Day 1: The Hadrian's Wall Path

August 20, 2024: Another day, another trail! I woke up bright and early because I realized during my planning the night before, I could slackpack the first several miles of the Hadrian's Wall Path. The trail starts in Newcastle--or rather, for most people, it ends in Newcastle, but I was bucking the trend by hiking the trail in the opposite direction than most people do simply because I had to pass through Newcastle anyhow to get to the other side of the island where most people normally start. It just meant less time sitting on trains and more time hiking by starting on this end of the trail. I will point out, however, that the wall was built starting on this side and construction continued eastward, so my direction is more accurate in the historical sense and insures that the milecastle and turret numbers increase the further we progress.

They called this The Monument, which is where I caught the subway to go to Wellsend.

But I digress... The trail starts in Newcastle, so I had booked a hotel not far from the train station in central Newcastle. However the trail does not actually start in central Newcastle, but rather several miles east at the Segedunum Roman Fort & Museum at Wallsend. If you're wondering about the name Wallsend, you would be correct in assuming that the name came about because that was one end of Hadrian's Wall.

And I realized that the path then follows more-or-less along the River Tyne passing not far from the hotel I was in. And therefore, if I left early enough, I could slackpack the section between Wallsend and my hotel.

I even looked at options for slackpacking the entire day. What if I booked the hotel room for two nights, then took the bus back at the end of the day? Technically, it was an option, but I eventually threw out the idea as being impractical. The bus wasn't particularly fast or efficient from where I expected to finish the day, and then I'd have to take it back to start the next day.

But still, I would be happy to take a couple of hours of slackpacking. I didn't even need the hotel to store my bag while I was hiking--I'd just leave all my stuff in the room and make sure I got back to pack it all up before the checkout time at 11:00. Plenty of time, I figured! 

So I organized a light daypack with a some water, a few snacks and a bit of rain gear since rain looked imminent. Then I headed out to the subway station, which was about a 10-15 minute walk away. I took the subway to Wallsend and arrived at the official start of the Hadrian's Wall Path at Segedunum Roman Fort & Museum by around 7:30am.

This appeared to show the footprints of ancient Roman buildings near the wall, but a gate actually kept me out so I couldn't read the signs. Because the museum wasn't actually open yet. I took this from the parking lot in front of the museum.

Unfortunately, the museum wasn't scheduled to open until 10:00am, so I couldn't visit it. If I had booked the hotel room for two nights, I would have been inclined to show up then, slackpack back to the hotel and call it a day then start out with a full pack the next morning. It was actually tempting to do that, but I had originally planned to finish the Pennine Way a full four days earlier and was already a little behind schedule to catch my flight out of England. I had hoped by knocking out 20-mile days on Hadrian's Wall every day, I could make most of that time back up, but that meant I couldn't do a partial day of hiking today. 

I still took photos of the outside, however, around the areas that I could see. In the back of the museum was a box with a stamp for the Hadrian's Wall Passport, which I stamped.

Then I started hiking the trail. The trail was super flat and easy compared to anything I did on the Pennine Way, but it basically led me through the entire city of Newcastle along the River Tyne. The dark, menacing clouds early in the morning eventually cleared up a bit and rain never became an issue.

The Hadrian's Wall Path followed the shore of the River Tyne through Newcastle, which was a lovely walk. =)

 

There was a small section of Hadrian's Wall by the museum, and Roman baths that had been excavated nearby, but otherwise there is nothing left of the wall through the city. Today was more about enjoying the sights of Newcastle than about Hadrian's Wall. In fact, the trail did not even try to follow the historical route of Hadrian's Wall, instead sticking to the more scenic shore of the River Tyne.

I arrived back at the hotel by around 10:00am, which gave me plenty of time to pack up my full backpack and check out of the hotel. Rather than hit the trail immediately, I stopped for lunch, filling up for a quick meal at Taco Bell.

Throughout the day, I'd occasionally pass people who were clearly hiking the Hadrian's Wall Path in the other direction. They typically looked tired and defeated, which seemed odd to me since they were all on their last day. I thought that they would be more excited and happy about their accomplishments and happy to see their adventures drawing to a close. 

In all, I passed maybe a dozen or so people I marked as Hadrian's Wall hikers, and every one of them looked they they had just walked out of a dentist office after having all of their teeth pulled. In a word, miserable. And they were often limping with pain. 

I was actually a little surprised I didn't see more hikers based on the sheer numbers of people I saw when I was on the section of the Pennine Way that overlapped the Hadrian's Wall Path just a few days earlier. Theoretically, some of the people I was passing could have been some of the same people I met on the trail a few days earlier--but I can't say that I recognized any of them.

