Bits and Pieces

Colors of the Hadrian's Wall Trail
Green with a touch of yellow (grass, trees, ferns, etc., etc., etc.)
Brown (mud)
Grey (sky and wall stones)
Red violet (foxglove and thistle blossoms)
Orange red (poppies)
Bright yellow (buttercups)
Periwinkle (Harebell and meadow cranes bell)

Flashes and impressions
Kathie’s cough

Turnstiles

Tetsu – “I kept up with Joan!”


Joan’s helmet and blue poncho hunchbacked over her backpack (isn't she cute in that helmet?)


Ladders up and over the wall - fifteen gazillion of them

Windburn – fanning my face every evening in the pub - no, it wasn't hot flashes!

Black-faced sheep

Hisako humming and waving to the sheep and cows

Good food and yet my saddle bags are gone!

Tips
• Take two pairs of low-cut boots – both well broken in. No high tops unless you really need the support!
• Go at your own pace - even on a 15 mile day. Take a break every so often – not just at lunch. Sit down at a milecastle, rest, and feel the place.
• If your time is limited, don’t do the whole wall. Start at Cholerford and go to Bowness.
• Consider going west to east. The wind will be at your back. The hazard of this direction, however, is that Newcastle isn’t as beautiful an ending as Bowness is.
• Carry maps from the B&Bs’ websites that’ll help you locate your lodging at the end of a long day. It’s no fun getting lost trying to find your room when your dogs are already dead.

(To see Kathie's smugmug photos, click here. Joan's are here. Trust me, you don't want to see mine - they're mostly blurry shots of cow poop.)