Stunning weather

Waking up in my tent greeted by a beautiful sunrise, I packed up camp and headed off down the beaten track. The sky was clear and the sun just rising. I knew the weather was going to be perfect, but soaring temperatures would be rising.

Beautiful views

As the South Downs continues, it ascends and decends over the tops of the downs and through various nature reserves. The views from the tops in the clear weather enabled me to see for miles.

Meon Springs

A very welcome break around midday at the Meon Springs Fishing resort. At Meon Springs you’ll find a small shop and café with a seating area. At the time they only accepted cash payments though.

Over the A3

Plenty of miles being crushed today, already I found myself crossing the A3 after going through Queen Elizabeth country park.

Ran out of water

The temperatures continued to soar and after crossing the A3 I started to run out of water. Luckily a farmhouse was near the trail with a garden tap which I could fill my water bottles up at. This tap, however, wasn’t registered on the water points PDF.

Elevation

This is was the first full day of hiking and it quickly became obvious that the trail would begin joining the tops of the downs and then descend down to roads and crossings. this would be a repeating pattern for the entire hike.

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