Things we have learned

We are still connected at the brain: we managed to order the exact same hiking poles from opposite sides of the world (“of all the poles in all the towns, in all the world….”)

Many houses in the UK have names instead of (or in addition to) address numbers. You can change the name of a house you purchase as long as the name you choose isnt too close to another house nearby and is approved by the council/register. And Google maps will find houses based on the house name with no number/street name!

Seemingly everyone in the Yorkshire Dales must have a dog.

We should not have packed any sweaters/jumpers. Even if it was cool in the morning they lasted 7 minutes at the longest.

Skye’s knees DO NOT like down. And Heather’s lungs DO NOT like up. (“F**k going up” was uttered several times most days.

The RAF (Royal Air Force) use the Lake District as a Star Wars-esque training ground between the mountains. Something we discovered as a fighter jet zoomed past sideways while we were doing the high ridge walk from Fairfield to Rydal!

Mirages: both people and buildings can disappear and reappear along the walk.

The last 2 miles in a day take longer than the prior 10 miles. And the last 2 miles of a 192 mile walk take FOREVER.

A brook is an area of running water that most people can step over.
A creek is a brook that is sheltered by trees.
A stream is running water that is confined by its banks and most people would be able to jump over it.
A river is running water that someone would most likely have to swim to get across.
And yes, once we looked this up we defined each and every bit of water we crossed.

Solidly black lambs can grow into white sheep (keeping their black legs and faces and growing pure white wool).

Many businesses along the Coast to Coast path are closed at seemingly counterproductive hours (coffee shops that don’t open until 10am, restaurants that stop serving dinner at 6pm, and the only shop in town closing at midday for 2 hours).

Stiles/gates along the Coast to Coast are not made for large people and just when you think they can’t get narrower, they do.

Cairns (aka: rock piles) can be great waymarkers – as long as you follow the correct cairn (or set thereof).

No matter how many times we do it saying goodbye always sucks. Having a best friend who lives on the almost complete other side of the world is bunk. Giving each other the gift of 2 weeks for our 50ths was worth every gruelling step (and penny).