The trail also passed the location where the Battle of Newburn Ford took place in 1640. I must admit, it is not a battle I had ever heard of until I walked up to this monument and read about it. I'll let you Google it if you want more information about the battle. =)

Late in the afternoon, the trail finally veered away from the River Tyne, heading uphill and returning to the site of Hadrian's Wall where another small section of the wall had been preserved. I had to walk a few minutes off trail to see the actual wall segment, took a few photos, then returned to the walking path and walked another 10 minutes before stopping to pick up some food at a Spar market attached to a gas station. 

Looking through my guidebook the night before, that Spar market appeared to be the last decent place to resupply for the trail for the day, and there was no sense carrying a pack full of food the whole day when I didn't have to fill it up with food until later in the afternoon. As it turned out, it wasn't as nice of a place to resupply as the Spar-gas station combo I had experience on the Pennine Way, and I was a little disappointed I hadn't stopped at a Lidl that I passed an hour earlier in the day. But I made it work. I could resupply... I just couldn't resupply well. I grabbed a few items for dinner as well, which I ate on a bench in an adjacent garden.

At the bar and restaurant across the street, I ran into a woman who was also hiking the trail--and turned out to be hiking it in the same direction that I was! But she was exhausted and calling it quits for the day and had made a reservation for a room there. I pushed onward knowing that we'd probably never see each other again. I was trying to push an ambitious 20-mile per day schedule and few people would likely keep up with that.

Late in the afternoon, I passed a family of three Americans from Brooklyn who were taking a break and eating on the trail. I was able to step around them without any trouble, but they seemed embarrassed for blocking the trail saying that they hadn't seen anyone else for a few hours and thought it would be safe to so.

I joked about waiting for just that moment to pounce out and surprise them. =)

I wound up stopping and chatting with them for a half hour or so, but it was getting near sunset and eventually decided that I needed to keep moving and wished them well and headed off.

Maybe 10 minutes later, I reached a bird blind overlooking a nice little lake and was very tempted to stop and set up camp right there in the bird blind. It was relatively quiet, nobody was around, and I didn't even see any signs saying that camping was prohibited. The bird blind was a fully enclosed structure with four walls and a roof as well. The menacing clouds were returning and rain was forecast in the evening, so it seemed like a good place to escape the elements.

I was very tempted to stop and spend the night in this bird blind! I didn't, but it was very tempting....

So it was very tempting to stop right then and there, but ultimately, I pushed onward toward my original goal. I still needed to make up a lot of miles after finishing the Pennine Way four days behind schedule. Every little bit would help.

Less than a mile later, I arrived at the Robin Hood Inn and my destination for the night. I hadn't booked a room here, however, since they allowed camping in the field behind the inn for a small fee. I walked in, and the bartender took one look at me and asked, "Are you okay?"

What kind of question was that? Did I not look okay or something?! "Uhh, yeah, I'm fine. I was just hoping to set up camp here." Well, not inside the building, obviously, but outside.

The woman pointed me in the right direction, and I headed out to set up my tent except when I stepped outside, it was raining. Argh!!! I came back inside, not wanting to set up camp in the rain. Maybe it would stop a bit later, at least long enough for me to rush out and set it up without being rained on. I was a little annoyed at the rain for two reasons, though. First, it was not in the forecast when I checked this morning. I wasn't surprised by it--the clouds in the late afternoon looked like rain so I suspected it was coming regardless of the forecast, but it was annoying that the forecast couldn't have told me about it earlier. And second, I really would have preferred getting my tent up before the rain started. I just needed another 5 or 10 minutes and then it could have rained all it wanted.

I did end up camping in the field behind the Robin Hood Inn. =)

Back in the restaurant, I took a table for myself where it was warm and comfortable, I could charge my devices and had access to bathrooms. I also ordered a raspberry muffin and a Coke as a snack, and sat at the table writing my day's adventures in my journal. And, of course, hopefully wait for a break in the rain so I could rush out and set up my tent.

A half hour later, I went outside to grab the stamp for my Hadrian's Wall Path Passport. The second stamp  was kept at the Robin Hood Inn, and when I went outside to grab it, I could see that a break in the rain had occurred. I went back inside, grabbed my tent, and rushed back out to get it set up before the rain started again. Success!

Then I headed back into the bar just because it was warmer and more comfortable there, where I piddled around online until 10:00pm when the bar closed and they kicked everyone out. The end of my first day on the Hadrian's Wall Path.

It had been a long and tiring day, but I had knocked out 24 miles according to my GPS so definitely a solid day of walking and on track to finish this trail in a mere four days! =)

I loved this little yarnbombed Roman soldier at the start of the trail! =)

 

This statue at the Segedunum Roman Fort & Museum marks the beginning of the Hadrian's Wall Path. The observation platform behind it (but part of the museum) overlooks the old Roman site, but since it was closed and I didn't want to wait 2.5 hours for it to open, I couldn't go in.

