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Thank you 😊 I hope you're enjoying the trail, it's definitely one of my favourites, a wonderful experience. I've never hiked a trail in both a heatwave and torrential rain before - fingers crossed you've at least had some sunshine and clear views! I'm trying to figure out if you'll have done the Brecon Beacons yet? (My brain won't go into reverse 🤣) If not I really hope you get some clear skies then because the views are superb. Do you know when you'll do your final section?

Thank you 😊 I hope you're enjoying the trail, it's definitely one of my favourites, a wonderful experience. I've never hiked a trail in both a heatwave and torrential rain before - fingers crossed you've at least had some sunshine and clear views! I'm trying to figure out if you'll have done the Brecon Beacons yet? (My brain won't go into reverse 🤣) If not I really hope you get some clear skies then because the views are superb. Do you know when you'll do your final section?

Ah, you sound like me - an introvert! I understand how draining it can be walking or hiking with friends - as much as you love them, sometimes you just need peace and to do things at your own pace. Thanks so much for watching :)

Thank you so much for your kind words 😊 People are very quick to judge, but I also did it because I write trail guides for my blog, where I give my honest opinion as well as all the details backpackers need to plan their own trip. It's a new trail close to home so it seemed worth a go even though I could see there was quite a lot of road walking. A map doesn't tell you how fast the traffic is or whether you can see over the hedgerows! My opinion, and I make it clear it's my opinion (I hope!), is that if you have limited time (maybe you only have a week's holiday, for eg), I think you'd be better off doing an established trail with guaranteed views (or whatever it is that makes you tick - history, culture, etc) and can get water along the way. I may be new to TH-cam but I'm an experienced hiker and my blog is well established, but I'm still learning here - and I've a lot to learn 😂 And you're right about my mindset on this one - I'd had 3 recent bereavements, including my mum, and was hoping to find some solace - fat chance on this trail! 😂 Thank you again for watching and for your thoughtful comment, I really appreciate it 😊

I know exactly what you mean about shutting your mind off! I love the feeling I get when I've pushed myself out of my comfort zone without anyone's help, it's exhilarating. Yeah doing a challenge over Christmas works for me 🤣 I find it motivates me for through Jan/Feb as well - worst months of the year haha!

@@stephie_10milehike I love winter months and spend those hiking in the Cairngorms, the best weather and time for it. I just can’t stand Xmas week 😂

@@Nate1975 Ooh lucky you! We dont get much snow down here in Cornwall, or mountains 🤣

And the thing is, it can be whatever you want it to be whether you want peace or a challenge... Where do you like to go?

I think it's an entirely different experience hiking when you're with a partner - for a start, you're likely to have similar interests! Also, I think partners instinctively know when you need some quiet time (and you them) and, just when to sing at the top of your voice! I guess it's a matter of getting a good balance that works for you both :)

@@stephie_10milehike You're right. It is an entirely difference experience. We did do a long hike with a couple of friends once - we didn't enjoy the loss of freedom. And they did not enjoy our singing, especially not before the steepest cliff incline on the route. Ha ha. x

You can't beat it can you!

Thanks so much for watching - I'm glad you enjoyed this one

Thanks for watching - you've made me smile!

Peace and quite is magical isn't it - nothing compares. Do you walk or backpack at all?

@@stephie_10milehike I walk a lot and often get people looking at me as if to say why are you walking alone. I totally get why you do 👌. I don't backpack overnight though... I admire that you do 🙏💖

That's the perfect answer - it's a relief to have some time to yourself and just be! And omg...my son did zero training for the WHW, like zilch (and he doesn't do anything else either). "It'll be fine" was his mantra - I was tearing my hair out, as you'll see when I finally get the WHW videos together 🤣 To give him his due though, he completed the 100 miles - at the expense of my mental health 🤣🤣 How's your recovery going? Are you managing to get out regularly yet?

@stephie_10milehike I can manage 5 miles on flatish ground, so it's a start, not ready to carry a heavy pack yet, well I probably could but not very far lol

@@LezleysAdventures That's so good to hear, and just remember, most people can barely walk 3 - without major surgery! You're doing great, you really are. Slow and steady wins the day every time :)

Thank you - once you get into solo hiking I reckon you'll love it, and it doesn't mean you have to go it alone all the time!

