Hadrian's Wall Path - day 2 [Wall to Upper Denton]

Today the weather was mainly windy with splashes of rain and an occasional shy appearance from the sun. The path itself was amazing, completely different from the first 30 miles from Newcastle, it was mainly hiking along the actual Hadrian Wall mostly restored (in 1970s) with many forts, gateways and turrets scattered and still visible along its path.

Think I must have walked a similar distance to yesterday, about 24 miles which leaves me with 16 for tomorrow to finish it off in Carlisle, from what I heard the path turns again into a walking next to the side of a road kind of experience for this final (for me) stretch but it's alright with what I have seen today. 

Relentless wind made me relocate the campsite at the last minute tonight, I planned to sleep in one of the turrets next to the wall but I just couldn't set up the tent without it being shred to pieces by the wind. Instead I'm staying in a corner of a good old cows field surrounded by a stone fence, it's just enough wind protection but it's uneven as hell, looks like I'll spend the whole night sleeping on my left side as that's the only fairly comfortable position. Goddamn you wind and my own stupidity of not trying to set up earlier.

The path was fairly busy today, I've met two ladies doing a four day trek and a Latvian guy walking the entirety of it, it was his day four and his backpack seemed still heavily overloaded, he complained about it but it looks like he took way too much (canned) food and heavy gear along with him, he's hoping to reach Newcastle by Saturday where he booked his return train to London.

Ruins if the 14th century Thirlwall Castle:
Cawfields Quarry:
The temple of Mithras:
Turret 49B where I almost spend the night:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Appalachian Trail (day 77) - Hikers Welcome Hostel to Eliza Brook Campsite / mile 1816

Image
"After hiking in White Mountain's everything else seems easy" Sue First day in the White's, I can confirm now that terrain here is unlike anything we faced on the AT so far. In the morning I had a coffee and a breakfast muffin at the hostel, surprisingly despite the early hour Tum Tum, Iceman, Yukon and Gutsy were up as well. Weather was supposed to be a mixed bag but we were all determined to climb Mt Moosilauke today. I headed out and started the 4000 feet climb first, it was a long, steady uphill going through well maintained terrain, problems only started at the top. Day was quite windy, combined with the rain and exposed, alpine environment, it became a recipe for a very wet, cold and uncomfortable time. At the top wind was pushing me left and right and rain was cutting across with great speed, I was completely drenched in just few moments. Luckily exposed section didn't last too long and the AT dived into the pine forest soon after. ...
Read more

Appalachian Trail (day 12) - Icewater Sorin Shelter to Cosby Knob Shelter / mile 231

Image
Today could be described in one word - windy. And it was not your refreshing summer breeze, it was the kind of wind that chills your bones and the moment you feel it you want to turn around and go back home, except there's no home and you can't turn around. The food I hanged last night was completely frozen, it was funny to crunch on a solid snickers and granola bars for breakfast. At least it was sunny, I've put all my layers on and started hiking. Trail looked really good, I could see small patches of snow and icicles probably formed last night hanging from the bushes. Later during the day you could see the damage last years hurricane has done, fallen trees, layers of uncovered rock showing that there was not much trees could hang on to beneath, trail was trying to manoeuvre around the blow downs and disturbed earth. I haven't met many people today but I hiked alongside Blazer, a friendly, older American guy. He also hiked PCT, so w...
Read more

Appalachian Trail (day 76) - Lambert Ridge to Hikers Welcome Hostel / mile 1799

Image
Hot, humid, stormy day. My goal was to place myself withing the short distance before the climb to Mount Moosilauke. AT in New Hampshire definitely prooved from the very begining that it means business. The first and second climb of the day:  Smarts Mountain and Mt Cube were steep and rocky, the path was muddy, overgrown and not very well marked, combined with the hot and humid weather I was moving at a snail's pace. Views were quite rewarding though and after the initial struggle trail got easier for the rest of the day. I've seen yet another two bear cubs, no mother in sight this time around which got me a bit spooked. Cubs climbed so high up the tree I could hardly see them from the trail, they were so incredibly agile! I've taken a blurry video of the couple as I thought it was fairly safe to do so, that's 10 black bears I've seen so far on Appalachian Trail.  At one point I took a break  by the road and tried to dry my feet a...
Read more