Day 2: Moor Row to Longthwaite, 21 miles (Lisa’s Version)

Photos

We had 21 miles ahead of us in order to reach Longthwaite. It was a long and beautiful day and walk. After a morning hike up the hill of Dent, our highest point reached thus far at 1131 feet, we caught our last glimpse of the Irish Sea, before heading down a forest road to the valley of Nannycatch. We stopped for soup and sandwiches after 8 miles to Ennerdale Bridge, and bought a few extra snacks since we would have to go without dinner that night. We walked by our first lake in the Lakes District after lunch and then through a manmade forest on a gravel road for a strenuous four miles. That’s when our feet really started to ache. Eventually we reached the Youth Hostel (YHA) Black Sail, a lovely hostel nestled at the base Loft Beck. We sat on a bench out front because no one was around and shared some cereal and raisins, rested our feet briefly, took a photo and prepared for the final third of our day’s journey. We climbed up Loft Beck and continued through sheep herds at 1950 feet, until we were standing in the middle of a ruined pile of shale, formerly an old house. There was a gravel path running straight though it and we took that road straight down into the valley by an old mine trail and passed a shale museum where we saw a helicopter take off. The sun was shining at 7 pm and the light was beginning to get soft. We had to pass a restaurant in Seatoller, the Yew Tree, that smelled like heaven in a cozy building. But we kept walking. The countryside was incredibly tranquil now, everything was so green with more and more stone walls and the sound of a nearby stream. We finally rounded a corner where we found the Gillercombe and were greeted briefly by our hostess. It was 8:40 pm, a perfect 12 hour hike for the day. We crashed in the bed and only stood up to take a bath in the extra long tub down the hall.