Pennine Way Day Sixteen - Byrness to Kirk Yetholm

Distance: 28 miles
Ascent: 1440m
Weather: sunny and warm

We were up at 5 and away about quarter to 6. We went back along the track that runs parallel to the road, munching pastries. Just before we headed uphill, we had a brief stop for Rob to put some padding on his bruised ankle. The birds were singing loudly and the midges were out in force.

A very wet muddy, slippy path up leads straight up the hillside through forestry. It was quite hard work and a bit of a shock to the system first thing in the morning.

Byrness Hill is the start of a grassy ridge that runs along the border between England and Scotland. Along the way, we discussed bog avoidance tactics, as there is a 'horrible' bog at Houx Hill which had been much mentioned by various people we'd met along the Way - often in sentences including 'up to my knees' and 'mountain rescue helicopter.' We'd seen on a website that improvements were to be made there and were hopeful that they might have begun. We needn't have worried, we got there to find a beautiful paved path weaving it's way through the mire.

Away from Houx Hill the ground becomes drier, and there are wooden duck boards over Ogre Hill. The ogre appears to have ripped up all the trees and left them in big piles of sawdust.

Through the tree stumps, a posse of angry small birds was chasing off a cuckoo. We passed a lichen covered signpost; eventually managing to decifer the words The Heart's Toe. Sadly too far off route to go and investigate what that could be.

The path goes around a Roman fort and medieval village (remains of) which looks big and impressive on the map but is just grassy lumps. There are strange signs around saying archaeological sites with symbols for no digging, no vehicles and no flame throwers.

A sharp corner is turned up Dere Street, a Roman Road, which we followed a while before turning off over a bridge and contouring around Wedder Hill, where we saw some feral goats with lots of little bleaty kids.

We are quite close to another military range here, and heard the sounds of guns but didn't see any of the promised pyrotechnics.

We veered off the right path slightly and came down a Goat trod to get back on track. It was about 10 o'clock and getting warm. The weather was forecast to be good today so we'd brought extra water with us.

Stopped at hut, more running repairs on Rob's ankle and I put my spare inner sole into my left shoe to cushion it a bit.

We met up with another Pennine Wayfarer, who walked with us for a few miles. Most of the afternoon, we followed a line of stone flags over moorland.

I startled a grouse and her chicks,  they all rose up out of the ground and scattered in all directions, the mother squawking and not knowing which way to run.

The path took us over Lamb Hill, Beefstand Hill, Mozie Law. At Windy Gyle the trig point raised up strangely on a pile of rubble. Not sure why, maybe they measured it wrong.

More stone flags down and across moors, following the fence border, and a steep peaty slope up (stopping for a snack at a rock near the top) from King's Seat to junction above Hanging Stone where we decided to make the excursion to The Cheviot, which is more stone flags with one peaty, very muddy step. A quick photo and back.

On the way back, there was a phone incident and I had to go back 50 yards to look for it.

Getting back to the Pennine Way, we crossed the rocky top of Auchope Cairn and had a very steep descent down to a hut, using our walking poles for the first time on the walk. Then back up to 600m to the top of The Schil, via bogs.

Down gentler descent to Corbie Crag on Black Hag, crossed fence that was a bit worse for wear (at the last difficult muddy bit) and down a gently winding grassy track into the valley.

Saw hares, bunnies and a big deer fence.

The last mile or so is down a mercifully smooth lane down into Kirk Yetholm with one (seemingly) last steep bit of road up and down, just when you have started thinking you've finished, and we came to the green in Kirk Yetholm outside The Border Hotel and the end of the Pennine Way.