August 14, 2024: I had a wonderful breakfast at the B&B, which included eggs, cereal, sausage and various traditional English breakfast items.
But by 9:30, I was ready to hit the trail, refreshed with clean clothes and a good night's sleep.
The trail continued much like it had yesterday along rolling hills with a few bogs that weren't nearly as boggy as I had feared. The weather was gorgeous--sunny and warm. Maybe even a little too warm at times. But all-in-all, quiet pleasant.
A few miles in, the Pennine Way connected with the Hadrian's Wall Path, another hiking trail following alongside Hadrian's Wall but in an east-west direction for 80-something miles. After I finished the Pennine Way, my plan had been to drop down and thru-hike this trail, so this section of trail I'd be visiting again in another week or so. As a result, I started taking notes about things that would be useful on a subsequent visit, such as potential stealth camp sites and water sources.
Once I reached the junction, the number of day hikers along the trail increased dramatically. Seems like I would pass at least a hundred people over the next several miles. Where did they all come from?!
Although I was on the Hadrian's Wall Path now, I still didn't see the actual Hadrian's Wall. That was still ahead somewhere....
I did pass some ruins of an old castle where much of the rock was pilfered from Hadrian's Wall, however, so that was something. =)
These are the ruins of Thirlwall Castle, and many of the stones used to build the castle were taken from Hadrian's Wall and reused. |
The trail passed by an old quarry site that was now a park with a visitor's center, and I stopped there and bought some ice cream, drinks, patches and I got a Hadrian's Wall passport for myself. That trail has a passport system where you can stamp in at stations along the route, probably inspired by the passports along the Camino. I knew I'd need to pick one up eventually, and now that task was taken care of before I even started the Hadrian's Wall Path.
Ice cream! Cold drinks! Patches! A Hadrian's Wall Passport! Everything I could possibly want! =) |
A little way past that, the trail climbed a hillside where I finally saw Hadrian's Wall in all its glory. Well, okay, admittedly, it's glory days are over and have been for over a thousand years, but still--wow! What amazing ruins!
I find it difficult to imagine the Roman empire at its zenith. Emperor Hadrian had ordered this wall to be constructed in AD 122--nearly 2000 years ago!--and it was completed in just six years. The wall is just ruins now--at least the parts that are still left. The wall, when originally constructed, was 8-10 feet thick in places and rose maybe 15 feet high. It was a massive feet of engineering, and was constructed by hand by the Romans nearly two thousand years ago! The sheer size of the project would be considered mind-boggling with today's technology, but to imagine building it then would have seemed absurd to me.
And it wasn't even just the wall itself that impressed me about the Roman empire. This was the same empire that built Jerash and the Citadel in Amman in Jordan! It seemed astounding to me that a civilization from nearly 2000 years ago could have stretched from here all the way to Jordan, a time when most people probably rarely ventured much further than the village they were born in. It was truly a remarkable feat. Love them or hate them, I couldn't help but admire what the Romans were able to accomplish.
Some of what's left of Hadrian's Wall and one of the turrets along it. |
The trail mostly followed alongside or within view of Hadrian's Wall the rest of the day. The trail was busy with day hikers and I even spotted several people who appeared to be thru-hiking the Hadrian's Wall Path, including a group of four Americans from Oklahoma who I chatted with a bit. Except for one man from Florida on the Pennine Way, they were the first Americans I had seen since starting this trail.
Later in the afternoon, I veered off trail to a campsite and hostel at Windshields. There was a side trail that led down a steep hillside directly to Windshields, but I decided to overshoot it and get off the trail at lower elevation so there would be less climbing back out later. The side trail happened to go down from almost the high point of the Hadrian's Wall Path, and I had no desire to climb back up hundreds of feet when it was time to return to the trail. The route around was longer, but required less elevation change once I got off the trail.
Everywhere I read said that wild camping along Hadrian's Wall was strictly prohibited to protect the historical artifacts that might be buried, perhaps even under just a slight layer of dirt, so it was a little annoying to have to get off the trail at all. I would have been happier to camp on it if it had been allowed, but I wanted to follow the rules as best as I could.
On the plus side, I had emailed the place a few days earlier asking if they had any beds available in the bunkbarn for tonight. Why camp if there are relatively cheap beds indoors? And there were! So when I arrived, I found my name on a large sheet of people in the window of one of the rooms. I guess that's where my bed is, and it was.
I was pretty sure this was my room! |
While checking out the facilities, I ran into the proprietor, Malcolm, who offered Karolina a Japanese beer and me a Coke Zero at no cost. Thanks! =)
The room had a small library of books, which appeared to feature British authors.
The hostel was quite nice, but it did not have any wi-fi so I had to resort to watching stuff that I had downloaded earlier to my phone. Not the end of the world, but still a little disappointing.
And thus ended another day on the trail.....
It's never fun hiking near a golf course! |
Not only did they leave a bowl for dogs to drink, but there was also a "stick library" for dogs to enjoy. They could take a stick or leave a stick for absolutely free! =) |
Watch out for trains! They do pass by VERY fast! |