The Offa’s Dyke Trail crosses back and forth across the border between England and Wales on numerous occasions. In this instance we were heading back into England but it seemed like time for an early morning photo so I set the camera up on my day pack, aimed it set the timer and ran to my allotted spot.
Offa’s Dyke Path – Day 7 – Knighton to Cwm
Almost immediately after leaving the Offa’s Dyke Heritage Centre, hikers are treated to a nice long and steep climb. This morning, and throughout the day, weather was threatening at all times and we were in and out of our rain gear a number of times. Sometimes needed and sometimes a false alarm. Temperatures were a bit cool in the morning but hiking uphill has a way of warming the body pretty quickly. On the first early morning climb, we thought that we were going to get wet before we reached the top of the first hill but the rain held off and we were thankful for that. Climbing a long, steep hill is tough but had we been climbing a long, steep hill in a rainstorm the climbing would have been much worse.
With rain threatening we tackled the first steep hill out of Knighton with a strong effort despite the fine Welsh breakfast that we had just consumed. Having conquered the first challenge we felt ready for the rest of the day. It really helped that we had a strong wind at our back as we climbed upward but the wind was a bit annoying once we got up to the top and more out in the open.
This day’s stretch of the Offa’s Dyke Path is considered by some to be the toughest part of the trail. Although there were some steep climbs and some steep descents, I rather enjoyed this part of the path, possibly because of the on again off again tentative nature of the weather, but more likely because of some of the wide open pasture land that we were crossing and the ready visibility of Offa’s Dyke which after all played a part in why we walking the path in the first place.
It seemed that whenever you reached the top of a hill and were getting comfortable, the trail would head downhill again. Most annoying habit!
As the next photo shows, the steepness of this part of the day’s terrain was a bit daunting on occasion and we were happy that we had only the wind to contend with at this point in the day. The rain arrived later.
