“We are building mental fortitude,” Dan says, although his tone is far from convincing. It is now well after dark, we’re trudging through mud along the side of the Military Road, jumping up into the bush lining the motorway any time a car whizzes by. We’ve reached kilometre 34, with the faint glow of the Robin Hood Inn seemingly unmoving on the horizon. We stopped any conversation a long while ago unless it falls under one of two categories: Danny reminding me to drink more water, or how many kilometres we have left before we arrive at our first night’s stay along the Hadrian’s Wall Path. He reads out a number and translates it into how many laps of the track are left, and mentally I break this math down further until it has been reduced to mere metres and feet.

Have I adequately painted our miserable picture? Our experiences, and resulting moods, are heavily impacted by getting caught in Storm Agnes for the brunt of the day.

We certainly didn’t start out this way! Rather, we began with a leisurely and simple breakfast in Wallsend, followed by getting the first stamps in our HWP passports at the onset of the trail in the Segedunum Museum. Kicking off down the path in high spirits, we stopped to pose in front of the Hadrian’s Way sign, documenting our starting line with big smiles.

Oh, how naive we were!

We marched along the path with a fast pace, less so out of enthusiasm and more because it was a little grim. The thought crossed my mind that had I been walking alone, as originally planned, I would have been weary.

As we entered Newcastle, and stopped for a tea at St Peter’s Marina, things started to liven up. The kind barista chatted away with us as I ordered my take-away cup of tea. As we bundled up our packs in their rain covers in anticipation of Storm Agnes, he ran out from the coffee cart with a bag of cookies “some thin’ for yeys, you’ll need these lata” he said with a wink.

We stayed dry through Newcastle and only began to hear the pitter-patter of raindrops on our backpacks as we entered Lemington. The area had come with a warning in our guidebook, which noted that local children were known to taunt and hurl insults at hikers passing by this stretch of trail. Still, we persevered, and walked out unscathed.

Once through Lemington, we were hankering for some refreshments. Our guidebook pointed us towards the next village, but we agreed to venture off course towards a brewery aptly named Hadrian’s Border Brewing.

All was not lost, though, and we headed in the direction of the Keelman, where a hot meal felt heaven-sent. We loosened our boots and lamented to one another about our sore feet, but were overall enthusiastic about our adventure thus far.

Setting back out on the path once refueled, we pulled our hoods up as the sputtering rain quickened and the wind picked up with it. “Aye, I’d say the storm’s upon us,” a man out walking his greyhound said, his accent lilting.

Along the muddy riverbank we marched before the path twisted away from the waterfront and snaked its way up through a golf course and climbed up through a forest. Once we reached the clearing at the top of the hill, we could see just how much elevation had been gained, and we whooped and high fived – a small but meaningful victory.

As we entered Heddon-on-the-Wall, we were losing steam, and opted to make a pit stop at the Three Tuns pub before continuing on to our evening’s accommodation – the aforementioned Robin Hood Inn. The winds now howling, our packs heavy, and dusk turning to dark, the path felt merciless.

With the muddy path made worse from the storm, every step was made a slipping hazard. It was no longer safe to continue, and we surrendered to the idea of needing to call for a taxi at the last 3.5 km. “It’s the logical choice” we reasoned.

Only, no cab would come. So, along the path we continued. The Robin Hood finally in front of us, we let out another whoop – this was no small victory!

We could not have asked for a better shelter from the storm. The kind staff, the hearty food, and the jolliness of fellow Canadian hikers bolstered us as we settled in.

Total distance travelled in nine hours: 37km