I woke up at the Youth Hostel and the first thing I wanted to see was the weather. The group had decided that if the weather was clear, we would take the high route to Borrowdale Youth Hostel and if the visability was poor, we would take the lower route past Black Sail hut youth hostel to Borrowdale. I had taken the high route earlier in the year so I knew the views would be spectacular if the weather was ok and thankfully it was so the decision was made to go high. It would only be about 10 miles or so but it would be up and down most of the day and tiring on the legs. If you stay the night at Ennerdale Bridge, you will have 6/7 miles round Ennerdale Water before you reach the hostel and start climbing so this is why we went further on Day 1, so Day 2 would be shorter.
From the Youth Hostel, it's a very steep climb up the side of Red Pike if you do the high route or along the forrest track if you prefer to stay low. Your walk is to go from coast to coast so you might not want to do hills and instead save your energy for the days ahead. No point hurting your legs on Day 2 and having to give up so it's better to only do the high route if you are confident that you can not only manage a long of steep hills but also that you will wake up next day feeling fit.
It's a long straight steep climb up the side of Red Pike and your legs will feel it first thing in the morning and you will soon be puffing away and sweating in the morning sun. When you get near the top of the climb, the path seems to disapear and you basically just keep heading upwards, aiming for the ridge between Starling Dodd on your left and Red Pike on your right. We got to that ridge and decided to climb Starling Dodd as well (as it's a Wainwright Hill) then returned to climb up the path to the summit of Red Pike and take in the views looking down at Buttermere as well as many surrounding hills and lakes. After a break at the summit, you basically follow the ridge path which eventually takes you to the impressive Haystacks but before this you will take in the summits of High Stile and High Crag. It's quite steep coming down High Crag and going up Haystacks, you will have to scramble a little in places where the path disapears but basically just keep heading up and soon you will be at the summit, more photos no doubt.
After Haystacks summit, you will soon pass by Innominate Tran, which is the final resting place of the ashes of Arthur Wainwright, the man who you will curse over the next couple of weeks at various points as it's his fault that you are following this route in the first place. You will take many photos along this long ridge if the weather is good, I wouldn't fancy the walk in the mist up here though. After the tarn, follow the map closely as there are a few paths up here and you will see Dubs Quarry in the distance and head towards that. When you reach that, it's quite a steep descent to the visitor centre at Honnister mine, especially after all the climbing that you've done today. After the quarry, you'll soon see a path on the right that will join up with the path that you are on, this is the lower route from Ennerdale which now joins up just before the visitor centre. The visitor centre is a good place to stop for a break as it has a cafe and plenty seats/benches as you take in the view from Honnister. There is a Youth Hostel here if you feel that you want to stop the days walk here but you would be better to head the 2/3 miles down to the hostel in Borrowdale as it's quite an easy few miles after your break and means less the next day.
It's not long before you pass through a small hamlet called Seatoller and on to Rossthwaite where the hostel is, the actual path passes the front door of the hostel. This must be probably the nicest hostel that I've stayed at, it's quite large and plenty of kitchen and dining space with a huge lounge with a bar where you can also get tea/coffee. The bar and cafe are open to passers by and not just people staying in the hostel so if you are staying elsewhere, feel free to stop off there for a rest and something to drink before moving on. It is the kind of hostel where you could base yourself for a few days and relax at nights.
Click here to go to Day 3 of the Coast To Coast Walk - Borrowdale to Patterdale
