England

Cotswold Way, Day 5 Haresfield to Dursley

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Day 5 of 8 is in the books and wow what a scorcher! We are in the middle of a heat wave here in England. I could never have guessed we would be up against 35+C temperatures! Too hot!

To beat the beat, we got our day started as soon as possible – skipping the included hot breaky from the Beacon Inn for a granola, fruit and yogurt option. We also got a ride from Jaguar Jenny (her name is Jenny and she drove, you guessed it, a Jaguar) back up to the trail head to save us a 2km CLIMB up a country lane that is not part of the Cotswold Way! Seems like a small distance but a climb like that in this heat takes time and energy we needed for the actual trail. Thanks again Jenny!

From there, we still had a climb though. The Path started with a forest climb up to our first high point of the day and great views! Which we immediately followed with a decline and another climb to the next one!

After that it was a lot of agricultural land walking – a corn field, wheat field, vineyard and pastures for the rest of the morning.

We stopped for ‘elevensies’ on a grassy, shaded spot in the town of Ebley. A chance to pop off the boots and socks to dry, get the feet up and enjoy some yummy snacks and good company.

At Eberley, we had a choice to make – a scenic route up and around the town with views across the hills OR an urban route through the little towns. The routes met up again in Pen Wood.

We maximized the experience and split 2 and 2! I had the pleasure of walking the scenic route and while I did not enjoy the burning hot, steep, long pastures we had to climb or the edge of the gully we had to walk … the views were pretty awesome!

The band was back together again in a couple hours in one of the highlights of the Way, Pen Wood, for our’twosies’ break. Then we started to make our way to our home for the night, Dursley.

But not before the Cotswold threw us another curve ball with a final, STEEP climb that near did my fear of heights right in! This pic does not do it justice – how steep and and how high the path is was so intimidating from the bottom. I could reach out and touch the hill as I slowly trudged my way up and may have resorted to a few very unattractive Gollum moments.

The reward was amazing though – great views and a long downhill trudge into Dursley where we found some delicious cold pints and a fantastic dinner at the King’s Head to end our day!

Brandé

Cotswold Way, Day 4 Birdlip to Haresfeild

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Day 4 of 8 of the Cotswold Way wrapped up yesterday at 23km (8.5hours) and it was one of those amazing yet full of personal challenging days on the trail…

If you have done any multi day treks you know exactly what I mean .. the trail is great but your body or your headspace or your gear or your whatever is not great and it impacts every darn step you take and every thought you have. Pretty amazing how much a small or a very big personal thing can impact your day’s 40,000+ steps regardless of how majestic the views are. For those of you who have had ‘that day’ – we see you, we honour you, we send hugs, we cheerlead you, and we cheers your perseverance no matter what that looks like for you!

We started the day with a short but a death defying jog down a busy road from our hotel to the trail head – good morning! Then we were right away into a long and peaceful forest track for quite and time. Meeting dog walkers and petting some pups on our way.

From there we had our usual forest track mixed with fields and some lane bits…

We had the chance to stop a golf course the path runs directly through the middle of for our first break – snacks and an accidental half-pint! Such a good little stop.

From there we kept on trucking and made our way into Painswick. We had the chance to visit Saint Mary’s Church that has 99 Yew tree growing – legend has it the devil will not let the 100th Yew tree grow. Pretty amazing.

We met the cutest little grandma on the trail and her grand-doggie Teddy and got some puppy pets in before we grabbed some lunch for our afternoon break and headed out of town. We stopped on a grassy hill just out of town and enjoyed a socks and shoes off with feet up yummy lunch!

Just after lunch we were rewarded with, of course, some big steep climbs out of the town – we have come to expect this after every town – and the ‘halfway’ point. Just 55 miles to Bath and 47 miles to Chipping Campden .. so not really, really the half way point but still photo worthy! This marker was in the middle of some farmer’s cattle field.

From there we were in the home stretch (well a couple hours of home stretch but who is counting .. we were every kilometer!).

We finished the day with a 1.4 kilometer downhill lane off the Path into Haresfeild straight into our home for the night, the Beacon Inn. This place was pretty fantastic! We were all jammed into the same room like a summer camp and oh the arrival pint on the deck was exactly what we needed to cheers the day! A few visits by their pet chicken George as we sat on the patio was a nice touch too!

Brandé

Cotswold Way, Day 3 Cleeve Hill to Birdlip

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Day 3 of 8 of the Cotswold Way is complete.

While this was a long one clocking in at a final 27km and over 9hours on the trail (breaks, photos, and random wandering included), it was a fantastic day! I really liked the trail today except for the ‘valley of death drop’ – my name for the approx 1km on tiny sheep trails on the edge of a deep gully. I hate heights so my heart was racing big style to push through that part!

