Day 19: Introduction to Hadrian's Wall!

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!

Hadrian's Wall isn't half of what it was back when it was originally built, but it's still impressive and to give them credit, this is still around nearly 2000 years later! How many things have you built that will still be around in 2000 years?

Day 18: Taking It Easy....

August 13, 2024:  I decided to sleep in especially late today, mostly because I had an extraordinarily short day of hiking planned--less than 5 miles in total! Karolina was scheduled to fly out early in the morning in just four days, and I figured the easiest and quickest place for her to exit the trail was along Hadrian's Wall, which was less than 20 miles away. Which meant I needed to do some shorter days!

The midges in the morning were absolutely horrendous as well, and the idea of going outside my tent wasn't especially appealing.

However, rain was in the forecast in the afternoon, so ideally I'd do all of my hiking before the rain hit.

I eventually got up and moving. The terrain was mostly rolling hills. I was worried about it being especially boggy since that's what the guidebook warned about, and while there were definitely boggy areas, it was nowhere near as bad as I feared. A few days earlier going over Cross Fell it was certainly much worse.

There's not much to report about the day's hike, in any case. A short day of rolling hills with some occasional boggy areas.

Knowing I had such a short day of hiking and wanting a little comfort out of the afternoon rains, I had booked a B&B that was about a half-mile off trail. Since I had less than 5 miles to hike today, it wasn't a huge burden to hike a half-mile off trail.

I arrived at the B&B at about 1:00pm, a full two hours before check-in time. I figured even if the room wasn't ready, perhaps I could still sit inside somewhere and out of any potential rain, but Leslie had no problem with checking me in early.

The B&B seemed like it was located in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by farms and otherwise empty countryside, but my guidebook said that it was possible to have pizza delivered so a town must not have been particularly far away. And I really liked that idea rather than depending on the food in my pack. Pizza sounded much better! I also ordered some garlic bread and sodas to be delivered, which arrived about an hour later. It was delicious! A nice treat in the middle of nowhere. Had my guidebook not mentioned the possibility of getting food delivered, it would have never even occurred to me that that was an option.

I ordered pizza to be delivered for dinner. Tonight, we'd feast like kings!

It did start raining in the afternoon, but that was no longer a concern for me. For the rest of the evening, I watched Netflix and did some work on my laptop, but basically I just relaxed and rested, a sort of strange mini-vacation from the trail.

Karolina spent the evening planning out her exit from the trail. She had figured out where she would get off the trail at, and knew she was planning to fly out from Edinburgh very early on the morning of the 17th, which meant she had to make sure she was in Edinburgh by the 16th--but she hadn't made any plans about where she was going to spend the night or what she would do in town. So for her, she spent a great deal of time figuring out those sorts of details and making a reservation for a hostel in the city.

And thus ended another day on the trail.....

Normally I see signs pointing out the Pennine Way. It's pretty unusual to see a sign telling me a direction is NOT the Pennine Way!

Kellah Farm B&B was a wonderful little spot to spend a night. =)

Day 17: The Knarsdale Detour

August 12, 2024: It rained a bit in the morning, and I even heard thunder, but I was safe and dry in the hostel so it was of no concern for me.

After figuring out my plans for the next few days the night before, I decided that I needed food to last for the next four days--the next time that I'd be near a real grocery store. I woke up early and headed down to the Spar market just down the road.

Heading out of Alston

I had a relatively short day today, less than 10 miles, so I took my time leaving town. The afternoon weather was expected to be nice, while the morning weather would be less than pleasant so there was no reason to rush, and I didn't actually leave town until nearly 11:00am.

Except for a few threatening clouds in the early afternoon, the weather generally cooperated and the rain stayed away. A little bit of that fat fog that can get stuff wet, but no actual rain.

A few hours into the hike, I took a break near an old railroad trestle when a southbounder on the trail arrived. A SOBOer! It was a surprise because almost everyone hikes this trail northbound, and I hadn't seen a single southbounder the entire time.

Even more surprising, it was someone I recognized! It was the same guy I met on the fourth day on the trail at May's shop--the one that seemed to suggest that I wasn't really a Pennine Way hiker unless I joined the 12,000-member Pennine Way Facebook group. He almost seemed surprised to see me when he recognized me, as if he had expected that I would have quit the trail by now. Like I said then, I don't think he had a very high opinion of my hiking abilities.

Anyhow, he explained that after he reached the end of the trail, he decided to turn around and hike it again southbound which explained our crossing paths again. We only talked for a minute or two before he continued on his way, never to be seen again. Unless, of course, he reached the end of the trail and decided to hike northbound again, I supposed. He was certainly hiking much faster and further than I was every day!

I took a break by this railroad trestle. I didn't realize it at the time, but there was actually another trail that followed on top the old railroad line, and it probably would have been shorter and easier to follow than the Pennine Way which was under it. Had I realized it was a trail, I would have preferred the views from the top! Plus a flat, easy trail would have been much easier on my ankle.

 

Eventually, I continued my own hike as well, and several hours later, the weather had cleared up nicely and I took another break, this time at Knarsdale. While lounging around on the grass enjoying the views, Karolina noticed in the guidebook that the Kirksytle Inn was located 200 meters off trail and she wanted to go, since it also served drinks and--if we were really lucky--even food.

"But it's 200 meters off trail!" I said, not really wanting to limp 200 meters out of my way. My ankle was still in quite a bit of pain. It wasn't anywhere near as bad as those first few days since twisting it, but it was still very tender and sensitive. I didn't take any extra steps that I didn't have to.

