Day 4: Winshields to Banks

The night at the B&B was very comfortable. For the record, and the satisfaction of the group, the bed was big enough that Justin and I never needed to touch during the night. I woke up a few times at night, but was able to go back to sleep. Other than the uncomfortably hard bed, there was no major problem. It was nice to wake up and take a second shower (I had taken one the previous night) before pulling our things together and heading to the campsite for the big group photo. We were also supposed to help pack up the tents while the slower walkers got a head start.

Justin and I walked to the campsite because it was too early for breakfast at the Inn. We helped take down the tents. As I was eating my cornflakes, I realized I didn’t have my camera with me. I asked Dan’s wife, Kerry if she would drive me back to the Inn to see if I had left it on the counter there as I was paying the bill. We went there and after searching for it in my room, I discovered it had slid halfway under the covers on the bed. Luckily the camera was rescued.

Today’s walk also spanned some spectacular vistas. One of the things I think I was a little unprepared for on this trip was the fact that it isn’t just a walk, but for a good part, it is a climb. There are numerous hills and vales that we have to cross. Over many days, we’re spending almost all day climbing slopes (some of which are astonishingly steep) and slowly climbing down the steep slopes on the other side. The amount of miles we cover each day I think grossly misrepresents the effort we put into walking each day. The uphills and downhills are quite taxing. But, we’re often rewarded at the top of hills with incredible views of the English countryside. We also continue to walk along impressively preserved sections of the wall. It is astonishing that so much still remains almost 2000 years after it was built. Today, we passed the ruins of a castle that was built in 1359. The castle was mostly built with stones taken from Hadrian’s Wall. Think of this. In the 14th century (medieval and ancient by almost any standard), people would have considered the wall ancient because it was built almost 1200 years before they existed. To think we can even see a structure that is so old is quite enthralling. And to see so much of it as we walk along is amazing.

In terms of leg injury, my exceptionally painful left foot magically healed itself. I have no explanation. Today, that left foot felt completely pain-free. I could feel the usual twinges in the first hour of walking, but by lunch time, I could feel nothing. I mean absolutely nothing – not even mild discomfort. But then again, it is quite possible that my threshold of pain has changed quite a bit during this walk. In Spinal Tap terms, I think I may have reached 11 on the pain scale. Mild discomfort today may have been described as “unbearable pain” yesterday. Unfortunately, my *right* foot started acting up. I had a blister on my little toe on the right foot and it was hurting quite a bit during the walking today. Basically, every step I took, I was stepping on the blister with the toe right next to the little toe. When I got to our hostel in Banks, I reluctantly peeled off my socks to find that the left foot blisters were raw but not unbearable. However, the bottom of the little toe on the right had swollen to well over twice its size. There was a massive “bubble” at the bottom of the toe that had spread and was under the toe next to it. In true Rambo style, I pulled out my travel sewing kit and prepared to punch a little hole in it to drain the fluid. One of the other people in the room, came to me and suggested that I instead use the nail clippers to cut two large holes in the blister to drain it. He explained that tiny pinpricks would quickly heal and refill, while larger holes would ensure that the wound remained fluid free, His explanation made sense to me and I painfully cut a couple of holes in the blister and drained it. I put some Neosporin on it and bandaged it for a short while (since I had to go to dinner) with the plan of leaving it uncovered during the night so it gets less raw.

Another discovery during this walk is the power of a hot shower. Almost all of us come into our destinations limping and aching all over. I was hurting quite a bit (like everyone else). In addition to the blister, my left knee, hips (where the backpack rests all day), shoulders (the chafing from the shoulder straps), and the left arm (from the effort of using the walking stick), were all aching. However, there’s something magically therapeutic about taking a steaming hot shower and changing into clean clothes. I immediately felt better and headed to the pub across the street for dinner.

