Step 3 - Peebles to Selkirk

 

Le packing.

Sleeping bag

Sleep mat

Waterproof jacket

Thin puffer jacket

Two sets of thermals

2 spare pants and 2 walking socks

Crocs

Hat

Scarf

Gloves

Fingerless gloves

Walking sticks

Ground sheet

Tent pegs

Dog food

Dog treats

2 small bags nuts

Camping bowl

Keep cup

Spork

I.75l of water

Sun lotion 

Smidge

Toiletries- toothbrush, toothpaste, face wipes, small broken deodorant crystal, paracetamol, antihistamine, interdental toothbrushes, lip salve

Sunglasses 

Phone

Pillow case

Banana in banana holder

Head torch

Dog bowl

Miniature pot of honey

Teabags 

Lunch 

I was travelling light. Robert takes up the heavier load; he needs a handicap in order to slow him down to my pace. So in addition he was carrying,

Phone charger

Primus 

Loo roll 

3 pans

Metal thing for shielding the stove

Porridge 

Tent

More water

Coffee

Porridge

Pasta

Pesto

Coffee

Coffee press

Coffee mate

Mini grater

Stirring implement

On the 20th April we drove to Peebles, dropping Mojo off at Nine Mile Burn en route. At Peebles we changed into our walking boots and set off on a beautiful sunny day, just the one we'd be waiting for, for the last 6 months!

We picked up the Tweed Trails Old Drove Road in the direction of the Yarrow Valley and headed south, into the hills above Peebles. 

                                            

It was gloriously sunny but with an Arctic chill so we stopped only briefly for lunch. 

Continuing over the hills we came across what we thought was a dead lamb until it lifted its head  and bleated. The rest of the flock were at the bottom of the hill, and having found it too weak to stand, Robert carried it down the hill to what we hoped was the farmhouse, where a woman answered the door via a camera phone and said she would call the shepherd. We hope the poor lamb survived its adventure.

By the time we reached Traquair we were tired and ready to set camp. We made dinner, using water from the river to boil our pasta, and more importantly to dilute a little whisky. 

As the sun went down, we retreated to the tent and were asleep by 8.30, soothed by the babbling burn. Only to wake at 11.30pm, in time for bed! Half an hour of phone reading (Wolf Hall, what else) and I was back to sleep until 7am when we awoke to frost on the grass and ice in last night's pots and pans. 

We waited for the sun to come up over the hill and dry off the tent before we packed up. Although footsore the night before, my toes were fixed after a good night's sleep, thankfully, because, after a gentle start, our journey took us up a steep hill through a forest. Am now a complete convert to two walking sticks, crucial for hauling myself and my pack uphill.

Beyond the forest, having walked along the ridge we joined Minch Moor. Minchmoor Road (now part of the Southern Upland Way) was once the main route across southern Scotland. Edward I and his army travelled along here in 1296 in his attempt to conquer the 'northern kingdom'. Centuries later, Sir Walter Scott's mother tells of crossing this route 'when a girl, in a coach and six, on her way to a ball at Peebles, several footmen marching on either side of the carriage to prop it up or drag it out of the moss hag.' Proper princess behaviour!

We passed the Cheese Well, a shrine to the local fairies. 

After a warming lunch of toasted cheesy flatbreads with olives (thanks for that top tip, Al, no thanks to the cheese fairies), we picked up the Cross Borders Drove Road and continued on our way to our pre-booked yurt in the Yarrow Valley. 

Bloody luxury, cooking on a roasting hot stove, playing scrabble, drinking wine and sleeping on an actual bed. No ice on the pots the following morning but sleep disturbance from a noisy pheasant strutting on our roof.

Dog tired.

Day 3 and we headed onto more forest paths

Spot the yurt

and passed ugly tree cemeteries.

 

Excitement of the morning was coming upon the intriguing Newark Tower

with its confusing information board that referred to these towers being built between the 3rd and 7th century, as places in which clans could live together to protect from raids by reivers (cattle rustlers), but then stated that the tower was built in 1423...

Later we walked along the River Yarrow, seeing masses of spring flowers and countless herons.

The Yarrow joined Ettrick Water which we crossed via a narrow causeway, only to find what looked suspiciously like human faeces floating along its edge. Not good, Scottish Water, pumping sewage into our rivers like the other water companies. 

We reached our final destination, Selkirk, at lunchtime that day. Reaching 'civilisation' is often a grave disappointment, after the pleasures of the countryside. But some of the satisfaction of ending the journey is marvelling at how far we've walked, whilst we journey home by bus and car. 

I've made the mistake of retrospectively writing this, months after the actual walk, using our photos as reference. This is something I need to remedy by either blogging along the way with an iPad or maybe taking a notebook and pen and recording the journey whilst we're doing it. Remember the old days, when you could stop off at an internet cafe and send news home? Reader, those days are gone.