We awoke to a beautiful sunny day again without a cloud in the sky. Still quite windy on the tops but the ground was really dry and the peat bogs were as dry as a bone....brilliant!
The 'A' party went back up the track they had descended yesterday and walked all the way back to Kirk Yetholm. The 'B' party split into two groups, those who wanted to climb to the summit of the Cheviot went ahead and I joined this group. I wasn't sure I wanted an extra climb but I'm glad I did as it was very easy.
First of all we had to gain all the height we had lost yesterday and then set off for Windy Gyle where we had half our lunch.
A large part of today's walk was on stone flags or duckboards as the alternative would normally have been peat bogs. The weather had been very dry for a couple of months so we didn't have any trouble with peat bogs at all. We had splendid views all day walking amongst the bilberry bushes, cloudberries and cotton grass waving in the breeze. Cloudberry was a new one on me and I forgot to take a photo but if you follow the link you can see what they look like. I wonder if they would go well with vodka........!!
On the way to the summit we had a view of the North Sea in the distance but the walk was a bit of an anti-climax as it was mostly on duckboards. A brief stop at the trig point that Peter ascended to fly the Union Jack someone had left behind and then back down the same track to continue on our way to the cairns we could see in the distance.
The views around Hen Hole were very spectacular but there should have been a waterfall down there. If you have 6 minutes to spare put your coat, hat and gloves on and follow this link to see what it looks like in a bad winter.
I'm glad it wasn't like that for us but it just shows what a difference the weather makes to your walk.
As we arrived at the refuge hut Eamon arrived on the scene having walked up to meet us. He had been warned by the farmer, who had a gun, that we weren't really welcome on his land during the lambing season but on this occasion he would let us go through, so we left the Pennine Way and made our way down to the coach. The first group passed through the farmyard without any problem but the farmer got rather nasty with the last of the group and said he didn't want us back tomorrow. Hmmm now what should we do, Ray had to put on his thinking cap and come up with another cunning plan!
Back at the hostel the wine was flowing and everyone was having a jolly time including the warden and his friend. Some had already completed the Pennine Way and arranged to do part of St Cuthbert's Way the following day.
Today's walk for the 'B' walkers had been 10 miles and and 2400 ft climbing with 2.5 miles and 400 ft extra if you went up the Cheviot. Not quite as tiring as yesterday and the group were in a celebratory mood.
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