TL;DR - I walked 100 miles in 4 days along the South Downs Way in 30+ degree heat!
In recent years, I've learned that life requires balance. With most of my Winter spent chained to my desk, studying for the OSED exam (see my previous post) I needed to spend some time outside in nature. I learned of a National Trail called the South Downs Way, running from Winchester in Hampshire to Eastbourne in East Sussex, a few months back. In addition to brining back some kind of balance to my life, I thought completing this would give me a good excuse to get out into nature and escape screens and technology for a while.
The SDW is a 100 mile (162 km) trail running across the South Downs National Park in southern England from Winchester to Eastbourne. I was up for the challenge!
I knew the weather was going to be good whist I walked the trail but I hadn't anticipated a record breaking heatwave! This made the whole experience quite a bit more challenging than a standard 100 mile hike!
Initially, I had planned the hike over 5 days but as the days drew closer, I really wanted to challenge myself to see if I could complete it in 4 days. I planned out my stops, dividing the route into 25 mile sections and marked all of the water stops along the way. I'm very glad I did this as it gave me an indication of how much of my water I could drink before hitting the next refill tap. And with the temperature hitting 32°C, I was drinking much more than I normally would.
Day 1 - Winchester to Buriton (~25 miles, 32°C)
I left Winchester at 8am on the Bank Holiday Monday and set off on my journey.
The views were stunning. Rolling hills and the horizon was filled with nothing but green fields and forests. It was just what I had needed. The temperature started of bearable, early on. But as the sun climbed higher in the sky, the temperatures rose intensely. 25 miles per day, consistently over 4 days is quite a challenge, so I knew I had to keep the pace up! I drank lots, and refilled my water at every refill station along the way. I also soaked my head and hat in an attempt to cool myself down.
Despite battling the heat, the first day was a real pleasure. This is largely helped by the fact the pain hadn't kicked in yet. I made it from Winchester, to Buriton, passing through Old Winchester Hill, Butser Hill and Queen Elizabeth Country Park. After walking through a little, I finally found somewhere to Wildcamp in Buriton. I was thoroughly rewarded with the most beautiful sunset that evening!
Day 2 - Buriton to Washington (~25 miles, 30°C)
After a restless sleep, Day 2 also started really well. I was up nice and early, around 4:30am, and again rewarded with the most beautiful sunrise. I made myself a coffee, packed up and was on the trail again by 5:30am.
I checked the weather and I was in for another very hot day. I had to be really careful to ration the water I had left because I was on a stretch of the trail where there was no water refill stations for around 18 miles (between the sustainability center in East Meon and Cocking). I finally made it to Cocking around 9am, where I stopped at a little cafe for another coffee, a sausage bap and some juice for my phone. I also refilled my water bottles and soaked my head to cool off a little.
Feeling thoroughly nourished, I pushed on. Leaving Cocking, I had a really nice wooded section for maybe a couple of hours. This provided some welcome respite from the intense sun. A few more hours in, I could feel the pain in my feet starting to set-in. I had a large blister forming under the pad of my right foot and the souls of my feet were starting to bruise. This was probably a result of the pace I was going to make sure I covered the required distance in a day. Most of the trail is really difficult on the feet - it's uneven terrain formed of hard flint and chalk, which proved pretty difficult to walk on with tired and sore feet.
The second half of this day was when it started to get really challenging. There were large sections of the trail, maybe 3-4 hour sections, where there was no shade whatsoever. I was in direct, intense sunlight on one of the hottest days in May ever recorded. I was well protected, I had factor 50+ SPF sun cream on, a sun hoodie and a large rimmed hat. But, the real issue I was having was trying to keep my core body temperature down. With all the layers on my head, keeping the heat in, I struggled to find opportunities to take the layers off and let the heat escape. Walking at a solid pace, up and down large hills in 30°C temperatures, generates a lot of body heat as I was finding out.
At this point my body was battered and I didn't fancy wild camping again. I had been daydreaming about a shower and a decent night's sleep all day. So I decided to book a campsite in Washington. I arrived there at around 18:15, so I had a solid 13(ish) hours of walking!
After an amazing shower, some hot food and some foot care, I had an early night in an attempt to help my body recover!
Day 3 - Washington to Plumpton (~25 miles, 30°C)
I slept like a baby and my body, and most importantly feet, were feeling OK. I think this would have been helped by the painkillers I had for breakfast!
Day 3 was a great day. The views were stunning as most of the day was spent up on the hills with stretching views of fields and towns either side. Having said that, it was another ridiculously hot day with very little shade. I kept coming across farm animals, who I could tell were also suffering in the heat and also had no shade. I'd often find about 20-25 cows all huddled up trying to find the tiniest bit of shade cast under the only tree in the field.
I passed through Devil's Dyke, Saddlescombe Farm, Pyecombe and Ditchling Beacon and finally found my next campsite at Housedean Farm in Plumpton at around 17:30.
Again, after a nice cool shower, some hot food and more foot care I was asleep by 8pm. I must have looked to strange walking to and from the showers. I was hobbling along barefoot on the edges of my feet because putting any kind of pressure on the souls of my feet was far too painful.
Day 4 - Plumpton to Eastbourne (~25 miles, 29°C)
I was out like a light again and before I knew it, it was 5:00am and I was up and eager to attack the final day! I was in a lot of pain at this point. The painkillers were only taking the edge off and I had developed many more blisters - most painfully on the pads of both feet right below the largest toes.
Mentally, I had broken the day up into two sections. There was the section before I got to the Seven Sisters Country Park and the section after. I knew that if I could make it to the Seven Sisters by around midday, the views and thought of finishing would be enough to help me push through!
The highlights of the section before the Seven Sisters, were the charming little villages of Southease and Alfriston. I'm going to set some time aside in future to go back to Alfriston to explore it properly as my visit this time was fleeting.
I did make it to the Seven Sisters by midday and immediately could feel the cool sea breeze, which was incredible. A breeze was something that had been notably absent in the previous 3 days. The views of the sea and coastline were absolutely stunning - it's no wonder it's a tourist trap. Being surrounded by so many people was something I was not expecting and wasn't really prepared for. After 3 and a half days in pretty much isolation, it was a tough transition to now be surrounded by crowds of people who understandably wanted to enjoy the views from the Seven Sisters on such a beautiful day.
I thoroughly enjoyed my walk along the coast. I made the most of the fresh sea air and cool breeze, savouring it where I could.
I finally reached the end of the trail in Eastbourne at around 4pm, which concluded my 4 day, 100 mile hike across the South Downs. I was broken, relieved and feeling very proud all at the same time. There were so many occasions I felt like giving up, telling myself that it's acceptable to give up because the heatwave was unexpected or my feet just couldn't make it. But in the end I pushed through the pain and discomfort and am so happy I did!
Along the way, when times got tough, I would just repeat a quote from one of my favourite films, Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, which kept me going - "Left leg, right leg. Your body will follow. They call it walking!".
I would do this again in a heartbeat. But I think this has taught me to slow down and enjoy the ride a little. Maybe next time, I'd plan to do it over 6 days so I could explore a little more and save the feet!