June 2018 – From the Bottom to the Top

Back home again

3rd June 2018

Penny is ill, so I travelled home yesterday afternoon. (Update 7th June: now substantially recovered)

Yesterday’s Jaffa-cake-sponge coffee shop was the second part of an anxious wait. The first was a rather decent haircut that left lots of cut hairs stuck to my suncreamed face and neck.

Sitting in a busy bus shelter, another hour ticked away as I waited for news. I checked train timetables, as the window for getting home that night gradually closed. The decision of a hospital admission for an ear infection finally came. A bus to Edinburgh, a train to Manchester via York (pouring with rain in Newcastle), a tram: just 6 hours after leaving Peebles I was home. Quite remarkable speed really: I even squeezed in a refreshing shower at Edinburgh station. The hospital allowed a late visit. Everyone hugged & I then crawled gratefully into bed at home.

My resumption point will be Peebles, rather than Spean Bridge. But that’s next year at least.

It’s been great, unbelievable at times that I was even doing it. Some days brought a euphoria I have rarely experienced: a thrill at the vastness & beauty or desolation of the landscape. Others just the determination to keep going (Wenlock Edge). I am going to reflect on all this for quite some time.

A big thanks to everyone who joined me for a day (or more!) and for the happy companionship of the Pennine Way walkers. Bonne marche a tous!

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Putting on my normal shoes today feels very odd, and my balance is unsteady. I must have relied on the walking poles a lot!

I am also allowing myself to acknowledge that my feet and knees are sore. That my body in general is feeling very tired, and I am grateful for a longer rest. I have been away from home for a very long time.

But today is also a celebration day: The Botanist in Manchester will see us (only two!) raising some cocktails to Clara’s 18th birthday! (Exactly 18 years ago yesterday I did a mad dash across country in Ireland, but that’s another story).

Weight obsession corner:

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Finishing weights:

Bodyweight: 71.1 kg (I visibly haven’t burned off all the calories that my walking appetite demanded. I call it “Mr Podge”)

I left a pair of gloves in the Newtown St Boswell bookshop.

Full Kit review:

Rucksack: Osprey Talon 33: 915g
Packed clothing: green waterproof bag; waterproof socks (Sealskinz); pair Ron Hill trousers; pair underpants; pair woollen socks; pullover fleece; sun hat; warm hat. Total: 905g
Waterproofs: Montane jacket (455g); gortex trousers (240g). Total 695g
Washbag: 2 fleece towels: 105g, soap 55g, mossie head net 25g, suncreams 110g, toiletries 130g, repair kit, plasters etc 115g; compass 45g; mapcase 75g. Total 685g
Electronics bag: Kindle; folding plug; battery pack; cables; backup mobile phone; iPhone (145g): Total 820g
Sunglasses and case:
Poles: Pair Fizan with added lengths of sticky tape. Total 380g
Wearing: pair Ron Hill trousers (210g); pair underpants (65g); pair woollen socks (75g); Paramo long sleeve shirt (210g); zip-fleece (370g), money belt & contents (140g); spectacles (?). Total: 1075g
Walking boots:
Tent with poles, pegs & carry bag (980g); footprint ( 140g). Total 1120g
Sleeping bag; compressor sack; pump sack. Total: 910g
Thermarest Neoair plus repair kit. Total 395g

missing: gloves

Day 57 Innerleithen to Peebles

2nd June 2018

Weather: Hot & humid start. First rumbles of thunder at 10:40. Rain in Peebles from 13:30, with thunderstorms forecast for the rest of the afternoon.

The “5 miles” route along the tarmac’d former railway line was pleasant enough, spoiled only by the noise of traffic on a nearby road. It was also a gauntlet of barking, snappy dogs. Why do dog owners think it’s funny? Also notable for kamikaze snails crossing the path in baking sunshine.

A “Tweedside path” sign misled me to a dead-end and fence-climb, but followed by a pleasant riverside walk into the busy Saturday shopping centre of Peebles. At 12km, it was half as much again as I was expecting, but still the shortest ‘day’ so far.

Papaver

Don’t think I have seen hawthorn this colour before

Canoeing lessons

Approaching Peebles centre

Jaffa cake sponge in the Ramblers Cafe. Proprietress found its wobble hilarious

Day 56 Melrose to Innerleithen

1st June 2018

Weather: Hot, sunny, windless to start. Cloud built up, some light wind on exposed ridges. Heavy rain with thunder and lightning late afternoon.

That was quite a day! A good getaway at 07:40, knowing the forecast of thunderstorm at 4pm where I was headed. The brief walk along the riverside was cooler, but several up & down hills on the Southern Uplands way was hot work. Substantial parts of it were shaded by trees until the exposed ridge up to Three Brethen, and the 5 miles to Minch Moor (tree-felling having removed some of the forest marked on the map). But this gave some fabulous panoramic views: showers ahead of me, and the rounded hills. The Eildon Hills above Melrose were visible most of the day, just shrinking gently with time.

The thundery weather was on time. Fortunately I was just descending from the high ridge, but got a generous dousing of rain, with thunder that sounded like ripping and tearing above my head. Some sheet lightning. Reached Traquair Arms hotel in Innerleithen at 17:25. My track-recording stopped earlier, I assume as a “power saving” measure.

It was quite a long way, and the heat made it an even more tiring day. 3 litres of water carried from the start (heavy) and all consumed.