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9 miles
At breakfast, we met a British couple who were walking the trail West to East, which is actually what we have seen most people doing. It's considered the "non-traditional" route and now having started East to West I would tell you that I wouldn't want to do it any other way. I can't imagine your last long day being filled with 15 miles of pavement on an already sore and broken body! Anyway, they kindly warned us that there was literally nothing on our next leg in terms of places to stop, restroom, food, "not even a bench." So we loaded up our snacks and set out.
The first few steps were filled with a number of choice swear words from Jen and I as we started to make our way back to the path. I think we barely got 1/8 of a mile before we had to stop for boot adjustments. Basically...we've been (Jen & I) bitch slapped by Hadrian!
The climb out of Chollerford was steep and our first stop was at Fort Chester to collect our 3rd passport stamp. We then were off the main road and climbing over more stiles (yay!) as
we made our way through more scenic farmland. The weather was bright, sunny, and gorgeous. It wasn't long before we were again greeted by sections of the wall, and also caught up with a group of older walkers (OK, seniors) who we seemed to play the Tortoise & Hare with throughout the day. Every time we would pause for a medic stop, they would pass before we would end up passing them all over again down the trail. Speaking of medic stops, Jen's feet were hurting so we stopped to inspect and discovered that her heels were literally peeling off! It was absolutely shocking to all of us how quickly this happened, but let's just say it is not good and painful 😞. Another slap from Hadrian!
A couple of hours at one of the old fort ruins, there was actually a van set up selling hot tea, coffee, sandwiches and crisps. SCORE! They even had a little table and chairs set up where we were able to relax a bit. We stocked up as that van was a lifesaver! It was then that the trail started to go upward and we began what is considered the hardest section.
We essentially climbed to what I will refer to as "the top of England" where the wall was nothing short of magnificent. It went for miles and miles and we followed it as the mountains went from steep ascents to steep descents over and over and over! I should also mention the wind, as being that high up it was blowing at about 30-40mph and I don't mean gusts! This was full-blown steady wind, but was very much welcomed as we were working up quite the sweat as newly certified mountain climbers!
The what felt like miles of Hadrian's wall met up with more miles of fake wall ,and when you looked out into the distance gave a magical "Great Wall of China" feel seeing it go up and down over the hills (or if you're walking you call them mountains!). We pulled over for lunch in a spot that had an expansive view to the west and discovered we all hated our sandwiches, so we relied on our crisps and snacks before setting off again. We actually got a little off track from the trail and found ourselves looking at a map in the book to try and
determine where we were. We hiked back up to a farmhouse that was on the map (literally the only building for miles this high up!) and luckily a lady was outside to tell us that we were indeed off-track and to cut through her barn and we would reconnect. Matt's highlight of the day was from the top of the world, looking down to the highway below to see a string of MGs driving along out for their Sunday drive.
We continued the up and down of the hills/mountains before running into Housesteads Fort, another passport stamping station and a point which told us we were still 2.5-3 miles away from our overnight designation at the Twice Brewed Inn. As the English would say, we were "shattered." My knee was screaming and both Jen and I had some significant limps in our steps, so we decided that we would get a taxi and pick up the mileage in the morning since tomorrow is a shorter day for us.
Our taxi driver was a hoot and it was completely insane how fast we got to the inn by car! It literally felt like seconds knowing that with the continued
steep inclines and declines it would've likely taken us another 2 hours or more to cover that walking. We were blessed as our inn was both a hotel and a pub so we dropped our bags, changed our shoes, and headed down for a cold brew. They had a lovely outdoor sitting area and it was just so nice to sit there with feet throbbing and enjoy the view while SITTING, LOL. Dinner was pretty good too, Matt did their traditional Sunday Lunch with Lamb and loved the veggies they served. I had a crispy pork belly which was fantastic, and Jen had a veggie burger that she rated above average. The only downside to our accommodations was that there was no wifi, but that just meant more time for relaxation and socialization before bed.
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Tom Lyle
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Picture 2135
Such a sad face..... need to do a Dr. schols advertisement