Morebattle to Windy Gyle: E2 Day 52

Today I left St Cuthbert's Way and climbed into the Cheviot mountains on the more famous Pennine Way.

I woke up stiff and tottered to the toilet. Most mornings I am stiff. Some of it is due to the hiking but I experience a similar lack of flexibility getting out of bed at home as well. An effect of age and arthritis I suppose. A few exercises and my mobility gradually improves. At first I can only reach a few inches below my knees with my legs straight, but after gently trying it ten times I can reach the line between lightly tanned and white skin which marks where my socks end. I have always been rather inflexible, maybe as a child I could reach my toes but not since then. I dread to think of a time when I cannot do up my laces or get up off the floor if I fall, so I keep up with my morning exercises whenever possible. 

I went for a lighter continental breakfast this morning. The eggs, bacon, sausage, mushrooms, toast, etc. typical of British hotel and bed & breakfast establishments (quite different from what people eat at home) can be rather heavy on the stomach when walking. 

Leaving Morebattle I climbed into the hills reaching the highest point on St Cuthbert's Way, Wideopen hill. The name is a good description as there should have been extensive views all around, however the weather was not so favourable, wishing to show off cloud formations rather than distant hills. However the Cheviot hills I am about to climb could be seen, topped by cloud. Before that I dropped down into Town Yetholm and posted the Southern Upland Way guidebook back home to (slightly) lighten my load. I am carrying two days food up into the mountains which adds to my weight, as the next few days are through remote areas.

View from St Cuthbert's Way, clouds obscuring distant hills.

A little farther in Kirk Yetholm I looked for a plaque unveiled in 1999, 23 years ago when the E2 was first inaugurated in Britain. Failing to find it I asked a passer-by and the lady at the Border Hotel, without success. Even the E2 waymark on the finger post for the start of the Pennine Way was missing, a waymark I had seen before. By the look of the post it had been recently replaced and presumably that was when the E2 insignia disappeared. 

The Border Hotel is where you can collect your free half pint of beer for finishing the Pennine Way, thanks now to a local brewery. You can also collect a Pennine Way completion certificate or even order a wooden plaque to mark your achievement. Over lunch I looked at the logbook where Pennine Way completers can leave their comments (or at least those walking the route in a northerly direction). Finishing the 435 kilometre Pennine Way, Britain's oldest National Trail, gave many people a lot of justifiable satisfaction at their achievement. I was pleased to see comments by an asthma sufferer and a 70 year old. Age and health need not prevent you finishing a long distance trail, it does not matter if it takes you a little longer.

Leaving Kirk Yetholm on a single track road I was hit by a sudden squall of rain. On putting down my rucksack to don my waterproofs I was shocked when it tumbled down into a ditch hidden by vegetation. Landing upside down my water bottle and Garmin GPS fell out of its pockets. The rucksack and bottle were easily retrieved but my GPS, loaded with my route and digital map were somewhere in the water lying in the bottom of the ditch. While I had navigational back up in the shape of my phone, the GPS was more suitable for lengthy use, especially in poor weather. Feeling around with my hands among the grass, thistles and water I was glad to find it, no worse for its wetting.

Looking back down the Pennine Way on the climb up the Cheviots. Given the blue skies it may be difficult to believe it was photographed on the same day as the others here. It shows how much the weather can change in the same day.

Climbing into the Cheviots I looked back frequently at the ever extending views, right over to the North Sea. Sometimes when plodding up a hill I forget to look around and appreciate the scenery and the height gain I have achieved. A herd of cows blocked my way. Some might have been the Belted Galloway cattle that I had been looking for on my walk on the Southern Upland Way, a breed unique to the area. They are black with a wide white "belt" around their middle. However some of these cattle were all black. Their thick coats were well suited to the harsh weather that can be encountered in these mountains. 

Reaching the first refuge on the Cheviot section of the Pennine Way at about 4:00 pm, I considered stopping the night in this small cabin. However there were still a few hours of daylight and I had not completed the 25 kilometres that I had planned for, delayed by lunch at the Border Inn, so I continued on, mainly in an upward direction. As the wind increased in strength, with intermittent rain, I began to wonder if I had made a wise decision. 

The path was wet, and muddy in parts, with standing water to avoid. Elsewhere, slabs of rock had been laid which made for faster walking. They also meant I could look at my surroundings rather than where I put each foot to avoid tripping or losing my footing in a wet or muddy hole. And the view was dramatic, light and shade, beams of sunlight, moving over hills near and far, under a generally grey overcast sky. Rain periodically attacked me, the wind driving the drops into my side.

A beam of sunlight over the hills.

A trig point painted a brilliant white stood out among the murky surroundings. 

I set up my tent with difficulty at a location I used on my first trip down the Pennine Way. A junction with a cross trail a little before the path climbed up to the summit of aptly named Windy Gyle. There was a rare area of flat grass, large enough for my tent, beside the crossing. Unfortunately as I unrolled my tent it began flapping madly in the wind, immediately anchoring it with a peg I managed to erect it, but am hoping nothing breaks overnight given the battering the thin nylon was taking.