Glazing over DAY 3 [WALTON to GILSLAND/11 Miles] - Nude Hiking Day - we resume our journey as it takes us on an uphill Crag climb. [Crag: a steep or rugged cliff face]
DAY 4: GILSLAND TO ONCE BREWED/13.2 Miles/SUNNY
DAY 5: STEEL CRAG TO NEWBOROUGH/16.6 Miles/RAIN
We started Day 4 with with our daily detour of getting a little lost. :) Hey, we came across two older gentlemen who had also missed the upside down acorn sign, signaling Hadrian's Trail Path. Oh, have I mentioned this? The National Trail's sign is an acorn, see?
That's upside down right? If anyone knows the origin of this, please let us know, we've contemplated the upside-down-ness of the acorn for days. Is this correct? Is this an English thing? Have we been drawing these wrong since childhood? All the questions.
And shifting back to the story, if we had any doubts about our miles becoming harder, Walltown Crag was the moment our trek turned into hiking - steep ups and narrow downs, breathtaking views and whipping winds is the best way to sum up the past 2 days. The landscape of green pastures and farms, fields, lochs and small forests stretched on for miles. Mind you we had also passed into Northumberland National Park. We could see the crags lined-up ahead, with Hadrian's Wall atop as if a mohawk. They looked neverending. Where were the towns? Where were the people? We met a few fellow hikers but they were few. We had the whole of the country to ourselves. And that's what it felt like. While the wind was noisy, climbing the crags was peaceful. I'm not sure how to describe the feeling of calm, except to say, we were literally encompassed by the beauty of England drinking in the fresh cool air. We'd climb, we'd survey, we'd go back down and do it again on the next crag. Steel Rigg and the Sycamore Gap being two of my favorites parts. We were powered by the rhythmic steps moving us forward, or through the concentration of our fancy footwork going down the steep declines. Either way, we had not a care in the world but to get to where we were going and to enjoy the view. Maybe it was because the clouds seemed lower to the ground, and atop the crags we seemed closer to the sky, but in a way, the world was ours. I see why the Romans built a wall up here. I would too. Judge for yourself:
