Early morning Berwick was quite busy. I have re-evaluated my opinion of the town and I quite like it, just avoid the shabby high stree
t.
The bus arrived bang on time, and went to Kelso without delay. The approaching hills looked very inviting. Joined on the bus by very chatty ex army guy, who talked all the way until we got off. He then turned his spotlight of attention to the woman behind him. The 81a to Kirk Yetholm also on time. Simon just had time to disappear off to buy a paper.
Another chatty guy on this bus. He was off for a spot of illegal fishing, and was showing us his lures and explaining when and where to use different coloured lures.
Cooked porridge on a picnic table on the very fine village green, followed by cup of tea. Locals friendly and also chatty. Must be something in the water.
One of the things I will be missing by doing this walk is participating in the photo recreation of the Peterloo massacre by Red Saunders. To recompense I will be undertaking my own historic recreations of my dad’s pennine way photos. Here are two pictures of Kirk Yetholm separated by 47 years.
Eventually start walking just after 9am. Weather beautiful, blue sky, sunshine, who says October isn't the best month for this walk? Within 2 miles we are in shorts and T shirts.
Looking at the guide book I realise that water is going to be a problem over the next two days. Drop down to Curr Burn to refill my water bottle before reaching the tops, disturbing some wild deer in the process. As I rejoin the path I meet Joshua, who is doing the pennine way from north to south as far as Yorkshire and then has to go for a hospital appointment. We Will see more of him later.
Great walking with fab views. We reach a mountain bothy, the Auchope Hut, for lunch. Still sunny but now very windy, so we go inside to eat – teabread with butter and cheese. Joshua joins us. He is fuelled by oat cakes and peanut butter.
After lunch it's a long slog up to the Auchope cairn. Only 500 feet of climbing but it seems to go on forever. Simon is dithering about the value of doing the 2 ½ mile detour to visit the summit of the Cheviot. At the cairn we meet a chatty couple. Her view is that you cannot claim to have done the walk if you skip the Cheviot. So we make our visit
Meet our first south to north walker as we rejoin the main route. He seemed unable to talk, had rain cover on rucksack, and looked in a world of his own desperate to reach the end of his trek. Definitely not a happy bunny.
The rest of the afternoon was spent in a mainly downhill gradual descent. Weather still great, but you can see that the Cheviots could be very grim if they had a mind to be. As it was they remained very kind, playful almost.
The last person we meet was doing the Cheviot Challenge. He complimented is on our ‘military bearing’. Must have been the way I had reattached Simon's walking pole so that it was straight on his rucksack. He also told us that Joshua had had to go into hospital recently where he had been told off about his poor and inadequate diet.
Our target for the day was Windy Gyle. I was worried by the wind and the prospect of camping in it. Windy Gyle didn't sound like where we wanted to be.
But found a lovely campsite, nestling in the Lee of a pine forest just before the final climb up to W Gyle. Pitched the tent and made our tea. Couscous with a mince and tomato sauce. Fantastic! Only missing some red wine.
Now dark and the stars are out. Off to bed soon...zzzzzzz
Distance walked today 15 miles
Total distance 15 miles
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.