I slept like a baby, and my first impression upon waking, was that my feet felt much better. I could just stand on them, unlike the evening before when getting off the bed involved an inelegant “downward facing dog” to makes sure I loaded up each foot gradually before standing! I fitted my cushioned insoles, that I bought last night. I was slightly sceptical about the “one size fits all” claim, but it turns out size 12 fits perfectly without any cutting. At last an advantage to having big feet – I knew there must be one! I went for breakfast, a simple but extensive buffet spread all around the bar area, on the bar, tables, chairs, everywhere. It would take quite a few visits to become expert in what was on offer and where it is located. I did “cook” my own microwave poached eggs. Despite the breakfast offering, I knew today would be a long day, so I got going by 8:30. I joined all the parents and kids walking through town, as the school and footpath were in the same place. There was quite a crowd waiting to get into the school. Is this a new thing? Although I’m pretty sure I was never early for school, so who knows!

It turned out this is the most people I would see all day. I would say in 40km I saw less than 5 people on the path. It was a real contrast to yesterday, which seemed busier, but upon reflection was just in the Lee Valley Park where there were lots of people using it. So today was solitude, nature and magnificent landscapes (and huge skies). The route was really nice, it was all nice countryside where the fields got bigger and bigger as I went furher north. A few small hamlets and fair amount of wildlife. One observation was, as I’m generally walking north, I became my own personal sundial and noticeably track the sun.

On the wildlife front, yesterday, as I was approaching Ware, I stopped to watch a bird of prey swooping and circling. It was very hypnotic. Anyway, when I’m cycling I would normally attribute it as an “Eagle” as I never get a good look or the chance to remember key features. Anyway walking gives you time, and this Eagle is a Red Kite (putting my tin helmet on in readiness for upsetting the keen birders). This morning I had an excellent view of another, who was circling and gliding miles away before returning. We followed each other for over 15 minutes. It really set the scene for today’s walk, with plenty of thinking time about life the universe and everything. Ask me about my feelings for being a Red Kite – its a bit too heavy for here, and my views on crop circles, of which I found conclusive evidence!

The biggest problem today was the lack of any services (shops, pubs – mainly water). The only shops I found were at Puckeridge, which at about third distance. I was already thirsty by then and had been conserving my water (I only had 0.75 litre) as the sun had been belting down on my back all morning. I went into the first shop I found, no sandwiches, so a sausage roll and pie had to do. I bought another bottle of water, but upon reflection, I should have bought more as there was no more shops until the end. Except the fancy bakers, a few shops further along the road. I’d already bought dodgy Ginsters, so couldn’t really justify a really luscious looking roll as well. When I’m cycling it is so easy to do a quick recce of the street before parking, when walking you can’t risk passing a shop and have to go back. I think this whole paragraph is saying that I really should do more planning – I agree and will take it on board.

The rest of the day continued in a similar vein, mainly scouring graveyards for water taps. This works in France, but was 100% unsuccessful in Hertfordshire. I did consider a rainwater butt taking water off a churches roof, but I thought it might be a desperate action. I then adopted the principle of asking anyone in their front garden if I could fill my bottle, but typically, once I had decided this, there was no one to ask. I even resorted to Google maps looking for groceries, etc. Nothing was near my route. Except for an isolated Indian Resturant. I felt sure there must be a corner shop in a village with a restaurant. There wasn’t, but it was open and filled my bottle, with chilled water bottles ready to go on the tables. Very nice.

The big thing I’m not mentioning is how hard this leg was. I think the heat, my already tired legs, my hurting feet (my soles felt bruised) and lack of water, made this one of the hardest days walking I’d ever done. The profile shows all the hills are all at the end of the day, but nevertheless, I was really pushing myself to walk 3km in an hour. I’d started off well with 10km every 2 hours (including rests). But at the end of the day, I slowly walked through Royston, taking frequent rests by leaning on a lamppost. Sitting on benches was tempting but it was so hard to get back up! Earlier on, after resting on a downhill section, I saw an abandoned school bus, I thought I’d hole up in it until I’d recovered. Then I remembered the sad story of Chris McCandless aka Alexander Supertramp, from John Krakauer’s book “Into the Wild,” and thought I’d better press on.

I’m going to have to reevaluate my plan, I felt like giving it up, but I bought a “period return” from Royston – so deep inside me there must be a force wanting to carry on! It was a low cost show of faith, as a period return was only £6 more than a single :)