Hahaha - I have a confession, the only time I use earphones is on the train to the trail or if there are noisy neighbours on a campsite 🤣🤣🤣 I wholeheartedly agree with you Bev, every single word! Thank you for the to-camera comment - I did write myself a script and use a 'teleprompter' on my phone, and then add lib. After a 'post-upload critique', I realise I need to reign in my use of the word 'awesome ' 😁 I decided to try and make videos because I wanted to explore the creative aspect of it, but omg, there's so much to learn, which is probably great for my aging brain, so it's a good job I enjoy it. Thank you so much for sticking around to watch my efforts!

You're doing great at producing these videos, and you know what they say, practice makes perfect 🙂

@@eldred1809 Aw thank you so much - just the kind of words to motivate me! One thing I'm really going to focus on (apart from the editing) is posting regularly. I think 'forcing' myself to do that can only help me improve more quickly! x

God, I'm useless at repairing my bike on the go, I'd probably drive anyone cycling with me nuts! I sometimes think I'd like to go bike-packing though, which would mean I'd have to learn but it all looks a bit technical for my poor brain 🤯🤣 I can change an innertube and a tyre and get my chain back on when it crunches off, but that's about it. I'd probably have to walk home if anything else went wrong 😂 I admire you for being able to do all that. I'm quite an introvert really, I love company, but I need serious alone time to recover!

@@stephie_10milehike So was I to be honest but you do pick up how to do things as you go along. I've got a bad back, and on one ride I managed to wrench it good and proper - it was agony. I was 12 miles from home and could hardly pedal, and bumps were just insanely painful, yet I still managed to get myself home, and rather than knocking my confidence, once I'd recovered again, it gave me a heck of a boost that I could do such a thing. Oh I was hellishly shy as a child and through most adulthood too, but have opened up a bit more now, but yes, I appreciate having time to myself especially out on a ride. The solitude is a major reason I enjoy riding. Bikepacking is something I'd love to do, but that bad back would soon make itself known I fear - my camping days are over now unfortunately. Hiking 97 miles though, that is quite some achievement! It can feel very liberating on such a journey though - all you have to do is eat, drink and find somewhere to sleep. Oh, and enjoy the views of course! You're always moving on each day too - going forwards. It can hit hard (well for me after a fortnight's motorcycle touring it used to) when you get home again and each day you're going nowhere! How people who travel round the world or other such huge journeys adjust to being home again I don't know! Anyway, I'm keyboard nattering, must get on 🤣 Take care, have fun! 👍

I definitely started hiking alone because no one wanted to come with me haha!😁 And I still don't have any hiking buddies 😂 (Probably no wonder!)

I hear ya! I started a hiking club this year and now I have an abundance hiking friends who all leave me for dust 😆

Well at least you get some peace and quiet at the back 🤣🤣

Omg, that hill will be forever in my memory 🤣 it was about 20 degrees when I did it!

It was biblical 🤣 but definitely Italy worth it for the views. Where do you like to hike, anywhere in particular?

@@stephie_10milehike i like it round the derbyshire dales plus i like being near water just to relax but i,ll walk anywhere really i plan to go to the lake district as well next year

It's funny you mention water - I remember when I hiked over Hatterrall Ridge on Offa's Dyke Path, the views were spectacular for miles but it felt weird because I couldn't see the sea! I hope you have a good time in the Lakes, are you going anywhere in particular?

@@stephie_10milehike I just want to be up high looking down to water but of course on a sunny day 😒

@@JamesCarter-us7hw thanks for watching. (i hope you also read my previous reply to your other uninformed comment.) Have a good day,

Two Moors Way is a good walk for most of it.

I'm from Truro, pronounced Trurra! 😉 I do know it's Lansun (there's even a milestone with it on), but most people outside of Cornwall wouldn't know what i was on about. My best friend's daughter is named after the mighty river - well the Cornish side of it anyway haha 😂 The trail is mostly dire, but the old Apple Trail (Tamar Valley Discovery Trail) is a very beautiful section and worth doing in its own right. For much of the route though you don't even see the river, not even in the distance. A missed opportunity for sure.

​​@@jonstfrancisyes, I hiked the Two Moors Way last year (and the Dartmoor Way too) it's a wonderful trail isn't it, which part did you enjoy most?

@@stephie_10milehike I loved the Somerset / Exmoor part mostly, some lovely villages and the Barle Valley is amazing.

Oh Lopwell Dam's always been the crossing there! Haha been caught out there too and crossed in the rushing water. On foot and bike haha fun!

@@jonstfrancis that was one of my favourite parts of the trail - it's a fun crossing and the bird life is wonderful!

@@jonstfrancis it's disgraceful that we only have access to 3% of rivers in England - how are we meant to connect with and appreciate nature if we have no legal rights of access. It makes no sense to me. #rightoroam

Thank you.

