This Walk on the Wall is About Helping Others to Help Themselves

On and on and on went the wall. On and on we plodded. But all in a very good cause. At some of our rest stops we reminded ourselves just why we were doing this; why we were putting up with aching legs and other muscles that were finding us out. We were doing it to help others who are doing it tough in other ways in their daily lives… every day… and without the views.

And as I stood in this crumbling ruin, I remembered so many others who did it tough…

the men who built the wall in the first place all those centuries ago;

the soldiers who lived in these towers to guard their country from invaders.

I was here in this magnificent landscape for but a brief time.

No wonder I could smile.

And it was not only the construction of the wall that I found amazing.

 So too, were the many small things I found.

Just look at the incredible construction of this caterpillar

…and the way this flower is formed… delicate but intricate.

…and another quite stunning caterpillar… just don’t touch!

…and here’s a piece of architectural and engineering ingenuity displayed in a caterpillar!

Tiny but quite wonderful.

When you think about how pines conserve water with those needle like leaves

and hold their seeds in cones until just the right moment

Nature is very inventive, isn’t it?

I think these are Sedum sp.

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Looking up and out again… the Wall does seem endless.

Just the floor of a second story watch-tower, the rest had disappeared over the Centuries.

But, it still provided an elevated platform for a better view.

Great care was needed on some parts of the path… like this piece…

a steep drop off awaited anyone who slipped.

The distance between towers was not far on this stretch of the wall.

Iris sp.

A view to the side. No Wall in sight.

The distance between towers might be shorter but the steps seem to get steeper.

And those steps are not restored. Difficult going here.

At times the wall branches. Which way to our bed for the night?

We’re getting weary. It’s been a long, hard day.

I’m so pleased that I put in the months of training to be fit for the task!

More steep steps. But we were almost there… or so we were told.

And at last, our end point for the day…with a rather magnificent statue to greet us.

End of day two of the walk… only three days to go!

Does anyone want my spare lactic acid?

David

All Photography Copyright ©  David Young of jtdytravels

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