Epic Hikes of the World ( PDFDrive )

© James Emmerson | Robert Harding
Hadrian’s Wall stretching west from Kings Hill
I’ve opted to walk the opposite way to take advantage of prevailing weather
patterns. Starting in Bowness-on-Solway and heading east means you’ll usually
have the wind and rain at your back and you’re not squinting into the lowering sun
all afternoon. I also have an additional motive: I’ve decided to make this into a
coast-to-coast walk, with the aim of finishing on the sandy shores of the North Sea
at South Shields. To splash my aching feet in frigid sea waters at the end of a 97-
mile (156km) walking journey is too enticing a prospect to pass up.
It will take me nine days altogether to complete this hike. Though some walkers
do it in fewer days, I prefer to go at a leisurely pace and want to explore the
incredible wealth of sights along the way, a large portion of which was listed as a
Unesco World Heritage Site in 1987. The route is dotted with the ruins of giant
forts, such as Housesteads, which at its peak was home to about 800 Roman
soldiers. There are some great ancient toilets on display here as well. Eighty smaller
fortlets, known as milecastles (literally Roman mile markers) punctuate the
distances along the wall, alongside which you stride for much of this hike. And then
there is the Vallum – a mound-flanked ditch that provides constant companionship
and, in some places, is the only evidence of Roman activity left.