Another day rambling (and they really do call it that here—I’ve seen parking lots along the trail designated as “parking for ramblers.” Leave your car and, you know, ramble), another series of ups and downs, another round of songs , whose lyrics I can only partially recall. Oh, and I crossed the halfway mark for the Cotswold Way (which is, less encouragingly, the 2/11s mark for my whole trip. yikes)

It occurred to me on the path that rather than bore you to death with every detail of the day’s walk, I’d spend today sharing a collection of random thoughts and observations about walking the trail. Before those notes, a quick (-ish) summary of today: After being dropped off again by my host at Birdlip, I settled into the woodsiest day of the walk so far.

Lots and lots of trail through forests today, with dramatic emerging onto high prospects. Then back into woods. Surreally, I encountered the third golf course of the walk, and actually walked across long parts of it, totally on the trail.

Weather cool, less windy (or maybe it just seemed so because I was in the woods for about 75% of the day). Cloudy, with fits of sunshine, especially late in the day. Nice walking weather, though. Cloudy is fine with me. I could have used a bit more clear sky for some of the long views, but so it goes.

So, some stray thoughts.

Pubs: What happened to them? The pubs I’ve been in so far have had the strangest vibe, a mix of down-market casino (the gambling games and pub trivia machines have taken over even in pubs where no one shows any interest) and decorator’s nightmare circa 1973—crazy industrial-grade carpet with patterns that suggest that someone described the idea of an Oriental carpet to someone who’d never seen one before, a sort of carpet-weaver savant, who then created patterns and color schemes based on these ideas. On the plus side, no one smokes in pubs anymore, a downside I recall from my long-ago first trip to England in the 1980s. And there are those dogs. But a pub with a plasma television hanging on the wall? I ask you.

Walkers: solo, couples, pairs, groups The solo walker is a rarity (no surprise there). I’ve seen some couples (that is, a man and a woman I assume are romantically involved—yeah, there’s a hetero bias operating there, but hear me out—and they’re usually a married couple), several pairs of women who I do not think are couples (a middle-aged woman and a woman a bit older, so, say, 45 and 60. Not mother and daughter, but something tells me not a couple either. Friends. But why that pairing? I’ve seen this in previous walking trips. Is it something English for women to form friendships around walking with someone younger or older?). Men don’t seem to pair up, at least not in my experience. I’m sure I could now say something insightful about men’s friendships, but I’ll leave it implied. There are larger groups, too. Sometimes this is a grouping of multiple couples (chatted briefly with such a group the other night, who were going in the opposite direction and were eager for my advice about the trail ahead) or walking clubs. Walking clubs seem to be gendered. All women, all men. At least that’s been my experience. Though it may be because I’ve walked in June and September for my big trips, I have noticed that most walkers are older than 40. I’m often the spring chicken of the people I see on a given day. Back to the straight/gay question: I suppose gay couples walk these trails, and that probably works out fine, though I imagine it’s one of those situations in which you do the bookings carefully, maybe using a gay travel company. And yeah, I’d like to walk with my boyfriend. Now all I have to do is get a boyfriend, one who likes long-distance walking. That’s not too ambitious an agenda for the fall, is it? I’ll just sort that out by the end of the year. Good.

Dogs in pubs The long tradition of allowing dogs in pubs (in small towns, of course; I doubt you’d see this in London or Birmingham) continues, at least in the Cotswolds. In fact, I’ve been in five pubs so far on this trip, and in three there has been a dog. Weirder still, one of those three was not really a pub, so much as the bar/restaurant of the hotel in Cleeve Hill (not my B&B- but the only place in Cleeve Hill to dine). Frankly, I find it charming. Recently, in Chicago, I saw a woman sitting in the front of a bar, where they have big tall windows that open to the sidewalk. She’d placed herself in the window so that she could run her lab’s leash out to where the dog was stretched out on the sidewalk. So much more sane to just let the dog in the bar.

Counting and not counting I find myself toggling between two modes: I want to let go of all cares and let the trip take me rather than fretting and controlling. I am walking, and I like to think that can be a simple, clear state of mind for reflection. At the same time, I count miles, I calculate altitude changes, I reflect on what percentage of the walk I’ve done, I wonder if I’ve lost weight from walking and how much (yes, and who knows). I don’t think this is a bad thing. It’s the natural push and pull. I’m accomplishing something by walking, but I am also taking a break from accomplishment to walk. Deep, huh?

The Gates and Stiles Project Two years ago when my sister and I walked the Coast to Coast trail, we had an ongoing conversation about just how many gates and stiles (the climb-over arrangements over a fence) there are on a trail, and how many varieties there are. Some stiles are stone and basically are steps. Some are a board perpendicular to the fence that becomes a step on either side of the fence. Some gates have pull-lever opening mechanisms. Some have a latch to lift. Some are kissing gates, a contraption involves a V and a gate swinging between the arms of the V. So this time, I’ve been photographing every single gate and stile I pass through or over. I’ll put together a slideshow to music when I have time. (Yeah, this is going to be a big hit on YouTube…) Not on the trip though—we’re talking about what will amount to literally hundreds of gates and stiles by the time I am done. So, here’s a treat. To finish for today, a few examples.

Miles walked: Sigh. Guide says 15.5. Travel info claims 16. I’m splitting the difference and calling it 26. Ha. 16 it is. Something needs to be done about all this mileage confusion on the trails. Signs say one thing. Books another. Travel companies a third. Some books aren’t even internally consistent.