It’s going to take some time to get used to being so far north. It was light until almost 10 last night and fully bright by 4:30 this morning. It is causing strange things to happen and it’s frightening me. Bunny was awake before the alarm and told me to start breakfast—it was before 6:15. If Sassy is affected in the same way, prepare for the Apocalypse.
A few people went by and noticed our tent. It was hard to miss it since we were less than 5’ off trail and in an open field. The majority of comments we heard were “so nice” and “how fun”. I’m sure when they got down the hill in either direction it was “it had to be Americans.”
Our tent did not see the sky at 8a, and it was dripping water off the fly when we woke up. We have already got our new system down to under an hour and a half. In all fairness, we didn’t have to filter water or dig holes. I don’t mean to brag, but I can control my bowels if I know I’m passing porcelain anytime within the next 8 hours.
We had a goal of making it to The Milbury’s by noon so we could explore the deep well and meet Bear and Sassy for lunch. It was almost 6 miles from where we camped. We weren’t sure how Bunny’s new hip was going to hold up. I’m pretty sure the new hip will hold up fine. I’m more worried about the old body surrounding it. To both of our surprise, we did really well. By 10, we only had a mile and a half to go.
As we crossed a road, we saw a sign for a new cafe at Holden’s Farm now open. This is one thing I love about hiking in Europe. It’s not wild camping at all. On the plus side, it’s not unusual to run by a few cafes and a couple of pubs on any given day. Of course, we stopped in for a cappuccino and a slice of lemon drizzle.
Even with our coffee break, we made it to Milbury’s by 11. The last time we came to England, we only hiked the Yorkshire Dales Hi Way and it was late in the season. We didn’t get going early because of the cold. With today’s start before 8, we’ve discovered something we had already gotten a hint of in London—lunch places in England don’t open until noon.
We let B&S know we were pushing on and we’d try to catch up with them tomorrow. They’ve got another B &B a bit off the trail tonight so if we had met them for lunch, we would have only hiked with them for a couple of miles. We set our sites on Meon Springs after lunch. It was much further than we thought we’d get today, so we hadn’t considered it.
I said we weren’t bringing any food with us on this trip. That explains why I’ve got about 10# of food in my pack. We still weren’t hungry and Guthook (my bad, FarOut) said there was a nice pub in Exton in another 3 1/2 miles. By then we should be ready to eat.
Either we’re in better shape than we thought, or this is easy hiking. We made it to the Shoe by 12:30. There was only one table left and the hostess let us have it on the condition that we would be out in time for their second seating at 2. Wolfing down food has never been a problem for me.
Bunny and I were hungry, but decided to split a lunch so that we could splurge and have a dessert as well. Not like me, but my hiker appetite won’t kick in until at least 2 weeks on the trail. Plus, I feel so embarrassed to have such a gut on me. The English take one look at us and start talking about American “things”. I will not let my hiker appetite take control until the English start asking me if I’m Canadian.
There was only 4 miles left after lunch. We thought we’d be in camp and set up before 5. We would have been, if…I had listened to my wife. We came upon an old rail to trail path shortly after I had checked the map and saw we had a hard right turn. We came up on the trail and Bunny tried to get me to go a different direction than I had already decided was right. I started mansplaining to her that we had to go down the rail bed.
About 10 minutes down the trail, I decided to check how much further until our next turn. We weren’t on the path. I said we’ve got to turn around, but Bunny wanted to continue on thinking the trail would eventually rejoin the hiking path. 1) We were off the map and had no map which showed this trail. 2) Even if this trail did rejoin, we had to follow signs. If we missed one sign, we’d have no idea where we were. 3) I was pissed that I had to say “you were right” to get her to turn around.
We had seen a sign for Winchester Hill as another alternate route for us to follow, but I had no idea what Winchester Hill was and we had no map showing it. We stuck to the old trail. We got to a point on the trail with a sign explaining that Winchester Hill was the site of an Iron Age hill fort that provided 360 degree views. On a clear day, it’s possible to see the Aisle of Wight. It was a clear day today.
I wanted to drop packs and climb up the face where the sign was. Bunny was willing to pass up this once in a lifetime opportunity to see a field on top of a mountain filled with sheep. I dropped my pack and climbed up the half mile, one way to the top. The views were as promised.
When I got back down, Bunny was ready to hike. She had wanted to leave me because I took so long. She took off while I got my pack on. A few minutes later we came to a turn in the trail which took us right back to where I had climbed on my side trip. I’d ended up wasting another half hour. We made it to Meon Springs a bit before 6.
My impetuousness had cost us almost an hour and made Bunny hike an extra 0.8 miles (and me 1.8, but that doesn’t count). We are the only people in camp tonight. There aren’t showers as we had hoped, but there is electricity, running water, and snacks. Better yet, we have a picnic table and flushing toilets. England has good things.
EFG