UKC

Hello all and thank you in advance again!  

I am planning to do Hadrians wall over four days, west to east, over the jubilee, camping, solo.  Kit list as below:

-  Vango F10 Project Hydrogen tent

-  Rab Mythic Ultra 180 sleeping bag

-  Innovate Roclite GTX 315 

-  Usual base layer, mid layer goretex

I am coming in at about 5lbs with bag (no water added yet) so fairly pleased.

I only have 3 food rations ATM, I am planning to eat where ever I can along the way, then use rations only when needed (mid section?) so that I can travel light and move quickly.

Does anyone have any general tips for me?  Thank you - this forum has been really useful in the past so thanks for any responses - greatly received

Adam

Personally I'd take longer over it and savour the opportunity of walking along a world heritage site and one of the most extraordinary archaeological sites in the world. But then I'm a Roman military historian and may be a tad biased. 

I'd strongly recommend spending a bit of time at Birdoswald, and also at Housesteads and Vindolanda if you're able to - though appreciate that squeezing that and the walk into the 4 day BH weekend would be a tough ask.

Twice Brewed Inn is a great stop-off a few hundred metres south of the Wall at Peel Gap (where that tree from Robin Hood Prince of Thieves is).

Enjoy the trip!

The section of river east of the bridge at Chollerford is great for swimming, should you want too.  You’ll probably be ready for it by then.  The loughs in the mid section have always had too many midges for me to go in.

Lots of opportunities to use something like a LifeStraw to reduce weight of water carried.  Probably too early in the year but one can find some big puffballs around sewing shields.

If you’re coming from the southlands, keep in mind it’s not going to be very dark at night; you can probably hike till 10 pm without a torch.  Not so good for sleeping out for me!

I second vindolanda - the stuff on show really hits home that the Romans were people much like us in a way the other sites don’t, IMO.

I can echo wintertree's comment about the light. I was camping on Whernside last night, so still a fair way south of where you'll be, and it was still light enough to read a book at 10pm. An eye mask (or just use a buff) could be a real help.

Don't underestimate how much height is gained then immediately lost during the middle (read: best) section between Gilsland and Chollerford. None of the climbs are big, but can be surprisingly steep. 

Have a good trip.

I've made a schoolboy error - it's 5 kilos not pounds!  I am going to need to shave some off tonight, that's 11 pounds which will soon take it's toll!

Difficult to cut though, I've already tried to get rid of what I can!

thanks for all the tips so far

I walked the trail last week and had a lovely time. It would be sad to rush; six days was good.

In addition to the sites already mentioned, Chesters (at Chollerford) is excellent; once upon a time in 1840 John Craven, at the big house nearby, started digging up the humps in his meadow and found some wonderful surprises. He ended up buying a lot of the land on which the Wall stands and did a huge amount to preserve it for us.

The wall itself is like a big bouncy dog running along the path; often it disappears, and then suddenly and unexpectedly returns to follow you for a bit, then off it goes again.

Gosh you would be a good person to walk the trail with! I did it last week with another classics graduate and we had a lot of fun remembering just how much Roman history we had forgotten.

Did Boris' announcement confuse you?

5kg is still pretty good. I've rarely manage to pack this light (excluding water). I think 7kg with water is pretty good.

If you're not tick mad, and happy to enjoy rather than mark the walk off a list then trim the walk.  4 Days will mean rushing and I echo sentiments re: taking your time.  The Western coast through Carlisle is a bit dull.  Start just east of Carlisle airport at Wall Head saving 16 miles (a days walking?).  Also feel free to chop much of the Eastern end off after Chollerford (saving 26 miles) or just cop out before the big smoke.  You won't get the stamped bit of paper, but you will have way better memories.

5kg is less than 1 stone in weight (about 6kg). How's the beer belly?

I seem to remember you can visit Housesteads roman fort with either a nat Trust card or an English heritage due to the mixed land ownership so if your have either ...

And I'm sure you know about the AD122 bus (see what they did there?) that runs along the wall, but just in case: https://hadrianswallcountry.co.uk/travel/bus

I suspect it would be quite a slow transit with me!!

I'm KCL BA 1984-88 and UCL PhD 88-93. Where did you study? :-D

(apologies everyone else for the digression)

Oxford, 80-84. Then jumped ship and became a boring old lawyer BUT I'm so glad my degree was classics not law. Many years later I taught my daughter both Latin and Greek, at her request, and she is now a classics teacher!

During lockdown I did some online archaeology courses and was fascinated to learn how much the science has romped on in the last 40 years. It was cool to see Birdoswald last week knowing how much has been discovered about the fort and the surrounding land through zappy whizzy radio stuff without any digging.

A kilo up or down will make no noticeable difference and a 5kg bag is already pretty light.

Bag weight will be a law of diminishing returns.   You are either fit enough or you aren't. Most important will be to allow yourself time each day with sensible pacing and rests and get nutrition right.

Now trying to think of some slightly older contemporaries who studied Greats!

I really like the way I can combine hill walking with my job - places like Burnswark near Lockerbie and Ardoch near Stirling where there are stunning Roman forst are very convenient 'research stop-offs' on the way to the hills!

^^This

Hadrians wall at 20 miles per day is pretty hard going; 1kg (2.2lbs) isnt going to make much difference. The weather is looking good for it though; not warm, but dry.

thank both.  I have a tendency to push things early doors so I think your advice on around pacing is spot on. 

Final pack has now been done.  I've dropped a couple of bits and added one or two.  Final weight is coming in at 4.7 kilos!

Thank you all the inputs, this forum is truly great for that.  Wish me luck!  Will report back after the jubilee. 

I'm sure you'll be fine doing it in 4 days, just take it steady and have long days, generally not much point in getting to your next campsite too early.

We did it in the summer of 2017 over 5 days with an 11 year old and 3.5 year old. We carried the 3.5 year old for a lot of it but the 11 year old walked the whole way. We used a pack horse service to take our heaviest bag since we had two tents and the 3.5 year old to carry.

If you feel like a rest day then phone up one of the pack horse places that take your luggage for you, not having to take all your stuff on the walk will feel like a day off! 

[Edit] Enjoy your walk!

Here is the update post trip as promised.  So, I did it in 3 days, please see Strava below for efforts (feel free to add me as well, always interested in seeing where others get too!):

https://www.strava.com/athletes/6029968

Some tips for others if they read this thread in future:

-  take more than 3 days!  I do enjoy endurance and testing myself, however the last day wasn't particurarly enjoyable and feet very sore.  Last 9 miles were very tough!  

-  if doing again, i would do east to west.  The trip through Newcastle and into built up areas is on concrete which wasn't great for the feet

- middle section is amazing

- enjoy the people on the walk, some great conversation to be had and a shared sense of purpose

-  i carried very light and picked up food on the way.  honesty boxes were abundant on my first day, however had completely dried up second and third.  So be conscious of this and make sure you have a guide book pointing out nearby cafe's etc for nutrition

- pack light as poss.  some people on the walk had 25kg!  far too much IMO and I could see they were struggling

hope that is of interest to some anyhow! 

thanks, adam