It is almost eerie how I jinxed everything by speaking too soon. Remember what I said yesterday about having walked all the way with no rain? Well, at least we can take that record off the list.
I woke up and looked out of the window to find a slow, steady rain. Initially, I was mildly happy that I got to use the “backpack rain poncho” that I had bought for the trip. So, I got ready and lugged the backpack and pulled on the rain poncho. There were several reasons that my enthusiasm for the rain faded. First, it brought on a laughing fit from the others in the group as it made me look like a hunchback. It is the kind of poncho that covers both you and the backpack. You can see in the pictures that I look hunched over because of the design of the poncho. Second, the day was warm and there was no sign of the strong wind that blew in our faces all week as we walked. The poncho trapped all the heat generated by the body while walking under it and I was sweating more than usual and was also more uncomfortable than usual. Third, while I thought it may be nice to experience some true English weather during the trip, it soon got frustrating. We walked for hours in a variety of forms of rain. It went from a light drizzle to a steady rain to a driving downpour with gusts of wind. We were soon soaked to the skin (I was less soaked than many others), and there was nothing fun about walking in the rain.
All I did was put my head down and walk steadily to get to the end. The unpleasant weather and lack of any particularly scenic spots meant that I had no urge to stop for pictures and simply wanted to get out of the rain as soon as possible. I am so happy that we only had to experience this weather on the last day. A good part of the walking was along the road and the path was relatively flat. The few points where we had to climb up and down and through the woods, the path was slick and slippery. While coming down one particularly steep set of wooden steps along a river, I slipped and landed hard on my bottom. Remember, I was one of the few people in the group carrying my full backpack. Since the others were going back to Carlisle for the night, they had only but the bare minimum in their packs. I slid down a few of the steps on my bottom and sat there for a second praying that I hadn’t hurt anything too bad. Luckily everything seemed to be in order and it was only the next day that I noticed a lump on my bottom where I had landed – and it was quite sore. With the incredible number and steepness of the climbs we had to do on days three and four, it would have been sheer hell in the rain.Because of the weather and lack of scenery, we made great time. I was also one of the first people to leave in the morning since I had already bought my breakfast and lunch for the day the previous night. By 9 AM, I was on the trail.
But, you never know how long the path for the day is or when we’re going to get to the destination. While the trail is well marked, the distances are not. Even the books that the group members had all seemed to give slightly different distances from place to place on the path. We were supposed to be doing a little over fifteen miles today. With the horrible rain in my face, I really don’t think you can even imagine my delight and sense of achievement when, at about 1:30 PM, I came across a sign that said “Bowness-on-Solway.” I stopped an old man walking along the kroad and asked him to take a picture of me in the front of the sign. He was happy to do so and then wanted to talk for a while. He also said he couldn’t really see well and that he would point the camera at me and click and I should check whether it was okay. He took his time and you can see that there was water on the lens.
I was so delighted to be at our destination after six days of walking that I slowed down and waited for Ed (one of the walkers in our group) to catch up and we took numerous photos of each other at every sign that indicated the end of the Hadrian Wall Path. It really was fantastic to get to the end of this incredible adventure.I have learned so many things along this walk that I’ll probably be blogging about it for days to come, if I can find the time when I get back home.
I learned that I actually can manage with almost no Internet access for a week. I did manage to get a few rare connections to quickly cut-and-paste my notes into the blog, but I didn’t really get to check and respond to my work email much. The world hasn’t ended (as far as I know) and it’s actually reassuring in a way to know how expendable I am.
I learned about the amazing recuperative powers of the human body. Almost all of us were in some degree of pain at the end of each day. You could see how most of us walked with noticeable limps and groaned in agony every time we had to get up from our chairs or move in any direction. Still, by the time the next morning rolled around, we strapped on our boots and marched out for another long day of walking/climbing. I would go from serious pain the previous night to being able to set a steady walking pace along winding and climbing paths the next morning. I can’t imagine how hard the body must have worked overnight to repair me enough to allow me to do that. To be able to put yourselves through this kind of punishment and emerge unscathed is a testament to the power of nature and evolution in developing this fabulous machine we call the body.
