17 miles/28 km

Total miles: 222 miles/357 km

Our recent good run with the weather came to an abrupt halt today. There are unfortunately several weather systems tracking in from the Atlantic over the next few days so we may be in for some poor weather up to the finish of our hike. Today started off with pouring rain so getting out of the warm, dry sleeping bag knowing you’re about to get soaked was hard work. There was also a guy in the tent next to me who was quite ill, hacking his guts up and sneezing everywhere and looked a high chance for COVID so we were keen to get going.

Once on the way, steady rain and low cloud persisted as we made our way back up onto the Wall. The first point we reached was the famed Sycamore Gap which was featured in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. It was really quite spectacular and I hope nothing ever happens to that tree.

After leaving Sycamore Gap, the Wall climbed steeply and then gave us a beautiful view of Crag Lough. Apparently there are usually swans on the water but, with the weather, even they appeared to be hiding.

The trail then sadly left Hadrian’s Wall and began winding northwards towards the border forests. It was fun to look back and see the Wall from another perspective – it would have been very formidable at its peak and it wasn’t hard to see why the Romans had picked this area to build defences.

Our route from here was supposed to be through the extensive conifer plantations stretching northwards but there was a large diversion in place which added approximately 8km to the day. A huge storm had gone through and felled a lot of trees causing damage to the plantations and trail. The official diversion was ridiculously long and out of the way so we followed some more direct forestry roads and, after a while, exited the conifer forests back onto the trail having only added 2-3km to the day.

From here, the trail transitioned from some very boggy moorland to general farmland. Along the way, we got some very wet feet with Ben sinking calf deep in peat at one point. We were grateful to get past this section and get onto some easier walking.

We made quicker progress now and it was just a question of keeping going and avoiding the on-off showers which were passing by. After a climb up some steep crags, we then descended across some moorland and were eventually back down to level ground. There was a bit of road walking into Bellingham but we were soon at our accommodation for the evening at The Cheviot Hotel.

After camping in the rain in a farmer’s field last night, this place was luxury – comfy bed, flat screen TV, a bath, Nespresso machine. Ahhh, all’s well that ends well.

We’ve now completed 222 miles or just over 350km of the Pennine Way. Tomorrow, we reach the tiny village of Byrness before tackling the Cheviots and finally reaching Kirk Yetholm.