Hadrians Wall Trek 31/08/20, 01/09/20

 The plan was to walk the entire long distance path from West to East in five days. However, by the end of day 2 Rowan's feet were shredded. Added to walking for two days with a knee injury and the sole of one of his boots coming away, and an over optimistic 22 miles planned for day 3, we decided it was sensible to stop at that point. 

Day 1 Bowness on Solway to Carlisle

We (Rowan and I) stayed at the Cumbria Park Hotel on Sunday night, and booked a taxi from Carlisle to Bowness on Solway for Monday morning. From the start at Bowness it was a 15 mile flat hike on tracks and roads back to Carlisle.

First mistake I made was advising Rowan he could wear trainers on day 1 due to the flat and tarmac terrain. There was a lot of road walking but also (about 50% on tracks). the first bit of track was across a wet pasture and then back onto the road. Within an hour he was getting blisters.

Walking along the estuary between Drumburgh and Burgh by Sands

Loads of signs like this along the 3 mile stretch between Drumburgh and burgh by Sands

Port Carlisle - about a mile in

Just before burgh by Sands

Statue of Edward 1 in Burgh By Sands

Edward 1 died near here on his way north to do battle with the Scots - therefore the statue.

There was a nice picnic spot here- Kirkandrews on Eden I think

River Eden on the edge of Carlisle

River Eden

as we came into Carlisle we entered Bitts Park and then we were soon at eden bridge and about 1/2 mile from the hotel.

So, day 1 - 15 miles and surprisingly tough in terms of how stiff and sore we both felt at the end.

Day 2 Carlisle to Gilsland

This day was a first day(and last !!) with full packs. We were well stocked up with snacks for a few days as the expectation was there wouldn't be any shops to stock up on the way due to the pandemic.. the packs were heavy and possibly that contributed to our bailing at the end of this day.

We were feeling great and enjoying the walk for the first half to Newtown. I only had my richo compact with me so didn't bother trying to take a picture of Blencathra and the Skiddaw range in the distance to the South at one point(just before Crosby on Eden).

Blocks just below Eden Bridge. Startpoint

Near to our destination for day 2

River Eden just outside Carlisle

Crossing the M6

The second half just seemed to get harder and harder as the afternoon went on. before we started the second half we stopped at a honesty cafe(shed in someone's garden with snacks and a price list). We had a nice chat with another Father and Son team doing the challenge. 

Our first sight of the wall

When we got to Gilsland it was clear that we couldn't carry on. Rowan's feet were shredded, he had a knee injury, and we were both knackered after an 18 mile hike. If I had split the next section(21 miles) into two it might have been do-able.

The end of the adventure

On Wednesday morning we got a taxi from Gilsland to Haltwhistle, and caught the train back to Carlisle.

Although it felt like a failure we did cover 35 miles in two days. despite the disappointment there were sections of the walk we really enjoyed, so we are determined to return and complete this trek, from the start