12th May 2024: Trows to Byrness – 15.5 miles
I’m a day behind myself on the journal front. It’s the morning of day 3 and it’s about 6.20am, I’m lying on my bed in Forest View, trying to catch up, but wishing I was still asleep! I’ve been awake for over an hour, although I’ve only just got up and washed.
Yesterday was certainly easier than day 1 but it wasn’t an easy day per se. There were very few flat bits, it was either long slow ascent or long descents, with the occasional knee trembling steep rocky descent thrown in to keep me on my toes.
Just like tea the night before, breakfast was a lively, convivial affair and the food was good again. I didn’t hang around for long though once I was done, and I headed back to my room to pack for the day. Once again I could pack light, leaving most of my gear in my room. That allowed me to over compensate with fluids, and I brimmed my bladder and filled the two plastic bottles I’d used yesterday. The pack still felt heavy, and I shudder to think what it will feel like tomorrow (later today) when I leave Forest View and head for Bellingham.
A little before 9am I was downstairs getting my boots on and picking up the sausage roll I’d ordered for lunch and chatting with the other guys. There was 6 of us getting the shuttle back to Trows, the other 5 guys were all finishing today and the group of 4 were all in high spirits, although one of them was faffing about so much we didn’t leave until well after 10 past.
I managed to call shotgun again so was spared the crush in the back and chatted with Laura as she drove. We had to stop for sheep on the road at one point. A large flock of ewes and lambs being driven down the road towards us. Not sure where to park for the best, and unwilling to block a gate in case it was their destination, she pulled to the side of the road as best she could. The sheep, stupid, stupid creatures, obviously never having seen a vehicle before went bonkers as they passed us. A tiny lamb bolted back up the road, quickly followed by two others. The two sheep dogs leapt after it and we could see them getting very frustrated with it and eventually dragged it to the floor and appeared to be mauling it. The shepherds were on them like a flash, dragging them off and rescuing the lamb, who looked a bit battered when it was carried past us. One of the shepherds mildly scolded Laura for not parking in the entrance to the gate and when Laura said she thought that was maybe their goal the shepherd simply said ‘we’ll always be going to the pens’ which I thought was a bit harsh.
Laura’s not allowed to collect people from the farm at Trows, as the owners don’t like people hanging around the farm waiting for collection (which is fair enough I think), but she’s allowed to drop us off there, which shaved half a mile off the day, which was nice.
A bit more faffing ensued at the drop off, but I didn’t really want to walk as a group so I said my farewells and headed out, only a few seconds behind Nigel, the other solo walker, who obviously had the same idea. The group of four followed a couple of minutes behind us. We pretty much stayed in that formation all the way up the hill. I passed Nigel at one point but he passed me a few minutes later. It was clear he wanted to walk alone too, as the minute he’d got out of the minibus, he’d put his headphones in. That suited me fine.
The ascent back to Windy Gyle was relentless but not too taxing, it never gets especially steep and I used Nigel as a tow for most of the way. I arrived sweating and puffing at the top while he seemed mostly unphased by the climb. I guess the previous 16 or 17 days of walking he’s done have given him the better hill legs, despite the 14kg of pack he was carrying.
We shook hands and wished each other well and he set of right and I headed for the trig point. As I returned back to the path, the four guys arrived. Three of them were coming back to Forest View, albeit very late, and so I shook hands with guy I wouldn’t see again and we went our different ways.
It was quite windy on top now, which kept the temperature down, but it was also in my face so didn’t make the walking any easier. It also threatened my Tilley, which I was hoping would prevent my face from getting too burnt. Heading south is unusual on long distance paths, and does mean you’re walking into the sun most of the time.
The elevation profile for the day suggests that there’s one big climb and then pretty much nothing else for the rest of the day. But it’s obviously deceptive, and the fact that there’s hardly a single flat half mile along this whole section made for a tough day. Nothing like as tough as yesterday of course, but I was definitely flagging later.
The route pretty much follows the border fence, with the odd little deviation as it cuts a corner here and there. There are some sections of flag stones again, over the worst boggy bits, but for the most part you’re walking on soft springy turf, or dancing across what a couple of weeks ago would have been deep sucking bogs. The recent dry and hot weather has reduced these though, so although they were still wet, they weren’t deep or difficult.