After a pint of the local brew (the starting point in any pub), I asked some of my friends along on the walk what the most “English” item on the menu was. I wanted the full experience. They said that the “Cumberland Sausage” was quite a local item and I ordered it along with the “Bread & Butter Pudding.” It was exceptionally good. Despite generally not being fond of sausage, I must say the Cumberland sausage with mashed potatoes and peas was excellent. It was spicy and tasty. It just goes to show the advantages of constantly trying something new with a genuinely open mind. I didn’t even think I would like the sausage, but I was determined to find every single opportunity to try something new and local on the visit. I hate the idea of traveling and eating, say, at MacDonald’s. It really helps to have some locals recommend something because I almost certainly would not have chosen anything called “Cumberland Sausage” and “Bread & Butter Pudding” if I had been on my own, given that the menu had numerous other choices that were unique, but closer to my comfort zone. I had another couple of pints before calling it quits and heading back to the room to type this up.

Tomorrow is another long day of walking that will end in Carlisle – the penultimate stop on our walk. I am encouraged and quite sure I can walk through the blistered feet. I don’t think I’ll ever do this walk again and that makes it a worthwhile experience. There are ways of enjoying Hadrian’s Wall by doing day trips and doing one-day walks along the wall. The walking coast-to-coast is unnecessarily painful and to me, that validates the core reason for doing this – the charity. While it is an unforgettable experience, it is a lot more than a holiday to look at 2000-year-old stones piled up in a few spots. It is a test of endurance and motivation and I’m secretly glad it has not been an easy stroll in the English countryside. I have also managed so far to stick to my personal goal of ending each evening in a pub with some local brews down my throat. They have almost all been tasty and worth the crazy price (about GBP 3 a pint). These folks certainly know how to make a good ale.

Day 3: Walwick to Winshields

Today was probably the highlight of the trip so far. After a relatively miserable night at the Bunk Barn, I needed a boost. I woke up and took a shower. Things started to go wrong right there. Remember, the showers are two buildings away from the bunk barn. So, I gathered up everything, borrowed Phil’s slippers and walked over to the showers. This time, I was smart enough to take the right most shower stall which I had heard was the one that worked best. I was half-way through my shower when I realized I had forgotten to bring my towel. Not sure what to do, I was happy when someone walked in to use the toilets (these were all in one small messy room – the five stalls were divided into two toilets and three showers). I yelled out asking who it was and hear “It’s Ian.” I begged Ian to go back to the bunk barn and bring me my towel, which he kindly did.

Then, I went back to the bunk barn and took my time packing up. I was very worried about my foot and so I used Phil’s athletic tape to bind up my left foot quite tight. The tape was very sticky and I was worried about its impact on my foot, but I had no choice. After a while, Phil asked me if I had had breakfast and I said no. Still wrapping up my things, I walked over to the main house and asked for breakfast. The lady looked startled and said that she had been told we were all done. I told her there were still six or so of us in the barn who needed breakfast and this set of a panic in the kitchen. They said they needed to go get more supplies and there was a little shouting back and forth between the people in the kitchen. Seeing what I had set off, I told her I would just make sure that the others in the barn needed breakfast. I ran back to barn and discovered to my horror that I was the only one who still had not had breakfast. I went back and let them know and there was a sigh of relief. They asked me what I wanted and I said, “anything.” “You don’t want a full English breakfast, do you?” she asked in a voice that made it clear that she was hoping my answer was no. I took the hint and asked for two fried eggs and toast along with some orange juice and coffee. As I was enjoying this breakfast, she stepped in and informed me that the last group was actually waiting for me outside and I needed to hurry up. I gulped down the last of the breakfast, filled up my Camelbak and headed out to join the last group to leave the Barn.

I had promised Phil that I would walk slower today in exchange for borrowing his slippers for my shower. I also assumed I would walk slower because of my injury. Also, today was supposed to be the day we would see more of the actual wall, something we have seen very little of so far. Both of us wanted someone who would take photos of us with the segments of the wall we’d see today.

