Start:  Cold Ashton

Finish:  Bath

Mileage:  11 miles

It was with great lament and sadness that I went to bed last night knowing that today would be the last day of our trek 105 miles south from Chipping Camden winding our way all the way down to Bath.  Standing on top of some of the magnificent pasturelands of the hills of the English countryside, gazing in all directions to see nothing but beauty…no roads, no cars, no people, no buildings…only silence and stillness, majestic and tranquil, deafeningly quiet but for the sounds of nature…has been like standing in the cathedral of all time and eternity itself.  I giggled out loud when Roger one day laughingly declared, “The hills are alive with the sound of music!”  It was true.  You could almost hear the grasses growing, the millions of buds opening on all of the huge old trees, hundreds of purple and blue and yellow wildflowers opening up, and birds happily twittering away as they came to life with spring and the anticipation of life to come.  Often times hours would pass by with the only sound coming from the stepping of our boots or the wind passing by or the baaing of mama sheep in search of their lambs.  Yesterday and, of course, even more so today has brought constant reminders that the remote regions are being left behind as we encounter more road crossings and traffic and noise, buildings and shops.  It’s a nice way, though, to slowly re-enter the 21st Century…just easing into it…one step at a time.

So, our last day we went to bed with threats of rain in the forecast.  And, yes,  it had rained all night. Even though it wasn’t raining when we left, it was windy and very overcast.  So, all the rain gear we had hauled in our backpacks for the past eight days, we put on at last.  Dreading the rain, we still couldn’t help but wonder if we could really trek for any length of time if it was really raining.  The signs of what happens during the rains were obvious – soil turns to mush…muddy, rivets of water and the hillsides turn to slick slides.  So rain pants, three layers under our raincoats, and covers for our backpacks off we trudged…only mildly disappointed that even though it was cloudy all day, it only rained for about 15 minutes!  Everyone keeps telling us how fortunate we’ve been with the weather … it’s been absolutely gorgeous…even though we started with knit caps and scarves, by the end we had on only t-shirts.  Our final hike down to Bath was the easiest day of all…pretty much downhill…and not to mention the anticipation of the finish line.  How exciting to wind through the city, through neighborhoods, historic sitings of the famous Royal Crescent built in the 1700’s, or passing by Jane Austen’s house, or the high society “condos” of the Circus on down to walk right by the Roman Baths which were built over the hot springs in 60-70 AD!  And, then there it was:  the majestic architectural masterpiece, Bath Abbey.  We raced toward it, excited to touch the doors of the finish line itself and grabbed each other with big hugs and shouts of “Well done!”.   Roger and I hugged each other and a couple of the friends we had made along the way.  Truly, as I was reminded, it isn’t about reaching our long distance walk destination, but only one more extremely exciting adventure during our journey.

Thanks for joining us along the way.  We’ve loved every minute of being here and hope you have enjoyed being with us.
God bless you and may all of your dreams be a great adventure in your journey as well.

Today was the first day we had to put on our rain gear…but it only rained for about 15 minutes!

always searching for the acorn…

easy hiking for Day 9, but still gorgeous views…all the way to the Severn River and Bristol off to the right.

…as the day wore on, the sun came out and most of the rain gear came off…

our first view of Weston, a section of Bath, our final destination…it’s all downhill from here on!

gorgeous blossoming trees greet us as we enter the city…

our first sighting of the Abbey, the end of the road!

Finally reaching the front doors of Bath Abbey!

…and it’s VICTORY!!!  We did it…and still can’t believe it…a real dream come true!

….some of the friends we made along the way…

inside the abbey…

… and the day after…

… oh yeah!  Reluctant to give up my new way of life, Margaret and Gilly and I headed for the hills and did one last hike….only 6 miles…we were home way before lunchtime …