Day 5 & 6 Gilsland - Carlisle & Carlisle to Bowness On Solway - Written by Michaela

Ok, this is being written a week late, we had little or no wi-fi connection or the time on occasion to be able to update the blog. I do apologise.

We knew that Day 5 was going to be hard, hard on the group of John and the girls who had did the 11 miles the day before, but even harder for the guys who previously walked the full 21 miles - big respect to them for what was a very hard two days.

We set off early, and I must admit at quite a pace at times, we had an initial map/path reading incident which saw us head off in the wrong direction and a quick but frustrating back track to get us back on the right path again ooooops.

Today was a long decline down into the suburbs of Carlisle, the steep hills gave way to much gentler climbs and descents, gentler on the legs but no less painful for some of the walkers who were really beginning to suffer, swollen toes, infections and bleeding feet really took their toll, at this point the conversation did ebb away a little, with everyone concentrating on pacing themselves at what was comfortable for them, and we did our best hopefully to keep spirits up and get to the end of a very long day.
We met up in the evening for a lively meal at an Italian restaurant in Carlisle and headed back to our hotels for a good nights sleep after a few beers in town.

http://www.cambrohouse.co.uk/ and
Cartref Guest House. 44 Victoria Place, Carlisle, Cumbria, CA1 1EX, England 01228 522077
Day 6 saw a positive start to the day, again an early fast pace saw us soon racking up the miles and everyone seemed to be coping with the painful feet quite well, i'm sure this trek has been sponsored by Compeed and Scholl !!!

We passed through some lovely villages, and the terrain was almost flat all the way, more pavement intersperced with trackway which wasn't too hard on the tootsies.

We stopped for a quick lunch at a pub just by the Edward 1st memorial statue and then headed down onto the Estuary pathway, wow what a breeze we got then, we could smell the sea and knew we were almost there, the mood lifted, the pace quickened and we were all intent on getting to the end, everyone focused, ipods set onto dance music or anything with a fast beat and we set off for the Bowness sign.

It was a great feeling as we reached the little porchway to mark the end of the walk, got our passports signed once again and took lots of photo's, congratulations and big hugs passed all around too then we headed off to the Kings Arms which seems to be the end destination for all walkers, it was heaving with Hadrian's Wall veterans all enjoying a celebratory pint or two, or several for that fact.

We had a lovely meal, champagne and played card games, spoons and silly jokes.
We all said our goodbyes and good lucks for the homeward travel and went our separate ways for a good nights sleep.

A great team - 9 friends, 84 miles, 1 wall and £6000.00 - AWESOME !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!