Day 7 to Shap (5th day hiking - 26 K)

Today was an adventure! We started by cooking our own breakfast from "random food" left in the fridge by our hostess. We had bacon, mushrooms, tomatoes, toast and yogurt. We headed out at 0830 and were quickly back on the trail following our two guidebooks and Coast to Coast map. We passed the Victorian bench, as noted in the guide book, and climbed the first 500 meters of the day to the top of the fell and found the ruins of Chapel-in-the Hause. At the top of the fell there were many more trail options than outlined in any of our reference materials. We fell off our maps by following a "distinct" trail down a very steep cliff face into the next valley. Unfortunately north of any of our maps. We checked with the first person we saw, a farmer, who assured us we were on the C2C trail to Shap. It is a shame how little the locals know about their geography. As we have already found, signs are infrequent (the National Trust apparently will not allow C2C signage in the Lakes). Soon we were getting a little worried as the landscape no longer resembled our maps. After observing our debate about where to go, a road crew weighed in, and after considerable discussion, sent us down the road to St. Marten's church to a posted trail map. We took off up another fell hoping to connect back to our map. Reaching the summit we realized it was now 1PM and we had no clear assurance of where our new route would cross the C2C (or if it would). Keep in mind it had been raining for 2 hours and we were slogging through knee high wet ferns and navigating cross country to connect with the unmarked C2C trail. So, backtracking seemed the right thing to do. To make a long story short, we walked some more, took a lake ferry, and then (horrors) a taxi. That was right after finding an outdoor store with decent waterproof socks (only 27 pounds sterling each)! We will let you know what we think about them tomorrow. The Brits are very philosophical about rain, they say it rains all the time. Tonight, eating dinner at our B&B, New Ing Lodge, we met a gentleman from York who is hiking the C2C, and surprisingly, he got lost today; we actually saw him at St. Marten's Church when we were on the fell, and he too corrected his error with a cab ride. We have now left the Lake country behind (including most major hills) and are heading across flatter ground. Some signage returns. And, we have the promise of lunch at a chocolate factory - at the halfway point on our path.