Walking the coast to coast

Early May 2023, I will hike the famous Coast to Coast walk in the UK.

If you asked me why I was doing this, I couldn't tell you. The idea popped into my head about 6 months ago, then reckless and regrettable impulse led me to shout my mouth off to too many people. Now I am overly committed, and there's no backing out.

At 50-something years old, perhaps long-distance hiking and wild camping present a way to find answers to the meaning of life? Is it as simple as finding time to connect to the natural world, sleep under the stars, and escape the madding crowd, or conceivably it's an evolutionary urge, a throwback to our nomadic hunter-gatherer ancestors.

It may be a creeping but relentless shift in my perception, a dim and unsettling awareness that the slow descent into decrepitude is noticeably accelerating. Time is an increasingly precious commodity and perhaps best spent alleviating any lingering existential anxiety by walking from one side of the country to another.

It's possible that this could be my latest and greatest mid-life crisis.

THE WALK

The Coast to Coat was first conceived by the British writer and fell-walker Alfred Wainwright in 1972 and is one of the most famous long-distance walks in the UK.

Spanning 192 miles from St Bees on the west coast of Cumbria to Robin Hood's Bay on the east coast of North Yorkshire. The Walk traverses some of the most beautiful landscapes in England and passes through three national parks: the Lake District, the Yorkshire Dales, and the North York Moors.

Wainwright designed the Coast to Coast walk as a challenging but achievable route for experienced walkers.

I have zero experience long distance hiking and wild camping

What am I going to do with this?

I am going to document this experience with a small film.

It will include information, about the Walk, the place, the kit, the people, and a few unqualified observations

on the experience.

I might even include some insights into how I shoot the film.