It was barely fifteen minutes into our walk that I realized it was going to be hard. I was walking slower, but Phil was much slower. The truth is that it is very hard to walk slower than your natural pace. Especially since I was in pain and wanted to keep a steady gait going, I found it difficult to constantly stop and encourage Phil to move faster. So, I finally gave up and tried to walk at my normal pace. It didn’t take long for me to leave Phil far behind. The pain was bad but nothing like yesterday. I just kept going and discovered that if I planted my left foot on a rightward-sloping slope in such a way that it landed at an angle, the pain was much less. I tried to do this whenever I could. I also had borrowed Archie’s walking stick and that helped a great deal. I am convinced that it is going to result in significant shoulder aches tomorrow though, since I am offloading a lot of weight on the stick now. If I said today was painless, I’d be lying. But, it certainly was not as excruciating as yesterday. I’d call it extreme discomfort. At one point in the afternoon, I felt a sharp pain in the foot and it almost immediately dissipated. The pain in the foot seemed to lessen considerably. Again, it isn’t painless, but it certainly seemed to drop. Maybe I strained the tendon back into its spot or something. The rest of the walk was only under moderate discomfort.

One problem was that the bandage I had tied this morning was cutting into my foot at the back. I had discovered this problem in the morning and used my nail clippers to slightly relieve the stress in the back by cutting part of it off right behind the heel. When I stopped for lunch, I took off my left shoe and sock as I could feel something that seemed like a blister. I couldn’t see anything and because the plaster was not feeling very good, I decided to take it off. Big mistake. There were about three blisters under the plaster. One on the left side of the foot, a small one on the right side of the foot and a fairly nig one in the center. When I peeled the bandage off, it took a chunk of skin along with it. I poured a bunch of Gold Bond foot powder on the open blisters and put my socks back on and kept going. I did have two more ibuprofen with lunch (so I am now operating regularly on 6 a day) and I was surprised at how little trouble I had the rest of the walk. Later I found I have another rather filled up blister under the little toe on my right foot.

And the scenery today was spectacular. We walked through woods, through sweeping fields of pasture, and along steep cliffs. We even got to walk on the wall during one small part (the only portion where you can actually walk on the wall). The terrain was very rough. There were many exceptionally steep parts both going up and down. It seemed like we were going up and down all the time, but we must have been trending up as we passed the highest point of the wall during the climb. It’s all downhill from here! We really had spectacular scenery almost throughout the day today. Plus, we got to walk along the wall most of the way. It was also a significantly shorter walk than yesterday and so I was very happy.

As we walked towards the “Twice Brewed Pub” at the end of our walk today, I was chatting with one of the walkers, Michael. We joked about trying to beat each other to the pub because we had found out that they had some rooms to rent. Given our miserable experience last night, we both were not looking forward to another night in a tent on the floor or in a bunk barn. We went in to the pub and I tried a pint of a local brew. Then, I asked one of the barmaids if they had a room available. “We have one double,” she said. “How much?” I asked, ready to pay up to about fifty quid (see, I’m adopting English slang!) for a comfortable room for the night. “82 pounds,” she said. As I was debating this, Justin, one of the other walkers came up behind me and said that he would really be interested in the room if I would share it with him. Since I had already spoken to Michael (and there was only one room), I wasn’t sure. Finally, Michael backed out and said Justin could have the room. We both agreed to share it. It was only later, when we were sitting at the pub when one of the people mentioned, “You know, a double means one bed, don’t you?” “Huh, how can a ‘double’ mean one bed? Then why is it a ‘double’?” I asked, thinking they were joking? “A room with two beds is called a twin. A room with one double bed is a double,” they said. I went to the room and checked, and sure enough, it did have only one bed. By this time, I was too vested in this comfortable room with an attached bathroom and the prospect of being in a tent at the campsite looked even less appealing. I looked at Justin and we agreed that we’d manage. Of course, the jokes started almost immediately. I heard all about big spoon, little spoon, head-to-toe, Velcro, and all kinds of other lewd things from the group. It was all just envy, of course!

Not only is the room comfortable, but it has wi-fi, which allows me to catch up on the blog posts. I’ll try and add a few photos today. But more will come later.