Our first day of hiking is through, and what a marvelous day it was! As much as I had been looking forward to a full Englsih breakfast, we started things on the lighter side this morning after last night's filling feast. The tea was perfect, as were the eggs and tomatoes.

After breakfast, we strode over to The Priory in St. Bees, a church that dates back to the 1100s. We then headed downhill towards the beach, towards "Mile 0", the official start of the hike. We baptized our toes in the waters of the Irish Sea and picked up our pebble - tradition on the Coast to Coast trail dictates that you pick up a pebble in St. Bees and deposit it in Robin Hood's Bay (the North Sea) at the end of the route - before heading up to the clifftops for the true start of our trek.

On top of the red sandstone cliffs

Picking up our pebbles (left) and baptizing our feet in the Irish Sea (right) - fortunately our boots are

waterproof!

Immediately upon reaching the clifftops, we were quickly surrounded not by the expected sheep or cattle, but by slugs of all things. And not little slugs. BIG slugs. I would estimate we saw at least a hundred of them on the trail today. I have no fewer than 17 pictures of them, but fear not: I will not burden you with all of them here.

Like veterinarians do, we discussed various aspects of slug life as we walked along, including slug reproduction (Do they reproduce asexually? Do they have live young or lay eggs? Suffice to say they were not a species particularly well covered in our veterinary school curriculum.) Anyway, not two seconds after this particular part of our discussion, we came across the two slugs pictured below. I still have questions, but it's safe to say it takes two slugs to tango. Also, further research upon arriving at our inn reveals that these are likely Large Red slugs, all slugs are hermaphrodites, and they are omnivorous. It's truly a miracle we made it out alive.

(For more slug breeding information, I recommend this video by Sir David Attenborough. It's...something. https://www.discoverwildlife.com/animal-facts/insects-invertebrates/how-do-slugs-mate/). I promise this won't become a slug blog: they're just darn interesting creatures.

Slugs doing slug things. Visit the link above if you want to know what's really going on here.

After slaloming through the slugs, we saw snails! And after the snails, we saw sheep! Thousands of them, happily grazing away on the lush seaside, hillside, and valley pastures. They appeared to be a mix of Suffolks, Texels, Scottish Blackface, and some mixes between those. We also saw a good deal of Limousin cattle (striking with their red coats), a friendly horse who saying hello from his nice seaside barn, and the happiest group of 5 Border Terriers with their master, who graciously stopped to talk to us for a short while as I fawned over the pups. I may or may not have slowed the pace slightly to enable them to catch up with us on the trail :)

Another unexpected highlight along the trail today were the blackberries. They were plentiful and not at all as seedy (seedy referring to "containing many seeds"; they were neither sordid or disreputable as well) as they are in the U.S. When we started eating them by the handfulls, we decided it was time for lunch, so we took a brief break in the village of Cleator at the local cricket pitch. After some delicious protein bars (Thanks Brooks and Diane!), beef jerkey, and popcorn, we headed onward towards Dent Hill, our biggest climb of the day.

Beautiful, delicious blackberries right along the trail for the picking

Pro Tip: Always take a photo before eating a berry you're "pretty sure" isn't poinsonous. Just in case. (Kidding, Mom!)

The Dent Hill climb was quite enjoyable: it was the type of hill climb that wasn't so difficult that you could hear your heart pounding in your ears, yet it was still very rewarding to reach the top. Although it was a bit overcast, we still enjoyed 360 degree views of the surrounding countryside.

Hiking up Dent Hill

Beautiful views of the pastures and coast from the top

A rock path used, as the guidebook said, to "avoid the boggy bits"

A foggy panorama from the top: still beautiful!

The descent down Dent Hill was a bit trickier. I like the British because they don't believe in switchbacks when it comes to mountain/hill climbing. If you want to climb something, you go straight up, and if you want to descend, you go straight down. This has its faults; however, especially on slick, moss-covered rocks. On this particular hill, the descent was the trickier part, but with some trekking poles and solid boots, we made it down safe and sound. We were rewarded at the bottom of Dent Hill by a charming beck (known as a "stream" in the U.S.), which we followed and forded many times over the next couple of miles.

Fording Nanny Catch Beck (what language am I even speaking anymore?)

Expert beck fording skills on display

Post-beck fording snack with Colin the Caterpillar and Friends, courtesy of Zack and Candace. Thanks guys! (Note: No marijuana was consumed on this hike. Just lots of of sugar.)

We came into Ennerdale Bridge feeling pretty fine, but is a hike even over if you don't have ice cream? I certianly say it is not, and fortunately an ice cream shop magically appeared on our entrance into the village. One Sticky Toffee Pudding and Death by Chocolate cone later, and we headed to the Shepherd Arms Inn for some relaxation and dinner before some sleep before another big hiking day.

Until Tomorrow!

Kelsey and Brian

Step Count: 34,868

Gates traveled through: 19

Miles Hiked Today: 16.1

Elevation: 2,415 ft

Time Hiking: 5 hours, 37 minutes

UK Native Breeds Seen Today: Dogs: Airedale, Border Terrier (x5!), English Foxhound

Miscellaneous: Red Slugs (Ok, this is the last time I'll talk about the slugs, I swear)