We started the day from The Rising Sun Hotel with a good breakfast and, you guessed it, a STEEP climb up out of Cleeve Hill to the highest point of the Way. At over 300m this is the highest point of the trail.

After a quick ‘spontaneous energizing dance party’, we walked and walked and walked – stopping around noon for our lunch spot and again at 2-ish our afternoon break when we found a great shady spot and when the dogs were barking (aka feet were starting to make themselves heard!)

We found an awesome spot for a cold drink just as the sun started to heat up mid-afternoon at a diner on the side of the road. The staff were less than friendly but the Fanta was delicious!

We wrapped up the day with our feet up and a wee dram of Honey Mead before showers and an awesome dinner and some drinks at the bar right in the Royal Oak Hotel where we were staying!

A fantastic day that felt longer than planned of course but wow does it feel great to be sore but happy when you arrive exhausted at the hotel!

Brandé

Cotswold Way, Day 2 Wood Stanway to Cleeve Hill

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Day 2 of 8 of the Cotswold Way is a wrap – well actually Day 3 is too but I am catching up on posts now that we have some ‘decent’ WiFi…

We left the Wood Stanway Farmhouse and the most adorable B&B host Maggie (above) around 830 to start what ended up being a 26km and over 9 hour walking day. To be fair, some of that time was spent doing some enroute or just off route touristy stuff not all walking-walking.

Day 2, here we go … we started out at about 830am and covered some great distance at 26km in total, that includes meandering around some tourist spots!

First tourist spot: just as we approached the Hailes Abbey ruins at 10am (directly on the trail) they were opening their doors for the day! We popped in, explored the ruins (pretty much had the run of the run of the place), had a bit of a break and accidentally did a wine as mead tasting. The mead was so fantastic we now have a bottle and it has become our ‘check in and a wee dram on ice to relax the muscles’ routine!

Here are some of the pictures of Hailes Abbey – founded in the 1200s and largely destroyed during grumpy Henry VIII’s Suppression of the Monestaries campaign.

From there we were back on the trail (one of us a bottle of mead heavier) and made it way to Winchombe. This is a decent sized town so we were able to pop into a pharmacy (for sports tape for my foot) and a great little bakery for a to-go lunch.

Second tourist spot: we took said lunch over to Sudeley Castle (our next tourist spot, just a 20min walk off the trail) and had our lunch siting in a fantastic shaded grassy spot on the grounds. Such a fantastic break on a hot day!

After some eats and cool down, we explored the castle grounds, ruins, and the estate house that has some royal peeps still residing in it to this day. The grounds featured a co-exist outdoor exhibit so you may see a few very large animals made out of natural bits and bobs that are not part of the usual look/feel.

We left Sudeley Castle at about 2pm (we wandered for about an hour) to start the last leg of the journey to Cleeve Hill at the Rising Sun Hotel. The day was smoking hot by now and it proved to be a pretty hot, hard slog up and out of Winchombe. The first steep (and I mean steep!) hill out of town was a doozy – when I am tired I count my steps to distract myself – it was 807 direct sun, steep uphill steps up ick. We felt like donuts in a deep fryer! Thank goodness for the forest walk sections.

Bonus tourist stop: before our decent (that also included some steep climbs ugh) into Cleeve Hill the trail took us right past Bella’s Knap Long Barrow. Which today looks like a large grassy mound but is actually an ancient burial that includes at least 14 skeletons, pottery, bones of animals and more. You can see a couple of the sealed stone entrances still.

By the time we got to the Rising Sun Hotel we were knackered. A cold pint before showers and supper was in order! Nothing better than feet up, cold pint in hand and chatting through the day’s events and photos. Especially when you have 9.5hours of walking to chat through.

We had supper right in the hotel bar (delicious Steak and Ale pie by the way) and all of us turned in pretty early after such a long, great day!

Brandé

Offa’s Dyke Path, Day14 Tintern to Sedbury

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Day 14 of 14 done! That’s right today we reached the ‘finish line’ – wrapping up the Offa’s Dyke Path adventure in Sedbury!

We started the day in Tintern cross a very cool old Tramway Bridge that is now only for pedestrians and bikes to cross the River Wye (which seems to be pronounced We in mid to North Wales but in South Wales is Way). You could see the amazing Abbey ruins to the right as we walked across!

Then we had a longer than expected flat forest walk to kick off the morning .. aka we got to chatting and missed out turn (there was no sign post or way marking in our defense)! We ended up adding an extra couple of kilometers when we back tracked but also a great conversation – so still a win.

We got ourselves sorted and were happy to see the first Offa’s Dyke Signage for the day!

