Total miles: 14.8
Elevation gain: 1,122 ft
Time walking: 10:30am – 7:15pm
Miles to date: 595.8
I’m pleased to report that today ended a lot better than most of the day went! For some reason I found today really, really hard. It was not a challenging walk and there was nothing in particular that went wrong, I just struggled to get into my groove. I guess the obvious reason is that I was tired from yesterday, a long day, and knowing I had a long day again today (something I’ve tried to avoid) put the pressure on a bit. I started off slowly even just getting out of bed, and regretted not doing a few more stretches before I fell asleep, but Carl and Jen made me a lovely breakfast and coffee so although I didn’t start until an hour later than planned, I felt pretty good.
And then I felt the blister. Insert horrified/terrified emoji here! It was only a teensy tiny blister, just on the inner edge of the ball of my right foot, closer to the arch than my previous blisters. I could instantly tell it was the result of walking in wet socks for a couple hours yesterday, and I kicked myself for my laziness in not changing into waterproof socks when my boots got wet. Lesson learned! Thankfully it was early days and with a compeed on it, it hasn’t given me too much trouble. Phew!
The first few miles I decided to follow a slightly more direct route on country roads rather than heading on random wiggly footpaths – I figured I could use the shorter distance, and it would allow the fields to dry off a bit before tackling them! This of course meant a few miles of tarmac but progress was swift and steady, save for the occasional dives into hedges at the sight of a particularly juicy looking blackberry (they are amazing up here!) and the frequent map consults to confirm my route. I passed lots of big houses and shiny cars…well, I am near Wilmslow and Alderley Edge!
At one point I passed a huge tomato farm and it was quite strange to see the massive greenhouses housing giant tomato plants with fruit that looked like it surely must be sprayed with something resembling steroids. I thought appreciatively back to Jen’s homegrown tomatoes last night. When you see how fruit and veg is grown en masse, it really makes you think a bit more about what you are eating! When we are wandering around the supermarket trying to find the cheapest offer out there, I think we forget to wonder where that food has come from…
Soon after the tomato farm I enter the village of Nether Alderley. I’d planned to get up the hill to a viewpoint to stop for a shake and a break but I was feeling peckish so stopped to get something tasty from my bag. An elderly gentleman who lived across the road came over to ask if I was ok, and when he heard what I was doing he invited me in for a cup of tea and a biscuit! I nearly refused politely as I wanted to get on, but he seemed so sweet and I supposed that I could use a loo break, and a cup of tea would go down nicely! So I went in with him and sat chatting to him and his wife over a lovely cup of tea, getting some love from their gorgeous and friendly cat Shadow at the same time. I managed to avoid a rain shower too! I didn’t stay long as we all had things to do but they gave me a donation and wished me well. They were very sweet, and I think I made their day!
As I headed up the hill, much later than planned and now even hungrier, another rain shower came over so I had to stop again to don the waterproofs. Halfway up the hill, rain stopped and the sun came out, roasting! Stop again to take the waterproofs off. I haven’t even gone 5 miles yet! Given I had an 18-20 mile day, this wasn’t a good start! When I finally got up the hill I picked up the North Cheshire Way which I’d be following for most of the rest of the day, and I started to look for a nice place to stop. As much as part of me really didn’t want to stop again, I could feel myself getting tired and my resilience slipping, so I told myself I’d find a pretty spot and have a proper break, some good sustenance and a mindset change! Thankfully I found a nice spot in the sun on a fallen tree trunk in a pretty wood, so I sat myself down, made my shake and gave myself a pep talk while drinking it!
I did feel better after that, so started to make quicker progress again with fewer stops. It was still a case of checking the map at every turn, as the NCW wasn’t always clearly signposted, although thankfully the paths and stiles were fairly clear.
I could feel that I was tired though, and for the first time so far this trip I wasn’t sure if I would be able to make the distance, at least not arriving at any sort of sensible time! This got me down a bit, as I really didn’t want to fall behind, but I figured I’d keep going and see how I went. At least I knew I had plenty of daylight left! The walk was a pretty one, across fields and through little woods, and every now and then I could see the uplands of the Peak District where I was headed, albeit just to the very edge tonight.
By the time I neared the village of Addlington, about 8 or 9 miles in, I was finally feeling like I was back in my stride a bit, albeit tired and really feeling the weight of my pack. It feels like it’s just a bit too heavy now, like it has just tipped over the weight I could manage, but unless I take out some of the food which I need for the Pennine Way there’s not much I can do about it! At Addlington there was a pub so I decided to stop for a break and to use the loo and maybe get a bowl of chips to keep me going. It turned out it was a Toby Carvery, which only does roast dinners, but given it was only £6.49 I decided to go for it. The moment I ate the first mouthful I realised just how ravenous I was, and I demolished the rest of the plate rather quickly! And I felt so much better after that! I guess my body just really needed some extra calories today! Someone did warn me that about a month into the journey my body would suddenly catch up with me in terms of the number of calories I’d need to eat. I had been feeling rather smug about how well I seemed to have been managing my calorie intake and maintaining my weight, but clearly today, about 6 weeks in, my body finally caught up! Lesson learned…
My boots were off to give my feet a breather so I checked my map, and spotted another campsite I hadn’t noticed before. I hadn’t looked at it because it was this side of Lyme Park which I was supposed to go through today, but when I measured the map it would only add 4-5 miles to tomorrow to stay there tonight. Given that tomorrow was originally going to be a shorter day, and that the shortening of today would save me 4 miles, I decided to go for it.
Best decision ever! After a lovely walk along the canal in the early evening sunlight, I arrived at the campsite just after 7, which meant I have had lots of time to rest, do some stretches, dry out the tent and eat a second dinner (and write this blog!), so hopefully I should feel more rested for tomorrow. It will mean an early start, but I felt I needed to listen to my body (and my emotions!) and not push it today.
Tonight is a beautifully clear evening, which means it will be cold and dewy but also that it is perfect conditions to watch the Perseids meteor shower! So I’m going to go and see how many meteors I can spot 🙂
Night night! Xx
