Not duffers, didn't fall off a hill

[white_hart]

So, I have now walked the whole of the Hadrian's Wall National Trail. The official website says that the trail is 84 miles long, but T's Runkeeper app claims that we actually walked a smidgen under 112 miles; some of this is due to having to divert away from the trail to get to our overnight accommodation (a couple of times this was two or three miles out of our way) but we were consistently getting higher numbers than we expected and eventually decided that this might be because the mapped distance is calculated as if it was a two-dimensional line whereas the app takes elevation into account and a mapped mile up or downhill involves travelling further than a mapped mile on the flat. Well, that or the app is just inaccurate, which is also a possibility, but it did seem to be most inaccurate on the hillier stretches.

While the trail isn't rated as a very difficult path and can be attempted by anyone who's reasonably fit, as people without a great deal of walking experience we did find bits of it quite challenging, particularly in the central section which does, essentially, cross the north Pennines*; the uphill bits were OK, if slow, but getting down almost-vertical slopes was less pleasant, though the views were spectacular and there's also a lot of the Wall remaining through that section, presumably because it was too remote for people to bother carting the stone away for building as happened in a lot of the lowland bits. We'd planned an itinerary which gave us plenty of time to stop and look at the sights along the way, as well as stopping for refreshments and just to admire the view, though it turned out that our shorter days (about 9 miles) were a bit too short and the three longer days at the end (16 miles each) were almost too much for us**; I think 12 to 14 miles would probably have been perfect.

If you don't follow me elsewere on social media (in which case you'll have seen them already) you can see my photos on Instagram.

We used Sherpa Van for baggage transfers and also booked our accommodation through them (mainly B&Bs, but also a couple of pubs with rooms and, on the last night, a wigwam, which was surprisingly cosy and actually had the best shower of the trip) which made it much easier, as we then only had to carry daysacks with waterproofs and water and snacks rather than lugging absolutely everything around.

After a week and a half at walking pace it feels rather odd to be home again, and not walking, though also quite nice to have a break; my new walking boots were really comfortable, but my legs were pretty tired by the end of each day. Still, it was a brilliant holiday, and I definitely want to do more long-distance walks. I feel much more relaxed than I did before I went away, and even found myself enjoying knitting again and finishing the pair of socks I started in February. It makes me realise that the reason I seem to have stopped enjoying all the things I used to like recently is probably just because work has been taking up so much time and energy that I simply haven't had anything left for fun. However much I love my job, I really need to try to stop myself getting to that point again.

*I'm not sure I would have suggested the walk as a holiday if I'd realised it would involve walking across the Pennines, because that sounds stupendously hard, but we managed it.

**The second-to-last day was the one that felt like a real slog; by that stage we were close enough to Carlisle that there were no more remains of the Wall to see, and we just seemed to spend most of the day trudging through fields and increasingly suburban villages. It also didn't help that the pub in Crosby-on-Eden had closed and that meant that there was nowhere to stop for a drink or to go to the loo until we got to Carlisle itself. On the last day there were still no Wall remains, but we were leaving the city behind us and there was the Solway Firth and saltmarshes to add interest.

Comments

[nineveh_uk]

It sounds a lot of fun in a slightly hard work kind of way :-) Dales Way next year?

[white_hart]

Dales Way and Cleveland Way both seem like possibilities. Or possibly the Great Glen Way. The Pennine Way can definitely wait until we have a lot more experience!

[tree_and_leaf]

Even very experienced walkers often say the Pennine Way is a bit of a damp slog. The Coast to Coast walk is excellent, apart from one rather dull day in the Vale of York.

Congratulations!

[shewhostaples]

*puts Hadrian's Wall on the list*

[white_hart]

I can definitely recommend it. (And if you do decide to do it I can also recommend the B&Bs we stayed in to you, as they were generally excellent. The only place we weren't happy with was the rather gastropub Angel Inn in Corbridge, where there was quite a lot of noise from the bar below our room until after midnight.)

[antisoppist]

Congratulations! That sounds a brilliant holiday and it is probably better to not know you are crossing the Pennines if you wouldn't have done it if you had known that is what you were doing :-)

[white_hart]

I think if I'd realised I was going to be crossing the Pennines I'd have been really worried about that day, whereas as it was we walked up and down hills in glorious sunshine and saw lots of amazing views and the sycamore tree that was in Robin Hood Prince of Thieves and it was only at the end of the day that I looked at the map and realised what we'd done and felt a huge sense of achievement :-)

[mrs-redboots.livejournal.com]

Well done! I know I couldn't have done it - I could manage the 9-mile days, once, but then would have to rest for a couple of days before being able to walk again....

[white_hart]

I'd pretty much never walked more than about 5 miles in a day before we started practicing for this, and never done long walks on consecutive days (the closest I'd got was a holiday in Wales about 11 years ago where we walked on the Monday and Wednesday before walking up Snowdon on the Friday, but that was quite a rarity), so I think a lot of it is just about practice!

[owlfish]

What a fantastic adventure!

[mimmimmim.livejournal.com]

I really loved seeing all the photos of your walk. I'd check Instagram thinking, "Oooh, I wonder how far Sadie's got today?" You seemed to make such rapid progress, it was really impressive.