Author's Note
Sorry for making everyone wait so long for this last post. It was tough to describe everything I saw and felt on this day which lead to a lot of procrastination. I don't think I'll ever be able to fully and adequately explain what it was like for me but I tried a bit in the second section of this post where I saved all the emotional commentary. The first is just the day's itinerary. Hope you enjoy!
Hike Notes
We ended the previous day at the top of the last big hill, so it was all downhill from there (pretty much). We moved off the hill and down into the Littlebeck woods.
There were a few neat things nestled in the woods. A stone hut called "The Hermitage", with seats carved in stone on the inside and top. And a tea room where we stopped for our morning break.
We still have HOW many miles?!
After leaving the forest we trekked a few miles through some boggy fields which left my feet feeling very worn down. I even began limping a bit at this point, trying to avoid landing on certain areas of my feet and toes. This was a tough and uninteresting part of the day's walk, but served as a "darkest just before the dawn" sort of pallet cleanser preparing us for the final stage of the Coast to Coast walk.
After leaving the boggy area, the North Sea became visible which was exciting to say the least. We had to walk along the cliffs lining the shore for a few miles before getting into Robin Hoods Bay, our final destination. Once we got to the bay, we dipped our feet in the waters and threw our rocks. We were done!
We ended the day drinking beer named after Alfred Wainwright, creator of the walk, at a nearby pub which had a walk completion book which I signed.
Jane surprised all of us the night before with small Coast to Coast pins which I happily attached to my pack once I got back to my room. Might be my most prized possession from the trip. Thank you so much, Jane!
Foot Status: 2 'It doesn't matter any more because I'm DONE!'s out of 10.
Reflections
It's hard for me to put into words everything I felt on this final day of my journey. Many times during the last few miles walking along the coast of the North Sea I couldn't help but laugh out loud at the sheer ridiculousness of the feat I had just completed. I chose to walk over 190 miles across a country... for fun! Yes, I saw beautiful and varied landscapes, explored cozy yet exciting villages and towns, and met amazing people who I will never forget. But possibly the main reason I did all this was just to see if I could. So, as the cold waters of the North Sea numbed my sore, broken feet, and I thought back to dipping a toe in the Irish Sea on the first day (only 18 days prior, though it felt like much longer), I was filled with an immense sense of joy and accomplishment.
I feel like I have learned a lot about myself during this trip. I discovered just how determined I can be to climb to the top of hills, or go an extra few miles before taking a break, just to get a better view or pleasant rest spot. My tolerance for pain was put to the test. I could probably stand to outwardly express the discomfort less, but I found that I can push though a fair amount of pain if need be. I definitely feel like I'm more in shape and that I've gained more confidence not only in my physical ability but my social ability as well (making close friends in only a few weeks and taking with random people along trails will do that to you). All in all I can honestly say I'm a better man than I was 3 weeks ago.
Before going on this trip it was really only a theory that I would like this kind of adventuring. I'm happy to say that I proved this theory to be true and am now anxiously looking forward to my next great adventure and I hope you are too!
Hikers Exposed: Goodbye, Sam
I was at the back of the group when we got to the North Sea. I let the others get even further ahead while I took a break to rest my feet and reflect, taking in the beautiful coast. I thought of how far I had come, all I had seen, and the people I had met. It was a bittersweet moment to say the least, as inevitably my thoughts turned to Sam. We had such a flash in the pan friendship. It blossomed quickly and burned hot but lasted only a moment. Now all that was left were the charred remnants of a memory.
Just as I was about to move on and catch up to the others, I saw something near the cliffside. Amidst the blanket of green grass, about a foot away from the cliff's edge, there was a vibrant orange object barely poking out above the brush. Thinking it was some beautiful flower waiting to be picked, I ducked under the rope lining the path and moved closer to it. As I got closer, it became clear that the object was much larger than any flower. Quickly I realized it was actually a hiker's backpack. A neon orange one. Just like Sam's.
It had to be Sam's. I was sure of it. I immediately became hopeful and decided to go through her pack to look for any clues as to where she might be. I dumped the contents on the ground and began looking through them. There wasn't much. A couple full water bottles, some torn up maps, and her wallet.
