Wednesday, 11 September 2019

Pennine Way Day 1: Kirk Yetholm - Mozie Law

Tuesday 10 Sept 2019
20 miles
20 miles total

Up early for breakfast at 7am and was away by 8.30, glad to be actually walking after all that travel. My B&B, Blunty's Mill was very comfortable.
Once you leave KY you get a choice of a high route or a low route. They meet up after a few miles but there is more climbing on the high route(because it has more downs). Still I went that way, can't take the soft option on day one, can you? I made reasonable time and got ti the Auchope hut by about 1pm. Then a stiff climb, followed by a detour to visit the summit of The Cheviot, highest point in the Cheviot hills at 820m.
After that, I just carried on towards Byrness. I had hoped to reach the other mountain hut, at Yearning Saddle, but having lost an hour or more going to The Cheviot, I ran out of time. The sky began to darken and I looked for somewhere to put up the tent. That took a while because it was getting quite windy and the Cheviots are very short of shelter. Eventually I found a small gully that seemed a little sheltered and up went the tent. Good timing because it soon started to rain and the wind has become quite strong.
All in all a successful first day.. a bit more walking than I really should have done perhaps, but it will leave less to do tomorrow

These are called the Stob Stones. Note the cloud..

This is the border fence between England and Scotland.. here I am still in Scotland though there is a track on the other side too, for Anglophiles

Still cloud about but it is lifting

Tbe auchope hut. 


Peculiar trig point on top of The Cheviot.. 

Selfie.  Nobody else about!

Navigating the Cheviots must have been a total nightmare before they started laying these flagstones ..




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