Coast to Coast with Gee Jackson: The Challenge Finale

by Gee Jackson @geeadventurous

Day 4: The end of the longest canal in the country! 209/257km

 91 locks and crossing the Pennines in just 4 days, I had made it to the end of the Leeds and Liverpool canal. The end was in sight, and I felt ready to finish. I felt ready to go home.

After passing through Skipton at rush hour with all the canal boats and having two swans fly at the back of me as scare tactics (but I managed to keep my cool after the previous day's encounter), I was looking forward to joining the Aire and Calder Navigation. The thought of floating along with the flow down to the coast and giving me an extra boost in speed was a bit of a relief.

My shoulders had started to ache a while paddling, and I felt like I had triceps of steel. My hips were bruised, and I had pulled a muscle in my lower back from portaging all the locks. The scratches on my neck from my wildlife encounter combined with PFD rub were tender, the blisters on my hand had started to split, but my heart was full, and my mind was at ease.

I found myself saying something I never imagined I would say: I was ready for a fifth and final 50km day of stand up paddleboarding in a row.