What is the best time to start the Lyke Wake Walk

Q. Hi, I am part of a small party who are going to attempt the Lyke Wake Walk at the end of May beginning of June. I was wondering what time of day is the best time to start the walk going from Osmotherley

John Stephen, Durham

A. 12hrs 37 min , started at Ravenscarat 4am in the pub in Osmotherley by 5:30pm

Kevin Coupland, Spalding Now Otaki Nz

A. We set off at 10.30 pm so that if we completed the walk in 24 hours the pub would still be open to celebrate! We did have a couple of hours kip in the heather on the way as the weather was perfect.

Graham, Workington

A. The Lyke Wake walk is a classic route devised by Bill Cowley in 1955 and is coincident with parts of Wainwright's Coast to Coast Walk and The Cleveland Way.

The challenge is to walk the 63km (39 miles) from Osmotherley to Ravenscar, North Yorkshire in less than 24 hours.

Most people will only be able to manage a steady 2 miles/hour average so you should expect it to take 19 - 20 hours.

This means that if you start walking during daylight hours then you will be almost certainly be finishing the walk in the dark when you are tired and exhausted. It would make more sense to start really, really early (before dawn) and hope you can all complete the walk before nightfall.

In any event all participants must be equipped with head torches and it is a good idea to do some night walking practice before hand so everyone will know what to expect as the sun sets.

For more information about walking at night and in the dark see How to walk safely in the dark

For more information and other questions and answers see The Lyke Wake walk

Hope this helps

Mike (Editor)

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