Hadrians Walk – Day 2

We got on the road just before 9 am today. We took a route different from that advised by our maps because of the location of our B&B. We were just beginning to think it was a bad decision when voila! There’s the stile we were looking for.

DH said we were starting out the day in style. Get it?

I took a photo of this place nearby, which is where we were glad we did not stay.

There were so many things we saw today. It was a long walk. The Fitbit says 32,700 steps (23.6 kilometres) and we climbed the equivalent of 151 flights of stairs.

The first few miles were uphill. After that it was steady up and down, but mostly up.

Over the day we reached two high points along the tops of crags. This is the view from the first one.

Between the hills the walk went down to the highway. In the car park there was a coffee and treats truck. Sadly no washrooms.

This is a temple to Mithras. A religion common mostly to Roman soldiers and about which we know very little.

We walked through pastures with really big cows.

We stopped for a lunch break, and then continued through pasture with horned sheep.

We climbed again and passed lots of Roman ruins.

At the top we had another snack and enjoyed the view.

On the trail we visited with a couple from Holland, a lady from Florida, several British people, a couple from Wales, and a Canadian couple from Ontario. It’s a friendly group. People ask where you started, where you’re going to, where are you from. Some have big packs, some have no packs. There were plenty of people on their own – more women than men. This walk would be a good meditative experience to do on your own. Best of all, there are no wild animals that can kill you!

We stopped at Housesteads, which is a Roman Fort museum site. Fortunately they had porta potties there. Our only toilets today!

Then it was up and along crag tops again.

These guys were going to rappelle down the crag cliffs.

When they tell you this is a gently rolling walk, don’t believe them.

We found Sycamore Gap, which was made famous by Kevin Costner in Robin Hood prince of Thieves. The weather was fantastic, though it was windy all day.

We had to climb down this cliff to get into Once Brewed and our B&B for tonight.