I found the stamp to stamp my Hadrian's Wall Path Passport in this box behind the museum.

A bit of the wall....

Site of the Roman baths

That looks like a decayed ship in the shore of the River Tyne!

The trail crosses over this elaborate footbridge.

Lots of pretty bridges in the central section of Newcastle! The big one at the top reminds me a lot of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. You can actually see four different bridges in this photo, but some are behind others making it hard to see them all clearly, but there are three separate bridges under that big one.

In this photo, the other three bridges are more clear. Well, two of them are. That blue one that's farthest away is still a bit hard to see.

Newcastle Castle

Newcastle Keep

Okay, that is funny.... I'll admit it! =D

This is the small section of wall still preserved on the west side of Newcastle.

Day 21: The Sycamore Massacre

August 16, 2024: It was time to part ways with Karolina. She had to go back to work, but I would press onward to finish the Pennine Way (as well as two other trails, if all went according to plan).

The AD122 bus only came through every couple of hours and I decided that the 8:30am one was much too early, so I planned to catch the 10:33am bus back to the trail, and Karolina could catch a train about ten minutes later to Newcastle where she'd then switch to another train and continue on to Edinburgh. 

My bus arrived, and I boarded. Karolina headed into the train station in order to catch her train. 

Time to go back to Hadrian's Wall!

The bus was quiet crowded with tons of day hikers and every seat on the bus was filled. I rode it to The Sill, near where I had left the trail two days earlier and it was only a 5 or 10 minute walk from there to the Pennine Way (and Hadrian's Wall Path, for that matter).

The day was a beautiful day--sunny and clear, although there was a bit of a chill in the wind.

It wasn't long before I reached the location of perhaps the most infamous and notorious crime ever committed along Hadrian's Wall: the cutting down of the Sycamore Gap tree. The crime was a relatively recent one as well, occurring about a year earlier. 

The tree was about 150 years old, and provided a scenic backdrop to Hadrian's Wall that passed just a few feet from it, and the tree's claim to fame was greatly enhanced when it was used for a prominent scene in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. Check out the scene on YouTube if you'd like to see it from that context. (As a sidenote, I couldn't help but notice Kevin Costner walking along the top of Hadrian's Wall--an activity that is prohibited nowadays to help preserve the wall. First swimming in the pool under Hardraw Force, and now this. Does that man follow any rules at all?!)

Okay, apparently that scene on YouTube is restricted in the United States. If you have a VPN, you can get around it. If you don't.... I couldn't find a YouTube clip with the entire scene that was filmed here, but I did find two that work in the US that cover the entire scene, but there is some overlap. Check here for Part 1 for the first part of the scene. I've since had to delete the link to the second half of the scene because YouTube deleted it less than 48 hours after I posted the link. Argh! Anyhow, I'm having trouble finding stable YouTube links that point to the scene that can be watched in the US without a VPN. Try searching for "Sycamore Gap" and "Robin Hood" or something to that effect to see what's available when you read this.

A few day hikers check out the remains of the Sycamore Gap tree

Anyhow, it was a beautiful and much-beloved tree, and in a deliberate act of vandalism, the tree was cut down for no good reason at all. People around the world were horrified at the atrocity, and still are. A couple of people have been arrested and charged with the destruction, but as I write this, the trial hasn't happened yet. Regardless of what happens there, however, the tree will never be the same.

There's a fence around the stump with a sign asking people not to mess with it since they hope a new tree will sprout from it.

Anyhow, I paid my respects to the tree, took a few photos and continued onward.

The sign asks for people not to touch the stump since they're hoping it'll sprout and regrow (eventually) again.

 

The trail was crowded with day hikers once again, but that wasn't a surprise. After a couple of miles, however, the Pennine Way veered off from the Hadrian's Wall Path and headed northward again, leaving the crowds of people behind.

Later in the afternoon, I did meet one guy who was section hiking the Pennine Way, and he had hiked all but the last 300 miles of the Appalachian Trail. I couldn't imagine anyone stopping with only 300 miles left on the trail, and so I asked if he quit due to some sort of injury, which he confessed was the case. "Any plans to go back and finish those last 300 miles?" I asked.

He wasn't sure about that. It was a long way to travel just to do 300 miles of trail, and he was more inclined to thru-hike the PCT instead at this point. I couldn't blame him.

Late in the afternoon, I passed the Pit Stop, a small room at a farm where they provided a few snacks and cold fizzy drinks for passing hikers. Very thoughtful and nice!

Just two more fields to reach the Pit Stop!

