Admittedly I was a little disappointed with the wall viewing yesterday. Today was much different. I took over 150 photos and had trouble reducing it to the number seen here.

I woke up fairly early even if I didn't quite pop out of the sack. What brought me out was all the school childrens cutting through the field just on the other side of the wall. It was a bit noisy and I decided pack up. I didn't have far to go and I figured I would arrive at the fort before it opened and I was right. I spent 45 leisurely minutes finishing up just about all the chow in my food bag. It was time well spent.

The fort took me hours to go through partly because I ate while recharging the laptop behind the counter but there was also lots to see. I've been to many roman sites but all of them very minor. This was the largest one and even though it wasn't well preserved compared to what one might see in Italy, it was still the best I've seen. In addition to the fort there was also a fairly nicely preseved bathhouse outside the walls.

After the fort the path got better and better. When the old Military Road turn off the wall things began to look like the pictures I had seen. More and more of the wall appeared along with turret foundations. At Limestone Corner romans had to cut the north ditch through stone and one large boulder still had chisel holes in the top where they tried to split it before giving up for some unknown reason. Then near a small unexcavated fort there was a small Mythraic temple found in 1949 or 1950. More wall, more turrets, more milecastles. The scenery in Northumberland National Park was excellent as the trail followed the wall up and down dramatic crags. Soon I was at "Robin Hood's Tree" famous for it's role in Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves. After that another steep but short ascent and a traverse over to the fort at Housesteads.

My goal for the day was the YHA hostel at Once Brewed. It was only 2 miles beyond the last fort. I made it in good time, got a bunk, and headed to the pub next door. Add a shower later that night for a perfect day.