I didn't get on with those and although it was raining hard it was pretty warm. Have you tried waterproof socks?

@stephie_10milehike yes but only briefly. I found them food to walk in and definitely kept my feet dry

Mine worked well for a while too, but they soon lost their waterproofness - they were Sealskinz so I was really disappointed.

This hike was a while ago now - 3 years 😲 Yeah that's how long I've been thinking about creating videos!!

Bless ya. I've got soo many videos backed from years ago I just cant be bothered to edit them 😆

Haha! I thought I'd use them to learn on - so far so good. I've learnt my clips are crap and I need to seriously up them in future 🤣

You'll never know 🤣

@@stephie_10milehike You changed it! :(

@straightouttacornwall Haha! no, I've got 2 on the go! It's 'test and compare' - so after a couple of weeks, whichever one people click on most is the one YT then uses 😁 Actually useful! I'm impressed you've seen both 😁

Yep, definitely exist! I have a pair in my cupboard😁 Actually I wore them when I did the Cotswold Way in a heatwave, but I still needed socks on because they rubbed like crazy - not a great look🤣

@@stephie_10milehike Ah... Yes rubbing is less than ideal too! They wouldn't be too pleasant when walking through deep mud either come to think of it 😕 No doubt there is a solution but it'll probably be a faff and lose comfort (not to mention expensive!). Ah well, fingers crossed you get good weather for the WHW! 👍

Glad you enjoyed it Claire 😊It was a fantastic experience and I'd do it again tomorrow given the chance - rain or heatwave! Though I'd definitely prefer a heatwave 😎😁

Thanks so much for watching 😊 It's a fantastic trail, I really loved it and it's definitely one of my favourites - there's so much variety, there's probably something for everyone. I found it pretty easy to wild camp the whole way, I think I was out for about 12 days including travel, and I only stayed at 2 campsites - and one of those was pretty much like wild camping! I wrote a guide to planning a hike on this trail over on my blog if you're interested - the link's in the description 😊

@@stephie_10milehike thank you i will have a look at that.I like the thought of doing the hikes with history attached to them like this one and the Hadrian's wall one, just need to get fitter i think before doing this as i am in my 60s

Thanks for watching Lezley 🙏I have got waterproof socks but even they get soaked through in torrential rain like that - it went on for most of the day! I don't think anything would have kept my feet dry to be honest, except maybe a pair of waders!, but I made myself a rule on that hike: never scrimp on spare socks again. Nowadays I make sure I have a clean pair of socks for every other day because if there's torrential rain for days on end you just can't wash them and dry them out. Do you have a plan for looking after your feet in the rain?

@@stephie_10milehike not really, i have a pair of waterproof socks but havent had the need to wear them, I was more curious how they would perform, I do prefer waterproof shoes even though they will eventually wet out if the weather is bad

I can be a determined bugger when I want to be 🤣 It was a brilliant trail even in the rain - I absolutely loved it. (I'd had days of stunning sunshine so maybe I was due a Welsh drenching!) The shoes were Gore-Tex (Salomon), but I'm not sure whether that's a good thing for me to be honest - my feet get so hot in Gore-Tex they sweat buckets. I can't win either way, so I just have to accept it, *try* not to whine about it (failed!) and get on with it 🤣 Definitely no cows on this section - maybe they'd gone to find an Arc! x

@@stephie_10milehike You were lucky those sheep outside your tent didn't turn nasty! Always keep a sprig of mint handy to ward 'em off just in case🙂.

🤣They weren't too menacing...unlike the mouse on my latest hike! It chewed through my tent to get my Caramel bar snack and ate half of it in 10 minutes!!

@@stephie_10milehike It was probably looking for your breakfast mousli 🙂. Did it make much of a hole in the tent? They are tenacious little things and you have to admire their determination and drive for food. Though not the kind of thing to wake up to in the middle of the night 😧. Bev.

​@@eldred1809I actually posted a photo of the damage on my community tab, yesterday or the day before, take a look!

Aw, thanks for watching 🙏Some of the colours look a bit weird compared to how they are in the editing program - oops! (No idea why though, so I've no idea how to correct it next time. Maybe I inadvertently changed the export settings?) Wet feet for days on end was torture! Hope you're enjoying the sunshine today - makes a change doesn't it 😊😎

@stephie_10milehike I just edited my latest outing and the whole thing went wrong, had ro start again! Boring lol 😆

@@samjones6546 I try and think of it as another learning opportunity - telling myself anything so that I don't throw the laptop out of fthe window 🤣