Saturday, July 5, 2014

HADRIAN's WALL: day 6--our first really nasty weather

After saying our heart-felt and reluctant fair wells to our dear friends (32 folks in all) on the KNOX 500 tour we drove back to our last pick up point and recommenced our route march at just after midday. 
It was blustery with pretty strong winds from the west but no rain... Yet. Giles tried using his rain jacket as a sail.
The livestock seemed to know what was coming...
We stopped at the Robin Hood pub, more like a museum that serves food and drink, and Giles wanted (and needed) hot chocolate and a plate of chips.
Then it started, drizzle at first that turned to drenching rain, no let up
Giles remained in remarkably good spirits, but not long after commenting that he was disappointed not to have seen highland cattle in Scotland on the KNOX 500 tour, we ran into these big bruisers
And it rained harder, mud on our boots, and it got colder. The weather was slowing us down, and I began seriously to wonder if we could actually complete the 84 miles. We still had many miles to go, about 17 for our final day. Would my feet and old climbing injuries hold out? Could an 11year old keep up the grinding pace? And there was little evidence of Roman wall remaining... 

Our faithful support crew rescued us and took us off to a guest house, hot shower, and a good supper and bed. 17 miles to go for our last day. Could we do it?

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