 

And I've made it to the Pit Stop. =)

My goal for the day wasn't much further beyond that. My guidebook described a creek ahead as a "lovely riverside spot," which sounded like code for me of "a nice place to wild camp." Or at least a possibility.... Just on the other side of the river was the horribly named Shitington Hall Farm. I s*** you not!

So after a quick rest at the Pit Stop, I pushed onward, eventually reaching the creek and taking a look around decided that yes, it was a wonderful spot to spend a night. I set up the tent and didn't even put on a rainfly since rain wasn't in the overnight forecast and now I could see the views outside.

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

The trail became much flatter and easier once the Pennine Way split off from Hadrian's Wall! But much less scenic too.

I don't know what kind of butterfly this is, but the front of the wings by the face--at first I thought those were words written on it. WTF?! How did that happen?! But then I zoomed into it later and realized it was more of a zebra pattern. Still kind of weird to see on a butterfly, though.....

Day 20: Exploring Vindolanda

August 15, 2024: It rained pretty much the entire night and for a good chunk of the morning, and I was sure glad that I didn't have to camp in it! The weather forecast for the day hadn't been that awesome either with rain expected the entire day, so it was convenient that I happened to plan another zero day today.  Coincidence? Partly. But I knew today was likely to have some nasty weather, so I tried to plan around it.

The rain died down into an aggressive drizzle, and it was time to pack up and move out. Although I wasn't planning to hike the trail today, I did have a plan and, unfortunately, it did require being outside. I was going to explore the ancient Roman fort and village of Vindolanda. Located only a couple of miles away, I was told it was well worth a visit.

There was a bus that I could have taken to the ruins, but it only ran once every couple of hours so I decided it would just be easier and faster simply to walk there, despite the rain, and that's what I did.

After paying the admission fee, the workers there allowed me to drop off my pack in an office so I didn't have to carry it around the site all day.

Entrance to Vindolanda

Vindolanda can be visited without a tour guide, but a free guided tour was scheduled to start only about 10 minutes after I arrived so I decided to join that. Several other people waiting for the tour to start were lounging around so I made small talk with them until Paul, our tour guide, showed up and started telling us the story of the Romans and Vindolanda.

I won't get into the whole story--you could read about the Romans for years with all of the information about them found online--but in a nutshell, Vindolanda was one of the major forts that provided support for Hadrian's Wall and the soldiers that patrolled the area. It was under Roman occupation from about 85 AD to 370 AD and that as many as 1000-2000 people lived there. Excavations have been extensive, but only a small section has actually been excavated so far. Excavations are ongoing and there's enough to keep excavating at the current rate for over a hundred years. There will constantly be new discoveries and interesting finds coming from this location.

Paul, the guy in the center, explains the history of the ruins behind him.

The tour was wonderful, but the aggressive drizzle continued throughout the entire tour. After the tour ended, I headed to the gift shop, museum and cafe to get out of the rain--and hoped the rain would stop by the time I looked through the museum and ordered some lunch.

That didn't happen, however, and eventually I headed back into the rain to continue my own exploration of the Vindolanda site, checking out the areas that the tour didn't cover and reading all of the plaques and informational signs that we hadn't stopped to read during the tour.

I spent several hours at the site, and it was enormously interesting and educational! But it was time to go....

So many ruins to explore!

I returned to the entrance where I picked up my pack and then headed out to the bus stop. I decided to go to Hexham for the night. Karolina had to go there just to get off the trail--basically on her way to Edinburgh. For me, it was totally out of my way--I was already next to the Pennine Way where I needed to keep going--but it allowed me to go into a town with a real grocery store to resupply as well as check out another small English town. And, theoretically, I might even end up in Hexham during my hike of the Hadrian's Wall Path since there was an alternate path that led to the town that I could potentially take. Now I could see what I'd be missing if I chose not to return later. =)

The bus, AD122, follows near Hadrian's Wall and is the main bus for tourists exploring many of the walls best locations. The bus was also cleverly given the name of the year the wall's construction was started, which I thought was wonderful. =)

So I took the bus into Hexham, where I checked into a hotel for the night. The rain had finally stopped, and for dinner I headed to a restaurant called Little Mexico, which had some good Mexican food although the music was a bit loud.

A Mexican dinner in England! =)

Before returning to the hotel for the night, I stopped at a supermarket to pick up a few items. I needed enough food to finish the Pennine Way. 

And thus ended another day......

All of the important Roman sites nearby... and not nearby! =)

This is a replica of what they think the wall would have looked like before it became the ruins you see today.

View of the Vindolanda ruins from the top of the replica wall and turret.

This area appeared to be undergoing active excavations. (But maybe the workers took the day off today because of the rain?)

A yarnbombing creation set on the top of a mailbox--or letterbox, as the British like to call them--in Hexham

I had to order dessert, and in a Mexican restaurant, that meant churros!