Before I start the day’s narrative, a snatch of overheard dialogue: While Kathy and Keith and I were eating dinner in the pub of the Crown Inn, our Longtown accommodation last night, there were two young guys (early 20s) playing quoits, a ring-toss game with rules I never did quite work out.

Guy 1: “Why do we always play best of two?”

Guy 2: “Because you always beat me in two games.”

Maybe I’m just getting punchy, but it struck me as very amusing.

We’d had sober predictions of rain moving in (with the occasional caveat that the weather forecasts are pretty iffy hereabouts), so I wore long pants, and was ready for a wet one. I’d decided to walk with Keith and Kathy up the hill, figuring at that point we’d figure ourselves out and I might move ahead.

The ascent (250+ meters up in about half a mile) had us pausing, and I was glad of the company, which somehow made me feel less like a weakling when I had to stop for water and to catch my breath.

Once we reached the top of the ridge, it just seemed natural to keep walking together, and this resulted for me in a happy change from my solitary wanderings. We walked together all day, swapping stories about ourselves and our travels, and, as walkers will, obsessively noting the changing landscape and the weather.

It was a cool, foggy morning on top of the ridge, so the epic views out over the valleys were lost, but that didn’t spoil the walk much. In fact, it lent it a sort of Wuthering Heights quality that reminded us all of the Yorkshire Moors on the Coast to Coast Trail.

There’s not much real “history” up here (you can opt to take a diversion down to Llanthony to see a ruined priory and then hike back up, adding a mile and 250 meters of descent and 250 meters of ascent. no thanks). And the trail simply plugs along the top of the ridge for miles, with some rising and falling, but noting to exhaust except the distance accumulated. It made for nice talking walking. And we we’re always alone. We encountered a small herd of Welsh ponies up top.

A perfect day for easygoing conversation, and Keith and Kathy are fun to talk with because they are retired teachers, so they can match me for stray bits of literary and poetic reference (between us, we can reconstruct Frost’s “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” and try to remember the exact machinations of the plot of “MacBeth” (It’s hard to pull that stuff up when you’re walking. Trust me.)). And sometimes it’s useful to have someone along just to convey scale…as shown later when, during our descent from the ridge toward Hay-on-Wye, we eoncountered more ponies.

Though not much variation or scenery atop the ridge, the sheer distance does begin to wear (this day is 14.5 miles), and as we moved into the lowlands to reach Hay, we were less given to spinning long yarns and more given to groaning climbing over stiles. And finally, after the foggy morning and some stretches of mixed sunshine and a short bout of rain up top, some good soaking rain arrived. Oh well. It wasn’t that bad, and only lasted for fifteen or twenty minutes.

But finally we arrived in Hay, where we are staying at different B&Bs. After a bit of confusion over our badly written directions to both of our B&Bs, we worked it out and said our goodbyes, which should be only temporary, since we’re at the same place tomorrow night. All in all, I have to say that for solo walkers, it’s a great idea to spend some time walking with other people, chatting and getting to know them. Even if you walk to reflect on things, it’s very pleasant after some days alone to have the company.

Walker’s Wisdom: Backpack Straps With so many people carrying small backpacks in the city, it may seem like all the straps are just a style fetish. My North Face pack has nine straps on it (counting the one inside to tighten up an inside pocket), and I do in fact adjust with some frequency. I have been tightening the two straps on the “belt” of the pack (each side of the spring-clip has extra strap so you can tighten evenly) and as I walk and my waistline gets smaller, that extra strap has been a nice indicator. But the three straps I really do adjust for comfort, and change the adjustment of during the course of the day, are the straps to the shoulder harness and the strap with spring clip that attaches across the chest. I like to tighten the chest strap pretty tight when I start the day, then later I might loosen it a bit while cinching up the side straps to keep the pack well-seated on my back. I’m still sort of achy at the end of the day, but the adjustments help. So no, those straps aren’t just for looks, and no, you don’t just get it comfortable once and forget it.

Miles walked: 14.5