Meeting Neil Salmon and talking about how his wife woke up one morning and found their perfectly healthy three-year-old son dead in bed taught me how it is possible to turn even the most horrific tragedy into something positive and inspiring. It would have been perfectly forgiveable for them to turn inward in their grief and curI into a metaphorical ball. Instead, they decided to set up the charity to help others who have gone through the same pain. The goal is simply to help parents who have to bury a child – something most parents don’t plan for. I fervently hope that I have the same courage and character to take difficult circumstances and turn them into something positive. While some people may lash out in anger at God and at the world around them when bad things happen to them, I am inspired by this charity to look on the positive side of things and see how I can turn the situation into one of opportunity and service.I have learned that pain is mostly psychological. Given the healing powers of the human body, we can probably withstand a lot more pain and extended discomfort than we give ourselves credit for. When left with little choice, we will endure and we don’t get to experience anything close to the limits of our capabilities because we always take the easy way out when it is presented to us. I think I mentioned that when I was hurting on Day 2, if someone had offered to get me a taxi to the destination of the night, I would have jumped on the chance. And it may not have been a bad decision. All I’m saying is that I have learned that we can do more and handle more than we think we can. I don’t think I would have the sense of achievement I feel now if I had skipped a step in the walk. Unless we try and do things that we feel we cannot do, we’ll never know what we can do. Most of you know that I am not into exercising and working out. Still, this walk has taught me that I have more stamina than I give myself credit for. There were a few people on the walk who were significantly bigger than I am and at least visually in a much poorer state of fitness. Yet, I admired the way that they hung in there and walked all the way with the rest of us and were mostly cheerful and friendly at the end of each day. Even now, I realize that they have got to be hurting more than me. It is quite amazing that some of the walkers even attempted this strenuous walk given their physical shape. But they did and they ought to feel prouder of themselves than I do. We just have to try things we think are beyond ourselves.
I got a great lesson in simple little ways that you can make a tiring walk like this fun. All along the walk, we encountered hundreds of "kissing gates." These gates (see photo on the left) separate the different fields we walked through along the path. They keep the grazing cattle in their pasture and prevent them from wandering into neighboring fields. They also slowed us down as only one person can pass through the gate at a time. You swing the gate, walk through one side, move out of the way, swing the gate to the other side, then walk across. We encountered literally hundreds of these gates. Apparently, these were called "kissing gates" because couples holding 
hands are forced to let go to walk through the gate. So, according to tradition, when the couple is on either side of the gate, they kiss. One of the walking couples, Neil and Claire, decided to kiss at every single one of these gates. Did I mention we went through hundreds? They kissed at every single one except one. Unaware of the tradition or their plan, I walked in between Neil and Claire at one gate and prevented them from kissing. Yes, I did feel bad about it when I found out later. While most of us complained about sore feet, I didn't hear a word of complaint from them about their sore lips!Finally, I learned that a hot shower can work miracles. We were sweaty, stinky and miserable at the end of each day. All it took was a hot shower to make me put my boots back on and head to the pub for a pint or two. Oh yes, and the English do make the best ales. Make sure you only go for hand-pulled ales in any pub you visit.
We ended the walk at the King’s Arms pub in Bowness. We applauded each person as they walked through the doors during the afternoon. We drank beer (Cockerhoop Ale was my choice of the evening). We played pool. We exchanged email addresses. And I could tell we all were basking in the sense of achievement at having reached the end of the wall path. From sea to shining sea. We had walked in six days from the North Sea to the Irish sea. It is not something I will do again, but I am so glad I did it. I hope to be back and do day trips along the best parts of the wall, but I’m done with coast-to-coast walking.Unless someone finds me a good reason to do so.
