Leaving Kirk Yetholm. I hope the car will still be there when i get back!
Into the Cheviots. Cold wind-chill...could feel my face freezing up at times.
First Night. Lil nippy.
Western shoulder of the Cheviot.
Windy Gyle.
Mozie Law.
Sprinkling of snow overnight with heavy winds. Trailstar did well.
Over the moorland hills to Byrness, where i stayed at the Forest View Walker's Inn. The owners were just the best...letting me stay in their bunkhouse out of season, getting it warm for me, and cooking me a lasagne.
Graveyard at Byrness.
Redesdale.
Endless forestry track through Redesdale Forest.
How i felt after that track.
Heading up Whitley Pike. First navigation error of the walk happened soon after this was taken.
Camped out at quarry near Abbey Rigg.
Bellingham. Time to buy some supplies.
Bridge over the North Tyne at Bellingham. Had a cuppa here.
Warks Burn.
Camped out on Ground Rigg.
Boggy forestry paths.
Nice lil place for a wildcamp.
Haughton Common.
A very rare lunch stop in Wark Forest.
Rapishaw Gap from below. The Pennine Way joins Hadrian's Wall here.
Rapishaw Gap from above.
Crag Lough.
Sycamore Gap.
Ah...there's that most photographed tree in Britain.
...cough.
Remains of a Milecastle.
Camped out on Green Slack, the highest point on Hadrian's Wall.
Night gathers, and now my watch begins...
Soon as i get in me shelter, first thing i do is get me boots and socks off, and apply some Badger Balm.
Snow and accidentally shat me long-johns. Didn't get out in time...
Caw Gap.
View from Walltown Crags. Greenhead not far away now, where i stayed at the Greenhead Hotel. After a few nights in the field... hotels are like heaven. Soooo good.
I was feeling a bit flat in life, so I needed a challenge to make me feel like a man again. The Pennine Way, with a 50lbs rucksack in winter, felt like just the ticket.
It had been over 20 years since I had done a long distance path, the Pembrokeshire Coast Path, averaging 20 miles a day. From more recent experience though, I knew I would never be able to replicate that. My expectations before setting out were to do at least 10 miles a day.
Little prep was needed….I had 10 packs of Summit to Eat dehydrated food and 20 Clif bars. This was my food reserve…to be used on days where I wouldn’t pass a shop. Packing was just a case of systematically going through all my boxes of gear and selecting what I thought I would need. Needless to say…I did take some items that never got used.
Leaving the car at Kirk Yetholm, I started walking into the Cheviots, unsure if I would make it or not.
Parked up at Malham and started walking. With no plan I ended up climbing the famous Yorkshire Three Peaks, of which I knew nothing about prior to this trip.
