Walking the Offa's Dyke Path
Day Eight: Trial by pain
Wales
is beautiful
The intrepid hikers set off on the first leg of the
northern section of the Offer's Dyke Path, 17 miles from Knighton to
Brompton. It rained all night and when the fab-four got up at 6:00 a.m. it
was still raining. The good news was by the time they were out walking on
the path it had stopped and was now only threatening to rain. In fact it
rained on them once the whole day; very good luck given summertime weather
in Wales. All four walked on through emerald green fields, past massive
mushrooms, purple lupines, and deep green ferns. Wales is a beautiful place
to walk.
The
intrepid hikers
Weeks before the team had set out to walk the path; Mary
fell and had broken a rib. In true form she ignored the discomfort and chose
to continue the walk. However, after three miles of hard hiking the pain
began to overwhelm her. Mary struggled down her last steep and slippery
hillside. Once at the road, at Seiley Hall, the very brave Mary decided she
could go no further. David left the walk too and escorted her home. Both of
them gave up a hike that they had been so looking forward to; everyone was
terribly sad about it. After a brief rest they bid farewell to all and sped
off in a taxi back to Knighton. Now only Julia and Ernest remained to master
the Offer's Dyke Path.
Mary
struggled down her last steep and slippery hillside
It was 12:30 p.m. and the remaining hikers had only
traveled three miles so they knew they must step on the gas or surfer the
punishment of walking in the dark. For the next 14 miles they charged up
hill and down dale. In fact they climbed a total of 2,654 feet that day and
descended the same before the walk was over. Going up was hard, but coming
down the steep, greasy, muddy descents was even more difficult; so much so
that Ernest fell many times into the black oozing mud; much to the
entertainment of Julia who somehow managed to avoid the ooze.
Farmhouse
accommodation
They finally arrived at their farmhouse accommodation at
7:30 p.m. tired, happy, and glad of all the spectacular scenery they had
seen. They were both so very pleased to know that Mary would be safe in her
bed that night, getting better and readying herself to walk with them again
soon. However, many miles of walking lay before them. Could they go on?
Would they complete the Offer's Dyke Path?
Join the intrepid hikers as they continue their adventure on the Offa's Dyke Path.