Hadrian's Wall Walk: Day Two.

Day two was always predicted to be the most challenging. Also the most scenic, and the most clearly all about the wall.

We started out with a full team but only 8 of us managed to complete the full distance, a very hilly 26 miles. Old injuries started to manifest themselves for people as the pounding of feet on earth and rock persisted – hips, ankles, feet, toes and knees.

Although day one had only left us with a brief glimpse of The Wall, we never left it on day two. The walk started off reasonably gently, following rolling hills through farmland, with energy still in the tank to stop for an occasional posed shot.

It seemed to be built thicker in lower areas where there were fewer natural defenses.

Group dynamics sorted themselves out as the morning progressed. Those who were less confident in their ability tended to want to be pace setters early on, pushing themselves forward at the front of the group. My height and shape meant I was fortunate enough to be able to cruise along at the back with a colleague who has a lot of hiking experience, bringing up the rear and calling ahead to the leaders if the group started to split up too much.

As the only one with a video camera, I was also the default videographer, sporadically jumping to the front to capture the (variable) expressions on peoples’ faces. I didn’t make many friends from this endeavour.

Not being one to feel guilty about indulging in sugary food, it was nevertheless good to know that I was burning up all the calories I was ingesting. It’s amazing that I still have teeth left though.

After 10 miles or so we hit the ‘real’ hills. Which timed out nicely with the onset of heavy rain.

The limestone slabs were steep and like wet soap in places as the rain came down. There were some slips and slides, but those who went down were fortunate enough not to damage anything.

Once down, it wasn’t always easy to get back up, but the benefits of walking poles came into their own.

The RAF rescue helicopter was never too far away, which was comforting in its own way.

There were forts every mile built at the same time as the wall (122 AD), and castles from a different millennium entirely (1200 AD)

You always know you are at the highest point in an area when walking in England as ‘trig points' (the stone obelisk, used for surveying) are in evidence:

The wild scenery was the star of the day for me. In some places we were walking on the top of the wall itself, not great if you suffer from vertigo, but the views were memorable.

For the second day the sun disappeared behind us as we marched on, all struggling in different ways with the challenge. Some had very specific injuries but mind over matter came into play and they pushed on through.

The last four or five miles were in darkness as we came down from the hills, a collection of head torch lights bobbing expectantly along the road in anticipation of first sight of the waiting bus.

Stats:

26 miles

53,185 steps

2165 kcal