Hiking Without Supervision

April 21 is my birthday but it will forever be bittersweet. My younger brother Deano died two years ago on my birthday so it makes my heart a little heavy thinking about what he had to endure. Thinking about his trials also makes me try and suck it up when the going gets tough. No one will ever be ass tough as Deano.

So, now that I’m trying to be a tough bugger, the reality is I’m a wimp. I have a huge blister on my pinkie toe, making it very painful to walk with shoes on. So, we decided to take the train from Brigewater to Bath and spend the day in Bath for my birthday.

But, Bath was a blur (DB we have to come back here). We had sent our camping equipment to the Bath Youth Hostel, thinking we would be ready to be real hikers and rough it a bit more. It was a nice walk in the rain up to the YHA to get our stuff. The view from up top across Bath was stunning though. I can imagine this place full of Romans.

The good news is I discovered my rain coat is not waterproof. Was soaked in no time through rain coat, puffy, and two shirts. Luckily we had the rest of the afternoon to shop for a coat (see positive thinking here!). I discovered there are different levels of waterproof so will have to get one that repels ALL water. After shipping off some things not needed to Dundee, repacking our packs (now fully loaded for bear), and doing a hard day of shopping and wandering around Bath, we stopped for a birthday wine and had a birthday dinner at Portofino.