Day 5 - 25.5km. Rain, ruins and sore toes

We were very happy to arrive at our accomodation at 4pm today - a hiking earl.y mark as we’ve been doing longer stretches in the past four days. The distance was quite long enough though, particularly as it rained for the first six hours. Granted, it didn’t rain in the seventh hour, but by then our boots were sodden and so were we. We’ve reflected on the rain quite a lot today, and have narrowed down the issues.

Firstly, it’s slippery on rocks and in the mud. This slows us down.

Secondly, there is nowhere to sit in the rain. Yes, there’ll be shelter under a tree, but putting down a jacket to sit on will mean it becomes soaked through, which isn’t very good. And hiking through the fields in the path of a wall built over 1900 years ago means there aren’t sheltered spots or coffee shops to stop at on the way. On the four occasions we’ve found a pub on the trail, we’ve stopped twice for a cider (we would have stopped the other two times for a pint too, but the pubs are closed early in the mornings)

Thirdly, I should not have put my extra layer around my waist (see menopause in Day 4 post) thinking it would be handy when the temperature dropped because when the temperature dropped, my layer was sodden. Not only impractical, but heavy.

Fourthly, it’s summer in England so why are we forming condensation when we speak?

Fifthly, the sheep and cattle and everyone else look miserable when it’s raining.

On the bright side, the rain today made us terribly grateful that we’d had magnificent clear skies on the previous two days, when we saw the best of Hadrian’s wall. Particularly as we walked up and down so many steps which is so much more difficult to do on slippery surfaces. On this topic …

Boots: After having ‘issues’ with the second toe of my right foot on day one, and my left foot on day two, my toes and I had come to a compromise. I’d wrap them up in anti-blister things to cushion them (even though the real problem isn’t blisters as such, it’s that the toe nails are separating from the toes, the blister things lessen the pressure). In eternal gratitude, my toes agreed not to be too sore (until they grew numb) which would enable me to continue to walk. This compromise has worked very well on days three and four, but today Mr Big Toe On The Left butted in. This could have been related to damp boots, but I felt twinges and, balanced on one leg and using Mr Darcy as a door jam come crutch, I took off my boot and took out my orthotic (this changes the position of my foot). This worked for only about 100m by which time it was clear I needed more ammunition - apply an anti-blister thing (or six) and wrap my toe in tape. By now, the rain was well and truly a downpour and it would be another mile or so until we had shelter enough to do the job properly because I needed a dry surface.

But then I had an idea! Thanks to lovely Heather Reyburn, an author friend who had told me that she could no longer wear toe socks for hiking (I have given up on them too - had to filch Mr Darcy’s woollen socks without toes) but wrapped her toes in sheep wool. We’d actually seen clumps of wool in hiking shops in Sydney, but as it cost a fortune for a handful of stuff I could find in the paddock any day of the week, I had dismissed it until Heather suggested it. Very happily, I’d seen a particularly clean clump of wool (unusual - it’s generally got sheep dung or burs or mud attached) the previous day and entreated Mr Darcy to put it in his pocket so I could clean it when I was home (‘Take that, expensive hiking shop!’ thought I). Anyway, Mr Darcy got it out of his pocket and I shoved it in my boot as a short term measure and it stopped the pain all day! I didn’t dare take my boot off until we were at our guest lodge to look at it (don’t tamper with what is working) but when I finally removed my sock I saw there was a blister. So this toe has been taped up like the others, but I will never leave on a hike without a clump of sheep’s wool again, and will investigate starting by wrapping my toes in wool as a preventative measure. Hugs to Heather.

Food: We stay in B&B’s or guesthouses or very small hotels, so breakfast is included. What to eat for seven days to give one strength? I have NO IDEA why, but I tend to ask for baked beans (which I never eat at home) and bacon. And a hash brown if available. Also copious cups of tea and fruit if it is there. It stops the need for lunch (though we have many snacks and Mr Darcy carries my thermos of tea). Mr Darcy tends to have a ‘traditional English breakfast’ as pictured, but will revert to muesli, a banana and Greek yoghurt for the 357 days of the year that he isn’t hiking extraordinary distances, so I am hoping this is a balanced life diet overall.

Back to the wall. We saw a lot less of it today. In fact, we saw none of it, though did walk on top of the foundations (now covered by grass) and also saw parts of the wall that had been deliberately covered up to protect it. In Cumbria, unlike Northumberland, the stone isn’t as strong (sorry for inaccurate quality of stone but Mr Collins currently unavailable (asleep) and the wall deteriorated quite quickly (also it was nicked by landholders to build walls for the paddocks and houses and barns, which also led to its disappearance from the landscape). We also saw Vellums which are like a gully - if the northern celts climbed the ditch and the wall and got to the other side, they could be ambushed by the Romans in a second and third line of ditches.

As we saw less wall today, we spent more time looking at churches (one pictured is a wonderful 11th century Abbey and later a 12 and 13th century church - we stayed (just across the graveyard) at the old Abbey last night. The other pictures (wheat in the foreground) are of our entry to Carlisle, a gorgeous town only 25km from the east coast of England - and the place our journey ends!