C2C Day 1: St Bees to Ennerdale Bridge

The bypass

We left St Bees village past the school, following the official St Bees Head bypass route. It started in a beautiful valley, with bluebells, green grass and sheep. It’s SO green! It is a shock to our minds in New Mexico to see so much green.

Signposts

When we reached the old train tracks that have been reused as a bike path, we followed them to avoid road crossings. And it looks like this route is the official route now. It is very well signed! I think this is largely due to C2C’s new status as a National Trail.

dent hill

Dent Hill, on the outskirts of Cleator, is the first major hill in the C2C. Started through a recent clearing, phew. But it still felt really good to be climbing. The British don’t really make curves, so once the road left the logging road, it continued straight up. To the clouds, that is.

It’s not always picturesque

I have read many descriptions of the incredible views from Dent Hill. Those views will have to remain a part of my imagination, however, as we couldn’t see anything.

There’s no turning back here!

Bird of the day: the Eurasian skylark, which serenaded us with its cheerful song as we crossed the invisible Dent Hill.

The view from Dent Hill

More views from Dent Hill

But we did not run the risk of losing the path because it was well signposted throughout its climb. And then, at a 5-way intersection just as we started to go down, there was nothing. No sign, no painted rock, no nothing. I was very grateful for the GPS.

A brief look at a view coming down from Dent Hill

babysitter

babysittercatch beck

The path became quite steep coming down from Dent Hill/Raven Crag, but I suspect we went off the new official path and were on the old route. Which was good. The views were fantastic as we descended to Nannycatch Beck, a beautiful valley with a small stream and very new bridges at each crossing. And the name, Nannycatch, is downright fun to say.

babysitter

Ennerdale

We reached the junction that leads to Ennerdale and opted to go directly to the town. Our AirBnB was in the opposite direction, although not far away. However, we thought a late lunch at Fox and Hounds would be in order. Plus, it was a bank holiday weekend and the pub would probably be full for dinner.

So there we were, on day 1 of our walk, sitting in a pub eating a hearty meal and drinking a pint of beer. Wow, this sure wasn’t a backpacking trip!

The first view of Ennerdale Water and the Lake District as we approach Ennerdale Bridge

This website contains affiliate links, which means The Trek may receive a percentage of any products or services you purchase using links in articles or advertisements. The buyer pays the same price they would otherwise pay, and their purchase helps support The Trek’s ongoing goal of bringing you quality backpacking information and advice. Thank you for your support!

For more information, visit the About page of this site.