09/12/2026
In backwards order, some of the best bits of the walking this year. First, the waterfall is my tied-for-most-favorite-ever waterfall, somewhere along the Dart. The second photo is the insane downhill bit that was probably only 1/2 mile but it seemed like at least 10. Just before I got there, in the seeming middle of nowhere, two twentysomehing boys came by me the other way, wearing hiking shoes, bathing suits, and towels, soaking wet. I hadn’t seen a road or building in miles - classic. The rest are snaps of the prettiest and/or most maddening bits of the path, and some good evidence of the drought that England has had this year. The map screenshot shows this otherwise neon green landscape at its driest, and you can see the burned areas of yellow gorse mixed among the stands of it that are responding to recent rain by bursting with color again. I was supposed to walk 5 days, but the pics don’t show me constantly swearing at the trail misleading me for the 10000th time, the work trucks flying past me on country lanes while I shoved up into the nettles, the boredom of trying to find somewhere to eat that wasn’t the exact same menu as everywhere else, and struggling to carry enough water and rain gear to do 20+ miles without totally dehydrating. Mostly the map thing, though, that really did me in. Even putting the phone away for 30 seconds would routinely find me off on an unmarked sheep trail instead of the lines on the map, every damn time. I missed home and for some wild reason AA actually refunded me part of my ticket to change it, so today I’m beginning the jet lag recovery and doing yard work instead of my last walking day. Home is so nice, even with the insane to-do list that comes with it.