But she persisted. I connected to the Internet with a data connection on my phone to at least check if the place was supposed to be open, and it had just opened mere minutes earlier. The route to the inn looked like it was just a simple, flat road walk, and I did have plenty of time to kill, so eventually I caved and agreed to go to the inn in search of drinks.

The inn, as promised, was open, but they didn't serve food on Mondays and being a Monday, that meant no food. I didn't really need food, however, so that was fine. We did order drinks, however. Karolina ordered a local beer while I ordered the pint of Coca-cola, and we sat at a table reading our Kindles. 

I took a 1.5-hour break at the Kirkstyle Inn. =)

When we arrived, there was nobody else there, but soon an older couple with a dog named Pepper came in and sat nearby.

After lingering around the inn for an hour and a half, it was finally time to go. I returned to the trail, then  headed another couple of miles down the trail where I set up camp on a small, uneven lumpy space next to a beautiful tree on a hillside.

Thus ended another day on the trail.....

Irony....

Trailside art

These are the ruins of Epiacum, an old Roman Fort popularly known as Whitley Castle.

The fort is unexcavated, but it used to house 500 Roman solders back in the day.

This slope was so steep, they even provided a rope for hikers to hold onto so they didn't fall off to the right!

A tunnel! I get to go through an old railroad tunnel!

Day 16: Disobeying Orders and Flirting with Disaster!

August 11, 2024: I woke up to beautiful clear skies! 

Now that there was daylight, I could take some photos of Greg's Hut.

Most of the day consisted of walking along Corpse Road, which I know sounds bad, but it really wasn't. The road was gravel, but it wasn't especially busy or difficult. A couple of vehicles passed by, but that was it and the road was almost entirely level.

Corpse Road was generally flat and easy, but also a little boring.

The trail then dropped into the town of Garrigill, which I was excited to get to since the guidebook promised a bar in town and--if I was lucky--might even serve food. Even without food, however, I was excited at the prospect of a cold drink. But, as it turned out, the bar did not exist! There was a post office with convenience store items in it, but being a Sunday, it was closed. I was badly disappointed.

I hobbled around town to see if there was anything of use at all in the town. Somewhere to get a cold drink or a snack or something, but I came up empty. There was really nothing for hikers here. Well, okay, that wasn't entirely true. I did manage to find a faucet where we could refill our water bottles and public restrooms, so at least we got that much out of the town. Better than nothing, I suppose, but much less than I had expected.

I wound up taking an hour long break in the small park in the center of town before picking up my pack and pushing onward. Almost immediately outside of the town, there was a sign posted saying that hikers should follow an alternate route because of a bridge that was closed further up the trail. The alternate appeared to more-or-less parallel to the main trail, except it was on the right side of the river that the trail followed along instead of the left side, and being a good hiker like I am, I followed the alternate.

The town of Garrigill turned out to be a big disappointment for me.

The alternate started well, passing near a nice waterfall that I otherwise wouldn't have seen but almost looping back into town from another direction. Within an half hour, however, the alternate route either became very badly overgrown or I lost it completely because I eventually found myself bushwhacking--which I had definitely not signed up for!

I knew the main trail was just on the other side of the river, and the river looked low enough that I figured I could just ford it if I had to and finally I decided to do that. Actually, I was even able to rock-hop across the creek without even getting my feet wet and soon found myself back on a solid, well-maintained trail. After that, my progress improved. 

Then I reached the bridge closure. I knew this was the closed bridge because a giant sign had been posted on it saying it was closed. Looking at the bridge, however, I couldn't see anything wrong with it. It looked fine as far as I could tell. Maybe there was some sort of structural defect that I couldn't see, but I decided to cross on the supposedly closed bridge anyhow. I still have no idea why that bridge was officially closed, but it worked fine for me.

I had no idea why the bridge was closed, but I recklessly disregarded the notice and crossed it anyhow.

The alternate route joined the main trail just past the bridge, and the rest of the day's hike was uneventful.

At the end of the day, I arrived at the Alston youth hostel, where I had booked a bed for the night. Strictly speaking, I had nothing against camping tonight, but I had expected to finish the day's hike near Alston and I figured that I may as well use the hostel since it was on the trail and right there.

After checking in, I headed to the Spar supermarket--maybe a 5-10 minute walk away--to check it out and get some snacks. Then I headed another 5 minutes into town to the Cumberland Inn for dinner on the recommendation of the receptionist from the hostel. 

I didn't make any notes about what I ate in my journal, so I can't report what it was. Sorry!

Later in the evening, I started making some tentative plans for the next few days on the trail, checking weather forecasts and figuring out an exit strategy for Karolina. She had to fly back and return to work in less than a week. Her original plan was to hike the entire Pennine Way and then take a bus and train to the airport and fly home, but at this point, it seemed unlikely that we'd reach the end of the trail before she had to leave. Which meant she had to figure out where she could get off the trail in time to catch her flight. She had some logistics to work out!

My home for the night was this youth hostel in Alston.

The main room in Greg's Hut

For nearly 24 hours (starting since about lunch time yesterday), I could see this radar station. Yesterday, I passed right by it, but I could still see it in the distance for much of the morning today.

Tailings from old mines

I saw these pyramid-shaped objects all along the trail today, but I couldn't even come up with a guess for what their purpose was.

If you look closely, you can see something resembling a face in the bark of that tree on the left. ;o)