Day 5 - Yalding to Sevenoaks

The route (all links open in a new window)
Start point: Headcorn
w3w: ///ambient.belief.guilty
Distance: 13 miles
Accompanying video

I had a look at the maps for the next few days and, whichever way I looked at it, Yalding to Sevenoaks was going to be a relatively short day. I predicted around 13 miles (it ended up being 13.6 miles including the filming 'miles').

Yalding is a quaint village which is worth a visit if you like canoeing, Alpaca, and Teapots! I'm sure there is much more to do in Yalding but those are a few of the highlights as seen on Tripadvisor. Yalding is still fairly close to home so this maintained the feel it was a walk in my backyard so to speak but by the end of the day I would have ventured into not necessarily new territory but it would certainly be far enough away to no longer consider it my home town. The adventure is starting to feel a bit more like an adventure now.

Yalding is also right on the Greensand Way (the trail I have been following for the last few days) and it was within the first few miles that I hit some hills. I'm writing this after day 6 and I can say I had no idea of hills on day 5! I knew the hills were likely to start on this days walk and start they did. At the time it was a shock to the system but I quickly changed my motivational gear and simply got on with it.

This is how I approach hills normally: - Try not to seek the top of a hill. If you are always looking for the top whilst trudging upwards it can seem soul destroying. - Lean into the hill so that my centre of gravity is pulling me forward and... - Keep stepping! No matter how small the stride, keep making steps to offset the lean. Not necessarily shuffling steps but smaller and faster strides may help. I try to keep momentum. - Try not to stop. As soon as you stop lactic acid will start building which means getting going again is HARD! - If you have to stop know that the feeling of fatigue when you restart will dissipate. It is mind over matter. I say "normally" above because filming a hike will often mean stopping, setting a camera up, flying a drone, etc. but this is a routine I am learning and I am sure I can make it work better with practice.

What goes up must come down again ... and collect the camera then go back up!

I have worked out that filming adds 1 mile of walking per 10 miles of route. This is not too bad but the time it takes is probably more of an impact on the energy reserves. Setting the drone up for a few seconds of footage can take 20+ minutes when flight checks are taken into consideration. However, the footage is nearly always worth it and gives a perspective that most of us never see.

Drone shots - time consuming but nearly always worth it!

I made my way to Shipbourne and rustled up a quick meal of dehydrated mac and cheese (a food sent from the Gods especially when you are hungry!) Shipbourne seemed to offer very little but did have a seemingly nice pub that served food so if you were thinking of following in my footsteps, this would be a decent place to get refuelled.

There was no time for me to be stopping in pubs though and I, once again, set off along my Greensand Way and up onto a ridge which gave some dramatic and awe inspiring views. Views are something we can all appreciate but I find them very hard to capture in film/photography. Maybe it's because I'm trying to translate a lot of depth and grandeur onto a small 2D plane. Hopefully though the videos I'm making do give you a sense of what can be experienced though.

Big views on the ridge after Shipbourne

The highest point of the day was One Tree Hill which, had I known what it was going to be like, I would have saved my lunch for now, in this moment because there is a viewing point that is magnificent. Again the imagery doesn't do it justice but to be this insignificant human looking out over this countryside was humbling and swelled my heart with contentment.

One Tree hill. Epic.

Looking back on today's walk I would say the last third of it was park after park linked together to form a corridor which I am sure is not coincidental seeing as there is an environmental benefit (and push) to creating such corridors. The linking of these parks did not seem forced though and so, as a transient hiker, I wasn't left feeling like I was just ticking the parks off. Thinking more on this subject there has clearly been a lot of work put into this. As someone who worked in IT support I used to say "you know when you have done a good job when no one notices you did anything." I think the same applies here in the 'wild' countryside.

A final stroll through Knole Park, wondering at the partially tame deer, and my day was done. I'd arrived at Sevenoaks. I knew the next day was going to be a big one and as already explained, I am writing Day 5 having already walked Day 6 and can say that Day 6 really was a LONG day!

I hope you enjoyed todays ramblings. Don't forget to give the accompanying video a look!