It was then that I heard some rustling behind me. I initially brushed it off as the coastal winds rushing through the grass, however it was shortly followed by a low, rumbling groan which slowly began getting louder and louder. A chill ran down my spine as I turned, Sam's empty pack still in hand, to see what the source of this disturbing noise was. My breath was involuntarily ripped from my lungs as I realized what I was looking at. I had found Sam.
I almost didn't recognize her at first. Her hair had become very thin and large chunks were missing. Across her entire body, her skin was a decaying grey and she was covered with cuts and open sores. The clothes she was wearing, the same ones she had on the day she disappeared, were now tattered with dried crimson stains all over. Her mouth and hands were smeared with the same dark shades of red. There was no white in her eyes, it had been replaced with bright red, surrounding her jet black pupils. They no longer had the same comforting disposition they once had but were unfocused and uninterested in whatever they were looking at. They seemed to look right through me.
I called out to her "Sam!". No response. She was still shuffling closer and closer, her face expressionless while the low rumbling groan continued to emanate from her insides. As she moved, she clutched her arm where she had been injured, which just hung to her side, completely immobile. Even from 10 feet away I could see that it was swollen and pulsing with every heartbeat. "It's me! Alex! Can you hear me?". She couldn't, or she chose not to.
But I had to get through to her. I picked up her wallet and showed her the picture of her kids and practically screamed, "Look, Sam. Your children! and your fiancee! Please, think of them!". She stopped just before the rope lining on the path three feet away and for a second it seemed she heard me. A look of sadness and terror came over her face as, for the first time, she look at me instead of through me. "Alex... I... What's happening to me? Please... Help... I... need....". Her body started twitching frantically and she begin making loud gurgling noises. After a few seconds she got a hold of herself, but she no longer looked afraid. She looked angry. "I... need... BRAINS!"
She lurched forward, pushing through the rope lining and uprooting the stakes that held it up. As she got closer, I started inching back, but, still being close to the cliff's edge, I did not have much room left to maneuver. I had nowhere to go.
I lifted her pack in front of my body to brace for impact. She collided with my left side so hard I spun around and landed on my stomach, a strap from her pack hooked around my arm. Sam was clinging on to the other strap. She had also fallen after pushing past me and was now dangling off the cliff side, the strap of her pack the only thing keeping her from falling completely.
I felt the strap around my arm pulling me closer and closer to the edge. Her weight was dragging us both down. With only her head and arms visible now, she was still frantically trying to swipe at me, her eyes filled with an intense fury.
I struggled to keep away from her attacks while still keeping hold of the strap and pushing against the ground to try and pull her up. I hadn't thought of what would happen once she was able to get to her feet, I just knew I needed to get her to safety.
I pulled and I pulled and just when it seemed like I could get her up and over the edge, the stitches connecting the strap Sam was clinging to began to rip apart. I watched as one by one they broke. I didn't know what to do. The harder I pulled the faster they went until finally the last one ripped and I watched in slow motion as Sam slipped off the cliff's edge out of sight. I no longer felt any force pulling me over the edge.
The next few hours were mostly a blur, but I do remember not being able to bare looking over the edge. So I just sat there in shock looking through all that was left of my friend Sam, which really only amounted to her wallet.
Eventually people from my group noticed I had been missing for a while and came back to look for me. They found me still siting in the same spot, trying to process everything. Through tears I told them what happened. Eventually we worked up the nerve to peer over the edge but when we looked down at the rocky shore we didn't see Sam. We didn't see anybody. No one could have survived that fall, especially someone in Sam's state. And the shore was far too big and the waters too calm for any water to have pulled her away. Did I imagine the whole thing?
Our group called the police and statements were taken. However, without any physical evidence of her actually being there, there wasn't a whole lot they could do. They took her belongings as evidence and left us to finish our walk.
It was tough to walk the last few miles to the finish after what I went through, but I was still determined to do it. Not only for myself but for Sam as well. I'll never know what exactly happened to her but I'll always remember the good times we had together.
As I walked I felt a strange uneasiness in my head that I couldn't quite place. Something from my time looking through Sam's things before the police arrived. It stayed with me while I dipped my feet in the bay, while I threw my rock in the North Sea, and while I waited for the bus back to Whitby. Only on the ride back did it finally hit me. The paper with my address Sam had put in her wallet for her wedding was nowhere to be found.
THE END...?