14.1 miles, 5hrs 40min, hilly pastureland. Many, many sheep, a few pigs, some cows, a herd of the rare and ancient breed of white park cattle, beautiful horses - one who was giving itself a good back-scratch by rolling around on the ground, and fields of wheat in various stages of growth were passed through.
Our morning started early from a quiet Monmouth, walking through the oldest Medieval defensive tower bridge in Britain (1270), through the outskirts of town and into farmland. I had Rachel take a photo of me on a zebra crossing because I think they are a fabulous invention and wish we had them in the States. We crossed over a delightful bridge adorned with local artwork honoring the surrounding environment. Quickly we felt as if we were far from anyone else, and enjoyed the views of the countryside and quiet churches. St. Michael’s is a church in a tiny hamlet that always has its doors open for walkers with tea, biscuits and a toilet. There is no one around, but the peaceful sanctuary is there to provide rest and refreshment. We came to a field with the best way-markers I have seen yet; guideposts placed a few hundred yards apart to keep you on track. We still managed to be chatting away and took a wrong turn. The farmer appeared to gently redirect us. Not too far past that we heard steps behind us and turned to see two patient runners waiting for us to move aside. Rachel and I both have hearing that is not as sharp as we would like (her due to a cold and me because I can’t hear a thing in my right ear ever. It leads to hilarious conversations and misdirections all the time.) YJ is running the whole 170 miles of the Offa’s Dyke path in 7 days, her friend Connie is supporting her for a couple of them. They were delightful, and they kindly slowed down to walk with us and have a chat. They eventually ran off and we were duly impressed. I invited YJ to come visit us in Truckee and do some ultra running near there; I hope she takes me up on that! One of my absolutely favorite things about traveling, and I would even say necessary for me to feel engaged in the world, is meeting people and building and maintaining connections. The world is a small place when making friends and learning different ways of doing things.
We kept walking and covered 10 miles when we stopped for lunch at a farm that the owner just opened up for passersby since this is a really remote part of the path. He gave us drinks, we used the toilets - another super generous person! Just after that we came to the White Castle, an impressive reminder of how busy and contentiously fought over area of the Welsh/English borders thus was 800 years ago. We eventually came to our last climb up through a field and came up the village we were stopping in. Before heading to the Hunters Moon Inn, I popped into the medieval St. Cadoc church, on the site of a 1000 year old religious center settled in the time of Celtic saints and holy leaders. There is a place for pilgrims to pray inside the church, a 15th century wall painting of St. George, and a small kitchen for travelers to provide refreshments. Amazing. I joined Rachel at the Inn and the staff brought us tea and biscuits. We have a very big 18 mile day tomorrow, so we’ve had welsh steak and ale pie and yummy wild garlic and asparagus soup for dinner. It will be an early start!