From there it was up and up and up into the forest which had a very Lord of the Rings vibe to it – so fantastic! There were many Gondor and Elves and Baggins and Shire references. Largely by me, total Tolkien nerd!

Our time in the forest continued for the morning and into the early afternoon. Thank goodness as the day quickly heating up to 26C and the shade of the trees and soft path kept us cool and warm for most of the day!

We had our lunch at the top of the forest at a place called the Devil’s Pulpit – with views of the Tintern Abbey again but much farther below.

I may have jinxed my juju up too though … there is a ancient Yew tree that is growing it of som rocks and I put out some incense someone had burning by the tree. They lit it and walked away – no one was around. Sorry but burning and forest are not a good mix and I could not just walk away from it! Hope I didn’t screw up anyone’s ritual or something.

After the forest we had some field walking and then we were in Chepstow (Wales) and then Sedbury (England) for the official finish of the path. It is a bit of an underwhelming finish, truth be told, after so much amazing scenery and then just ending in city stuff. I guess one of the benefits of walking the other direction is finishing with your toes in the ocean in Prestatyn. But we were elated all the same!

That’s a wrap on Offa’s!

Now a couple days to recover and then we will start the Cotswold Way …

Brandé

Finally, A New Adventure

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Well after way, way, way too long since my last adventure …

I am excited to announce a new adventure is finally in the works!

What adventure do I have up my sleeve you ask? Oh sit down, grab that coffee or wine or pint or the hand of someone you love cause this is about to get exciting. Well, exciting for me at least, the one heading out on an adventure. Not sure how exciting this will be for you exactly but I will do my level best to make it at least entertaining.

Crazy. Fun. Here we go!

Offa’s Dyke Path, Wales

In 2008, I walked the Hadrian’s Wall Path which runs the length of the border of England and Scotland. So really it only makes sense that I would also walk England’s other border, the one with Wales. I cannot have borders getting all jelly if they are not included. They are quite dramatic like that …

Intro the Offa’s Dyke Path! The Path literally and mostly follows the Dyke that borders the two countries and was built by, you guessed it, a guy .. ok a King .. named Offa in the eighth century as a border (well there is a little debate on the purpose but it feels sorta border-ish so I am going with that). It is said to be the longest ancient monument in Britain and was opened as an official national trail in 1971. You had me at official national trail. Let’s go!

The official Offa’s Dyke Path trail runs the length of the dyke and walkers toggle between England and Wales a few times but mostly walk in Wales. The length? Just a short little jaunt of 283 kilometers (176 miles) marked by the classic acorn way finding signs of the UK national paths. I have read a few books and many are saying the elevation gain and loss combined is the same as claiming to the top of Mount Everest but the tail itself is clearly marked and the views are amazing … when it’s not raining. That is a little daunting and amazing.

I am walking this bad boy this summer, June 25 to July 9, and I cannot wait! The accommodations I will hike to each day all the way along the path have been booked and I have already started to explore torrential and constant Welsh rain strategies. I am also researching local folklore, legends and ghost stories – more on that later.

Want to know the icing on this trails’ cake? My friend Cheryl is joining me for the last week on the trail. What? No jokes! So excited.

After I give the Offa’s Dyke Path (or the OPD to us cool long distance hikers like me and Cheryl lol) a run for its money, we are off to …

Cotswold Way, England

The Cotswolds is the most picturesque region in England they say. You know that image of England with its rolling, beautiful green hills and crisp blue skies and there are a few air balloons dotted in the sky during the most beautiful sunrise that ever happened, ever. That is the Cotswolds! I am that little hiker off in the distance with the bright purple pack. Heyo!

The Cotsowld Way, a wee skip and a jump of 164 kilometers (102 miles), is another national trail in the UK and has been on the must do list for about a decade. Shar, my sister, and I started talking about this one when we did the Great Glen Way in Scotland in 2013. The intention to get this one under my boots was ‘thwarted’ first by the Camino de Santiago (wow), then the Arran Coastal Way (amazing) and finally the COVID-19 pandemic (not cool). While we might be doing the Way a few years later than planned, the wait almost makes it more exciting.

For this one, the band-o-four that conquered the Arran Way in Scotland in 2018 are making a comeback. Shar, and our closest friends Cheryl and Rosa are hitting the hills – the band is back together again folks and I cannot wait. We start walking on July 11th and wrap up July 20th. A couple nights in Bath, then a few nights in London (the queen has asked if I could swing by for a wee spot o tea and I would hate to let her down), and we head our happy selves home.

