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| Easy walk downhill from the car park |
The day started dry and sunny but the forecast
predicted it would be a wet afternoon so we headed to Steel Rigg to get parked
up and have an early start. However lots of people had thought the same so the
car park was full again. However the overflow car park was virtually empty so
we parked up with fine views over the valley.
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| then up the 200 ft rocky stairway |
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| and down again |
From the car park we walked east towards Housesteads Roman Fort not realising how energetic the walk would be even though it was described as a strenuous walk with spectacular views. It was right. At first we dropped downhill through a meadow then my heart sank. Ahead of us people were climbing a rocky stair case that went up and up and up onto the Peel Crags.
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| over a stile and along |
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| superb views from the top of a crag |
The rocky steps were narrow so we had to stop frequently as hoards of people descended. That gave me time to get my breath back. I think that first climb
was over 200 feet but it felt further with the rough terrain. This part was
certainly strenuous but I felt it would be easier walking along the top as it
had been at Cawfields.
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| how did they build this up here? |
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| remains of a Milecastle |
Lottie climbed eagerly unlike a Skye terrier that refused to move and ended up being carried up the rocky staircase.
Unlike yesterday this was full of walkers. How come
they were on their way back as we were starting out? Had they started hours ago
or come over the crags from Housesteads Roman Fort which was over four miles
away.
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| A dog on the other side of a steep sided valley |
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Crag Lough...
|
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| ...a long way down |
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| I'm hot ... |
That distance wouldn’t take too long but as we soon discovered the wall ran along the top of each crag and descended to the bottom of the deep narrow valleys between each crag before climbing steeply back up.
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| ...that's better |
Van-Man pointed to a high crag ahead and intended
going there for the view but soon realised it was too far as he had only bought
3 hours parking.
With hindsight that crag was close to Housesteads with maybe
five big dips between it and its siblings. However the views were splendid
where we were.
Lottie got hot and had a drink from one of the water bottles. She
has learnt to let Van-Man squirt water into her mouth and laps up any spillage
from his hand so we don’t have to carry a water bowl for her.
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| the way back... |
However I was
concerned that we would run out of water if it got hotter as the walk heated us
up.
Lottie was let off the lead after a while when the people thinned out and
there were no longer sheep in sight.
As we climbed up onto Highshields crags Lottie
spotted
Crag Lough sparking ahead of us. She gazed at it as if it were an oasis as for the first time we were far from a river or lake.
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| part of the bath house |
There were less people walking beyond Sycamore gap and the path slowly descended. After about 20 minutes walk we could see the Lough not far below us. At this point Lottie was greatly admired by two Lurcher fans and she lapped up the praise greedily leaning on one lady as she was being stroked.
“My she’s heavy,” the lady gasped.
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| River Tyne |
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| one of the baths |
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| well preserved doorway |
Lottie followed Van-Man as he turned towards the water then charged in while I picked my way down the slope.
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| yet more of the bath house |
She had a drink then sat down in the water to cool off. As she can barely swim she never ventures out of her depth.We were about half way to Housesteads Roman Fort and half way through the parking time so we headed back. At the top of the hill we met a couple with two dogs who were about to turn round until we told them they could get down to the Lough.
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| with intact water ways |
They carried on speedily but caught us up with the two wet dogs and overtook us. We were climbing Sycamore Gap when I realised they were on a parallel path which avoided the most severe ups and downs. We turned off and followed them hopefully.
It swung past two steep rises and was free of
the trekking crowd that had re-emerged after Sycamore gap. However it rose
slowly to the wall joining the upper path before the steep steps.
Lottie perked up when we were nearly back though she slipped on the steep steps.
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| hypercaust for under floor heating |
On the whole she stayed out of the way as people clambered past her.One plump man, dressed
in a yellow tee-shirt, stood at the bottom smugly videoing his family’s ascent.
When they reached the top they urged him up. His face fell as he started the
climb.
By avoiding two of the steep climbs we were back at
Sally-Van with time for lunch before the parking ticket expired.
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| more hyercaust |
We drove on to Chester’s Roman Fort. An unexpected bonus
was a falconry display showing what birds would have been used in Roman times.
As we had Lottie with us we watched from quite a distance before exploring the
ruins. Within the fort many of the house walls could be seen and the bath house
was amazingly intact. What intricate ablutions they had. Lottie was content to
wander around the mostly level site
We also looked at the Roman bridge abutments. This time
they were right by the river so Lottie had to have a long paddle.
I looked around Chester’s museum but Van-Man waited
outside and didn’t take a turn after me. If it wasn’t for Chester’s owner being
fascinated by the fort at the bottom of his garden a lot of the roman wall
would have been destroyed. Spurred on by his excavations he got together with
other land owners along the wall and campaigned to keep it as intact as
possible.
We were tired by the time we left for the camp site. When we got there many campers had left so Van-Man asked to change his pitch as more fir cones had dropped onto our pitch. We only moved two spaces along but there were no overhanging trees.
By 5.30 the predicted rain still hadn’t made an
appearance so the weather has been far better than Van-Man thought it would be
from the long term forecast.
.
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| The ruins go on and on |
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