I woke and had breakfast: a lovely cup of tea and a large bowl of Musli. I was most surprised to find that, on sticking my head out of the tent at 10:00, all the other tents around me had gone! Not everyone had departed yet however so I said good morning. There were a couple of gents who looked to be in their 30s and one rather older looking chap all preparing to set off. By the time I had washed, packed away, paid for my camping and stocked up on supplies another hour had passed. So it was 11:00 as I headed away from Shap having treated myself to a Solero Shot ice cream and an ice cold Lilt drink.

The scenery was dull and there was not much of note. The M6, endless rolling hills, even the limestone features did not impress me much. I suppose that after four days of walking through the Lakes in fine weather I was almost guaranteed to find this disappointing! Still it was pleasing to cross the M6 and feel that a third of the country had now gone underfoot!

I arrived at Sunbiggin Tarn and again found that, compared with what I was now used to, it was…well…uninspiring. I found shelter from the wind behind a wall and had lunch and a cup of tea between the hours of 15:00 and 16:00. It was a nice rest although I'm sure the sight of a dishevelled backpacker scared a few bird watchers who were admiring the wildlife on the tarn!

Feeling refreshed I set off up the road and bumped into the old gent whom I had said hello to after breakfast. I walked with him for a short while. His speech was difficult to comprehend but I found out that he was a grand 74 years of age and had spent one of his nights on this walk camped out on Kidsey Pike! He said it had been very cold and I could well believe him. He stopped for a rest and at that point I bid him farewell.

Later I kept seeing glimpses of two people ahead of me (in some respects rather conveniently guiding the way!). They were walking with a strong pace but eventually I caught up with them and they turned out to be the other two guys who had left the camp site that morning just as I was rising. They were both called Mike. I walked with them the rest of the tiresome trek to Kirkby Stephen. They had done the Ennerdale Bridge - Grasmere - Patterdale section in two days and were surprised that I had undertaken to do the Grisdale Tarn to Shap stretch in one.

We talked of hurting feet and one of the Mikes disclosed that he had attempted the Coast to Coast three years previous but had had to give up due to severe blisters. Both of my companions (who were also back packing) had legs like tree trunks and were obviously experienced walkers. I must confess to feeling slightly out of my depth all of a sudden! Today was the first time I realised that walking with others can feel easier and how much tougher mentally it can be to walk alone. But walking by oneself also has tremendous benefits. Some purely practical: you can stop when you want and you can walk at your own pace. Some more profound: you learn to enjoy your own company, you look around you more and you start to trust yourself to make all the decisions that affect you.

The camp site in Kirkby Stephen had toilets, showers AND a washer/dryer. I got changed into my dry clothes and immediately put the whiffy things I had been wearing for the last five days into the washing machine. Putting my dry clothes on felt so nice and they smelled so wonderful that it made me realise how smelly I had become! Even when just opening the plastic bag that contained my fresh clothes I was hit by what seemed to be the sweetest perfume!

I pampered myself with a most beautiful hot shower (my first in five days). I ate loads of sweets, polished off two tins of ravioli and at 10:20 settled down for a well earned rest.