A mile or so after Windy Gyle I passed a young couple walking their dog and a couple of miles before the Lamb Hill refuge I met a couple of ladies. They both looked done in, and they stopped to talk. They said they were heading for Windy Gyle and they’d ascended by Blind Burn which, although there is a right of way, has no defined path and they’d had an awful time of it. They were debating going back, but I told them they were over the worst and the rest of the ridge path was fine and the path down to Trows and their car was a doddle. They seemed relieved and decide to press on.
I’d taken a couple of short breaks on handy rocks and on a large toppled fence post, but I stopped again, for lunch at the refuge hut. It was still very windy, so I sat inside with the door open, so I could look out. I was in no rush today, no pickup to meet and although I couldn’t get back into Forest View until 4pm it was unlikely I’d get there much before that time even if I pushed it.
My knees were beginning to feel quite sore, especially on the descents, which always seemed steeper than the climbs and although neither went on for very long, there seemed to lots of them. The path climbed up many rocky knolls and then dropped down the other side. I was longing for a nice flat section and sure enough, on the approach to Ravens Knowe I met a long stretch of duck boards that were as close to flat as I’d had all day. They were a joy to walk on, although one or two were loose, so I needed to be careful and step in the middle of them.
The path beside the forest (or what remained of it) seemed to go on forever. I kept expecting to see the cairn that marked the descent point, but it never arrived. There always seemed to be one more climb and descent to get over.
I think I must have been tired because my main memory of this section was how sore my knees were and how annoyed I was that it seemed to be taking so long. The cairn soon hove into view of course, but not before I narrowly avoided going arse over tit as I misjudged my footing while crossing some large boulders (trying to avoid a huge boggy bit) and only just managed to prevent a nasty fall by a lucky jump onto another boulder.
The descent down to Byrness was gruesome and I really struggled. I had no bounce left in my knees and as the path down was mainly a series of large steps onto lower boulders I made heavy work of it. Each step down was jarring and made my knees even more sore. I took it really slowly, it would be so easy to make a mistake here and hurt myself.
The path has changed dramatically since the last time I came up here. The trees that used to line the path have all gone, and quite recently too if the freshness of the cuts on the stumps are anything to go by. It looks bloody awful. I kept an eye out for the portable TV that I’d seen on both my previous ascents and which I knew had been spotted quite recently by another north to south walker, who’s blog I’d read. I didn’t see it though, so I guess it must have been disposed of, along with all the lovely trees that surrounded it!
I reached the road and walked beside it for a while, before cutting left into Byrness village and Forest View. Laura was in the reception conservatory, talking with a solo walker, who I later learned was Dave from British Columbia in Canada. I made my evening meal order, and requested a cold drink to take up to my room. As we sat there chatting it began to rain! It didn’t last long, but I’d missed it by just a minute or two. It was only 4.15 and at that point I was determined to catch up with the journal. So I made my excuses and headed upstairs.
I showered and sat on my bed. There was almost three hours until tea was served, but I must admit I was shattered and my knees were still sore. I took some Paracetamol and Ibuprofen and tried to have a little nap. Sod the journal! The big barking dog in the garden of the house across the village green was determined to scupper any plans I had for a nap though and in the end I just lay there, listening to some music, resting my eyes and letting the painkillers do their job.
I must have dozed a bit though, and I think I made some small progress with the journal. I was down for tea at 7.25 and met Dave again. Three of the group of four who were finishing today were due back much later, so I wouldn’t see them until breakfast. Dave and I chatted for a while and we were soon joined by Angela and Tommo, an older couple who were walking John O’Groats to Lands End. Technically the first north to southers I’ve met so far.
Dave is from British Columbia and I was quite jealous to learn he’d done the West Coast Trail, which I’d yearned to do years ago, before I gave up backpacking. Angela and Tommo had taken 10 years to get this far down the JoGLE path and they said they were trying to get a rattle on before they ran out of time. They were heading as far as Alston but they’ll be a day behind me now, so it’s unlikely we’ll cross paths again.
I had Haggis Stovie for tea and it was excellent. I said my thanks to Oliver and took a cold can upstairs to my room. I climbed into bed and watched a couple of episodes of a dramatised documentary series about the life of Alexander the Great and by 10pm I was so tired I called it a night. I fell asleep to the sound of rain hammering down outside.
1 thought on “Pennine Way (North to South) 2024 – Day 2”
The telly’s gone? Bugger!