From May 21 to May 25 we hiked The Pennines. We were all tired, and at one point we devolved into childish antics, such as DB calling the trail “The Penis Way, because it’s so hard”. Yes… I know… but it really was hard! So hard that when I mentioned taking a cab a short distance on the last day, Eric said “Fuck Yeah!!” – now that is really something because Eric does not swear (very often), and he also prides himself in doing all of the trail no matter what.
From this point it was really hike, drink, eat, sleep, repeat. The views were amazing, and we continued to wonder how, when, and why all of the stone walls were made. We trudged through fields, climbed over styles, went through gates, drank Irn Bru, added stones to cairns, avoided cattle, charged through bogs, took millions of pictures, and celebrated the end of each day in a pub or two.
Our last day together, we spent in Richmond so we could go visit the castle and enjoy a day of leisure before we went our separate ways: me and DB to Dundee to resupply before tackling northern Scotland, and Eric to Manchester and then home the next day.
Disaster! As we were sitting on the train heading north, we got a text from Eric saying the worst thing that could happen did happen. I thought his flight might have been cancelled (BA is really good at that). But nope, worse than that, he lost his passport. We called places in Richmond to see if it had been handed in, but no joy. Eric had to make an appointment with the American Embassy in London to go get a new one. Murray came to the rescue by providing a place to stay with free wifi that actually works. (Eric is home safe and sound now, and I guarantee that passport will never leave his side ever again when traveling.)
Hiking Without Supervision 
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