But before I go I need to recover …

Just the day before I was to start my fail-proof 20week training plan – I heard a pop, felt a hot but yet cold rip in my foot during a soccer match and I am now working through a 9-12 week recovery before I can even train. No damn way! Are you kidding me? Can the MRI be wrong?

I am reminding myself as I sit on a bike in a gym training instead of in my boots on a trail, that it could be worse. It could have been a full rupture and I could be heading to surgery. As it is, its just a couple of tears. Just. Ugh! I have a substantial longitudinal tear in my Peroneous Brevis Tendon, the one that runs from the pinkie toe to the heel (that little piggy is not running home anytime soon) and another Grade 2 (Moderate) tear of the medial Plantar Fascia. It hurts, I am frustrated, I could cry, I have cried, I could smash things, I might still, and I will overcome!

I will recover from this little pesky foot injury, train like a rock star in half the time I usually prefer and then voila .. 5 weeks doing what I love most and with my most favourite trail peeps. Stay tuned for how this one shapes up before we go and as we ramble!

Brande

For the Love of Feet

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Well doesn’t that title just entice you to read this blog post!

OK if you are eating, drinking, sipping, nibbling, snacking, whatever – STOP.

This is a pretty graphic blog post about the sad, short life of a toenail on Kilimanjaro and my concern for my feet considering the pain and punishment they have caused me in the past. You have been warned …. and warned again … this post is not for the faint of heart, the weak of stomach, or for the love of feet! BUT if you have ever hiked this blog post will totally make sense to you, sadly.

I have had some awesome experiences walking lengthy distances. It would seem that’s what I like to do – walk a lot. I have had the pleasure of the West Highland Way in Scotland 154km, Pembrokeshire Coastal Path in Wales 299km, Hadrian’s Wall Path in England 135km and Great Glen Way 127km in Scotland to name a few of my most awesome adventures on my own two feet. And there are a b-zillion more walks that my soul and feet are just itching to complete – oh so many! Don’t get me started!

West Highland Way, Scotland

My first long distance walk in 2008 (Scotland, West Highland Way) that got me addicted to the seeing the world on my feet!

Its OK, honest, you don’t have to understand me. This walking thing is a illness. Sometimes referred to as a hill walker, walker, hiker, trekker, strange, crazy, rambler, munro bagger, weird, wanderer,  walkabout-er, pilgrimage-r, nuts, traipser, perambulator, peregrinari, etc.  To name a few of the loving names we walkers identify with and/or have been called across the globe.

Depending on who you ask, my love of walking is either just so super cool (thank you to my friend Jane, you are the best fan ever) or is just down right crazy (thank you to my husband Lance who loves me dearly but finds this love of walking thing rather odd).

However, as much as I love getting about on my feet I am one of those very “lucky” people who gets a blister from thinking about shoes – seriously. A shoe can be so comfortable for me for weeks or years and then one day KABLAMO there is a hot spot and a lovely blister to make my world painful and me grumpy for a week.  I get blisters in flip flops and have even gotten a hot spot from slippers. For real. What the heck?

Don’t believe me; allow me to dazzle you with some graphic foot-of-pain pics … final warning, stop eating!

heat rash and blisters

Heat rash and a horrible blister during the Great Glen Way, Scotland with my sister Shar.

I will spare you any additional pictures – too gross right!

Regardless of how unpleasant these look, I will not let this foot stuff taint or ruin my trek up Mount Kilimanjaro!!

As you may have guessed, I have taken my training for Kilimanjaro a bit seriously – hiking twice a week, running 5 mornings a week, core and lower body work outs, trying on every article of clothing I will be wearing on that mountain, etc.  Oh and yes this includes putting on every layer I will wear on summit night including head lamp and walking around the house, up and down the stairs, etc. to make sure I can move and am in a happy, sweaty, warm place for the slog.

I am, in fact, so dedicated to my training that I am already losing a pre-climb toenail  … providing great experience on just how absolutely NOT fabulous it feels to stomp downhill with your fleshy toe hitting the front of your boot. Queue the “learn how to tie your boots for downhill climbs” on Pinterest and YouTube commercial here … If this is me not even on the mountain, what will the mountain do to me!

Big toenail going

Toenail soon to be MIA thanks to all this pre-Kilimanjaro training.

I am not alone – I read somewhere that the average number of toenails lost on Mount Kilimanjaro is 4. Yes you read that right! This is some crazy stuff. When I googled Kilimanjaro and Toenail to dazzle you with some more quirky stats, I got 43,000 search results. That tells you something. Google knows!

Please cheer for me in what seems to be a crazy game of toe vs nail vs boot vs mountain game! Current score is Team Brande 9 vs. Team Toenail 1 … score to be updated post Kilimanjaro!

Brande

PS 13 sleeps to go, we are in the home stretch now!