Callis V - Day 4

Blisters. Ugly, and painful blisters. The previous day's trek had not fared the best for my feet. Walking for 26 miles was not something that I did on a regular basis. When I ran, my longest run had been 15 miles and that still was a lot. Going to sleep that night before I found that my legs were sore, the blisters came out, and I could feel the exhaustion sweep through my body. 

Let me tell you something about the way the sun sets and rises. In Northern England, being of a higher elevation than I had ever been previously, the sun in the summer sets very late, but that means that it also rises very early. When I went to sleep, the sun was shining according to my phone it didn't begin to set until 9.30 pm. The next morning, one would assume that the sun would come out around 6 if it is up that early. I set my alarm for 6.30am and dozed off. I woke up as the sun was rising; the skylights in my room letting the sun stream onto my face. I grabbed my phone to see how much time I could lay in bed before the alarm went off and I started back on my journey. 4.05am the clock read. I had two and a half hours left before my alarm went off. The sun rose at 4am, which to me who has never lived north of Oxford (which is about the same elevation as Maine in the USA), was something that I had never seen. I closed my eyes again, and before I knew it the alarm was going off. When I woke up I found that my legs weren't sore and I had plenty of energy. The only thing that hadn't healed miraculously overnight were the blisters.

After a quick breakfast and paying off the bill for the hotel I jumped back on the trail and made my way for the next stamp on my list: Birdoswald Fort. Along the trail is the occasional cobbled remains of the wall and the odd mile castle. There are some in the area that have great conservation efforts underway that allow archaeologists and historians to get a glimpse into the past history of the wall. I passed an old mile castle that had been converted into a barn at some point that had since crumbled and was just ruin. I was close to Birdoswald at that point and kept pace despite the blisters. I arrived at the fort within the next hour and went to stamp my book. Inside the stamping station was another stamp: The Sands Centre. A note posted on the box informed me that the Sands Centre was under maintenance and that the stamp was unavailable. It told me to stamp my book here if I would be passing through that way. I would be passing through so I stamped my book with the Sands Centre stamp. As I went to close up the stamp box, a couple of other hikers came up to collect their stamps. I told them about the extra stamp and asked them if they were doing a through hike. After chatting for a minute we got to the subject of where they were from; as it turns out, they lived in Oxford. Three Oxonians at one stamp box. As we chatted they invited me to walk with them as we were all headed for Carlisle. Then Ash and Stephen became my travel mates for the day. Ash is Stephen's dad, they and a friend had come to walk the wall to raise money for a breast cancer relief group called BUST. Their friend had not joined them today due to a foot injury from the previous day. So two they were, father and son. It made me wish that my dad could've been there with me trekking along Hadrian's Wall. I know that if he would have been able to get a plane across the pond and meet me there he would've in a heartbeat. If the times would've been different and there wouldn't have been a travel ban, I know that he would've been there with me each and every step of the way.

The three of us continued along the wall path sharing stories and talking about our experiences. It was nice to have people to walk with for this length of the path especially, After leaving Northumbria, the trail mainly traversed through private farmland. I learned several lessons from my new friends when trekking through the farmland, the first is to not come between a sheep and her young, according to Ash, they would charge if you did that. The key was to go around the sheep and the young, on either side, but to never go between them. Another lesson came at the roadside where the trail became a road that we had to walk along. The lesson there was to walk on the side of the oncoming cars, and that when a car came towards you to get over to the curb. Ash explained that this was considered road etiquette and that it made it safer for everyone involved. We carried on along the path enjoying the scenery and the company. After a bit, we arrived at a little town along the way where there was a stop with self-served refreshments and a picnic table to sit at and rest. I ate my lunch and Ash and Stephen bought some refreshments from the stand. After our lunch break, we continued on along the trail. Dodging around between road and trail we quickly made our way toward Carlisle. 

We arrived in Carlisle in the early afternoon, so early in fact that my hotel wasn't open for check-in. We went our separate ways and made plans to meet back up in the morning to finish the walk together. I waited outside as other wall walkers arrived before the owner. When the owner arrived I checked in, got cleaned up and after calling my family and chatting for a few, I decided to find a place to eat dinner. I found a small Greek restaurant a half-mile or so away, so I made a reservation and got ready to head for dinner. On my way out I asked the hostess if there was a room available for the next night. I had a reservation at a hotel at the end of the trail, but my train back to Oxford left from Carlisle and I would rather already be in the city in the morning when it left. She said she would check and get back to me. 

I left the hotel and made my way to the Greek restaurant I had made reservations for, along the way I was able to explore Carlisle a bit and see some history. The restaurant was an authentic Greek restaurant, with fresh food and greek treats. After I finished my main meal, I ordered a plate of baklava, the real reason I wanted Greek.

When I returned from the restaurant the hostess let me know that there wasn't a room free for tomorrow but she recommended another little B&B down the street from there. I called the owner and made a reservation for the following night. at £45 I couldn't complain especially considering it would save me time in getting into Carlisle for my train the following morning. After sorting those out, I resigned to my room and got some rest to prepare for my final day. 86/102

-TDB