What's in store?

It's the question I keep asking myself. Here I am, the day before setting out to walk the Ridgeway Path with my partner Margaret, wondering what's in store over the next 8 days?

If all goes to plan, my friend Joan will be coming over to pick us up at 10am tomorrow morning. She has kindly agreed to drive us to the start of the Ridgeway at Overton Hill (3 miles west of Marlborough). That should take us about 45 minutes so by 11am we should have our rucksacks on and be on our way. We are hoping to raise money for a charity called Arts Together by doing the walk and Karolyne who runs the charity has said she will be there to wave us off.

The path is 87 miles long and we have planned for it to take us eight days. The b&b's are all booked so it will just be a case of walking (plodding?) along each day to our next destination. The first day is a 'taster' as we only have 9 miles to cover to Ogbourne St George. Then things get a bit more 'interesting' .. we have two 13 mile days (to Woolstone and East Ilsley) before a shorter day of 7 miles to Streatley. The second half of the walk was easier to plan for overnight stops so we have three 11 mile days (Wallingford, Chinnor, Wendover) before the final 12 mile walk to Ivinghoe Beacon. Some of my family have promised to meet us on the last day - the path passes close to Tring where they all live and my sister and brother-in-law plan to meet up with us in Tring Park. Then my brother-in-law plans to join us for the last few miles walking to the end of the path. Which is where my sister will be waiting to meet us and to transport us to our hotel. Where, after eight days walking, we will no doubt be indulging in some heavy-duty rest and relaxation.

The daily walking will be just like the Thames Path last year with two main differences. Last year was basically flat - we walked from the Thames Barrier to the source but the incline was so slight it wasn't noticeable. This time we have proper hills to contend with. And the Thames Path was largely peaceful for long stretches - parts of the western half of the Ridgeway can be used by motorbikes and 4x4's as well as walkers, cyclists and horse riders. So it has the potential to be noisier and busier. I just hope that after the weekend, things will quieten down a bit.

The biggest unknown is of course the weather. But come rain or shine, we will be walking the path so we've tried to get the correct gear to make things as comfortable as possible.

I will be trying to keep this blog updated as we walk (wi-fi access permitting) so pop back to check on our progress and I'll try not to whinge too much about my tired legs, sore feet, blisters, the weather etc. etc. .....