Lest you think this expedition across England is only sunshine, waterfalls, green grass and frolicking sheep, we have some news- we have seen with our own eyes and smelled with our own noses that it is not. After Richmond, the trail had transitioned to more flat land, stinky cattle farms instead of sheep paddocks, wood fences and brick homes rather than stone fences and stone homes. And more roadways, railways and vaguely suburban areas. Magnificently slippery muddy trails between cow pastures lined with barbed wire on one side, and electric fence on the other- or, for a twist, banks of nettles on one side and pokey scrub brush on the other. And trash here and there. But the mud. The mud and standing water was laughable. I felt as if cameras were planted all around us and people were watching and saying, “Bwahahaha, these foolish Coast to Coasters- they keep going down these mudslides, just because the yellow arrows tell them to go that way!” Just a 9 mile hike today after such a pleasant stay at Lovesome Hill Farm B and B, two miles past Danby Wiske (pronounced whisk). The day began with breakfast at Lovesome Hill Farm B and B in the “Meal Room,” a sweet little room with views of the tree shaded back garden. Mary treated us to the best breakfast so far (tied with the Oak Tree Inn at Rosthwaite), of cheese and tomato omelettes with sourdough toast, coffee and their own pressed apple juice, after a first course of muesli with fresh fruit slices, a dollop of yogurt, honey and roasted pumpkin seeds. We met Maggie, sitting at the only other table and found that she also was born on August 12, along with Gaye from Australia. We,of course only found this out after much conversation that somehow led to the mention of Emily and Jacob’s wedding August 12. After breakfast and suiting up (somehow Mary had miraculously managed to dry all our sopping wet things), we stepped out into a slight drizzle and plenty of fog with a brisk wind. Of course the walking terrain started as it had ended yesterday: sticky, slippery, thick dense dark chocolate colored mud with big footprints, each filled with water. One section made us sing and laugh out loud, it was so ridiculous and unwalkable. But we had dirt and paved road sections thrown in so we wouldn’t go completely crazy. Additionally, crossing a 6-lane highway was part of the menu today, which is totally nuts but thankfully there was a median in the middle. We leapfrogged with Ellia (sp?) from Australia today who quietly appeared right behind us as we we were about cross some train tracks, and invited her to come join us for a coffee when we reached a delightful little cafe in Ingelby Arncliffe, the Joiner’s Kitchen. Clearly the cafe was prepared for the Coast to Coasters so a sign invited us to put blue “shower cap” booties over our boots before entering so we wouldn’t have to remove our boots. Smart!

Had a sandwich and coffee and good conversation with Ellia for the next hour, as we learned we were only about 20 minutes from our Inn, the Park House, and needed to kill a little time before check in. The short walk after lunch up the hill was a whole new world. Big oaks, rolling green hills and forest with a little elevation greeted us- I think the beginning of the third and final national park we will pass through: North Yorkshire Moors, hooray! It then occurred to me- and I discovered I’m not the only one. What is the difference between a dale and a moor? (somewhere between Shap and Richmond we hiked in the Yorkshire Dales National Park. Well, here’s what one Google search turned up:

WikiDiff |

https://wikidiff.com › moor › dale

Oak Tree hill to Ingleby Cross