Hadrian's Wall Path - Day 3 - 13 miles

While yesterday was peaceful and picturesque, today was challenging and exhilarating. 

A small bit of shade. Some hikers will stop in those groves for a quick snack or an hour long nap. We stood, breathed in the smell of pine and cool grass and kept on. We had some curry chicken to get to! 

We pitched a tent last night in a field in the small town of Chollerford, a bit chilly but happy to be camping again. We woke up around eight to discover we were the last campers there, everyone else having already packed and started their day. Quickly, we stowed our gear and headed down the Path, anticipating the adventures to come. We had most looked forward to this day, trekking through the Northumberland National Park, and it did not disappoint. 

Um, excuse me? There are so many cow pastures on this hike! You're not meant to get too close to them as they had calves at this point and their behavior can be unpredictable. For this big one we had to walk around a bit.

Heading into the hills above Chollerford, we found ourselves, within an hour, making our way up-country towards the wall and Northumberland. From around mile 3 or 4, the remainder of the day was spent on the crags of northern England, tracing the Roman wall west through outlandish and wild country. Over hills and through copses of pine and elm, you get a sense of what it must have been like here all those years ago, manning your post on the wall, just waiting for tartan clad Scot barbarians to materialize out of the woods and fog to the north, bringing savagery and terror and death with every step. And how must it have felt to be a Scot facing a cliffside topped by a twelve foot wall and highly trained stoic Romans? 

Some of our first stunning views. Gone, for the most part, were the sheep pastures. They were replaced with gorgeous sweeping vistas of the English countryside, daunting rocky crags and tourists who were doing the one day Northumberland stretch. 

As we struggled up and down the progressively more challenging hills, the feeling of how it must have to been to live here then really sank in, even while we took in the jaw dropping landscapes all around us. We've been to many spectacular places around the world and this is certainly amidst the top. 

Rocky crags are just starting to show their beauty. No handrails here to baby you! 

Our first look of the wall as it would have been. It sat perched on top of the crags with a clear view both ways over the farmland down below. Here we're a few hundred feet up. 

Our home for the evening in the middle of positively nowhere. However, we did happen upon the campsite that won the Loo of the Year Award. All I have to say is RIGHTLY SO! What an amazing loo. Showers that I wanted to live in for the rest of my days, toilets that were clean and had toilet seats and all while being serenaded by their surround sound speakers playing soft jazz from days gone by. ahhhhhhh....

Walking down into the village of Once Brewed a bit south of the Wall, we've struck up our tent and with a belly full of chicken curry and beer and a feeling of accomplishment, we're off to bed. 

Easily one of my favorite meals of the entire hike. There is a saying, at least in the South, that "hunger is the best spice" but truly I think this curry was actually quite good. When you've been hiking all day and eating nothing but protein bars and bread, there is something a hot & proper meal does for your soul. Here we sat outside the Milecastle Inn eating 1.5 curry chickens while watching the sun creep below the mountains we were to climb the next day. 

The inside of the Milecastle Inn where we eventually retreated to have another beer and talk to other hikers until we realized that the sun had fooled us again. It was 10:30pm and time to go to bed. 

 See you tomorrow, travelers.