Day 30: Just outside West Linton to an Orchard near Innerleithen
? 40.30km
?571m
It was a beautiful morning but we were under house arrest by the midges. Katie nipped out for a wee first thing and quite a few followed her back in. We packed up, surrounded, and made haste! Ironically, after being relieved to leave the tarmac behind on the canals, we opted for an easier start to the day to help Katie’s feet get going (her blisters are pretty bad right now!) and followed the road all the way down in to the pretty little village of West Linton. I had a takeaway second breakfast of bacon and black pudding roll with brown sauce. Katie had a cuppa.
We continued on along the road for a bit, out of West Linton, before the route took us off in to the hills, again following the Cross Borders Drove Road national trail. After a fun encounter with some interested cows, we passed through fields, forests and valleys on gently undulating, varied terrain. It was nice walking. We crossed a river and washed a pair of socks, hanging them on the back of our bags to dry as the good weather continued all day.
We reached Peebles after about 28km of walking at around 1315, visited Tesco first for some food and medical essentials for a couple of days, then went looking for lunch. We had read about a bakery but they only had sweet things so I took a ginger cream biscuit and a chocolate brownie cronut for later and the search continued. We found a cafe but it was just closing (at 1400, ?♂️), so once again the search resumed and on the third attempt we got seated and ordered. Chilli chicken flatbread and ginger beer for me, a brie and cranberry toastie and orange San Pel for Katie. Portions were good, and we had happy tummies.
We had a choice from Peebles to get to Innerleithen/Traquair. We could take the trails to Traqauir, continuing to follow the Cross Borders Drove Road, or we could take a tarmac (?) path that stayed low in the valley, following the river Tweed. In the end we opted for the tarmac. It was shorter and quicker so it meant less time on feet and more time in camp for Katie to tend to her poor feet. We found a nice grassy footpath initially along the river and then joined the tarmac. It wasn’t all bad, the views were nice and it meant I could again walk without the knee brace.
We found an orchard in a field just off the path, and set up camp, just with the inner of the tent initially which was nice. It was a glorious sunny evening and we had dinner whilst resting weary feet.
Day 31: Orchard near Innerleithen to Melrose
? 40.30km
?571m
We rejoined the tarmac by the Orchard and walked in to Innerleithen, topping up on liquids at the Co-Op there. Katie was having a bad time with the blisters this morning. What was originally a blister on each heel, was now double whammy on one of the heels, one on the inside of a big toe and one on a little toe on the opposite foot. If I’m honest, they looked horrendous, and I wasn’t sure how she was still going, oh wait, yes, she is one very stubborn mule! About a week now battling the blisters and the last couple of days seem to have been hell.
We were planning on wild camping this evening which meant not exactly knowing how far we would be going today but it was always going to be at least 35km. Katie initially declined a hotel option, but after about 30 mins of walking, just as we were turning off the tarmac, on to the trails, Katie decided a hotel room would help her get through the day and also meant we would know how far we had to go. We could also assess and treat the blisters a bit better, have a decent meal, a beer or two, and the England vs. Scotland football game was on so all good! We booked one of the last rooms in Melrose (I presume as it was a Friday night) and got going on the trail.
Today, we would be following the Southern Upland Way (which is also for this section the Cross Borders Drove Road that we followed yesterday) which is actually a coast to coast route, around 450km. We were heading east for the day, following the Scottish national trail thistle in a hexagon waymarker. We gradually ascended Minch Moor, where I took a quick detour to the top (567m) to check out the view, whilst Katie continued. We could see in the distance, the Eildon Hills which were just outside Melrose, our target for the day.
From then on, we undulated through the day and enjoyed some great views and lovely varied trails. The landscape has completely changed since leaving the Highlands and today was the best so far since then. Everywhere you looked there were lumpy bumpy hills, not a flat piece of land anywhere. The weather was great, big fluffy clouds, patches of sun and (mostly) warm temperatures. Whilst descending from the Three Brethren, 3 large cairns on top Hareshaw Hill, we chatted briefly with a local couple who said that on any normal year (i.e. without covid), we would have found hundreds of horses and people at the top, drinking whisky, dancing and singing (the people that is). This was apparently the day of the Selkirk Common Riding, such a shame we were not treated to that spectacle!
We continued though fields of sheep, reaching Gala Hill and traversing round it through a lovely forest. We descended to join a nice path along the river, then had to walk through some less scenic housing and industrial areas by Tweedbank, before some more nice riverside trails to finish the day.
In Melrose we checked in to the King’s Arms, showered, and did some reading up on blister treatments. I nipped to Boots before it closed for an assortment of medical supplies, and also some duct tape from the Spar shop. We had dinner in the pub, the food was decent but the beer selection wasn’t great. It was getting busy with it being Friday night and the football on. We opted to retire to our room, and drain Katie’s blisters (cos that’s how we roll on a Friday night). I dashed to the Co-Op for beers and ciders, and a 1 litre tub of Mackie’s Chocolate Orange and Honeycomb ice cream, which we enjoyed whilst watching the football (which was pretty dull on the whole).
Today marked 1 month on trail, stats as follows;
Per Day
- Max Time: 11:10:00
- Max Distance: 42.02
- Max Ascent: 997
- Avg Time: 06:54:15
- Avg Distance: 24.57
- Avg Ascent: 483.68
Totals
- Total Distance (km): 761.67
- Total Ascent (m): 14994
Km per day
- Zero: 1
- >0, <10: 0
- >=10, <20: 9
- >=20, <30: 11
- >=30, <40: 8
- >=40, <50: 2
- >=50: 0
Sleeping Arrangements
- Wild Camp; 14
- Campsite: 9
- Cabin/Pod: 1
- Bothy: 2
- Hostel: 1
- Hotel/Pub: 3
- B&B: 0
Misc.
- Beers: 26
- Sticky Toffee Puddings: 5
- Sunday Roast Dinners: 3
Day 32: Melrose to Jedburgh
? 31.30km
?686m
We took a bit longer getting ready this morning, taking advantage of a shower and getting Katie’s blisters ready for the day’s walking. Eventually departing the pub at 0830, we didn’t get far before spotting a cafe that looked like it had a decent coffee so we had a brief pause and got one each to go, plus a brownie, cos, why not!
The day started with quite a steep climb up and over between two of the Eilden Hills we had spent much of yesterday heading towards. Today we were following the St. Cuthbert’s Way for the most part so again, the waymarking was good and easy to follow. There were a few showers in the morning but the views were still great and we were in some lovely woodland which kept the worst of the water off us.
We again enjoyed a great mixture of trails and after the initial hills, the route gently undulated through forests and fields, along rivers, past curious cows. The weather cleared mid morning, remaining mostly cloudy but stayed dry for the best part of the day and the sun made the odd appearance. We joined an old Roman road, Dere Street for the first time towards the end of the day, which was most visible from the drone shots I took. These days the trail meanders in between field and through woodland.
We reached our campsite on the edge of Jedburgh just after 1700. We needed to stick up on some food and don’t go through town tomorrow morning so I had a quick jog down the road to the Co-Op. On my return I grabbed a shower, we ate, watched the grand Prix qualifying, then caught up on some journals and photos.
Cmon we need more detailed pics of the blisters! Why you teasing us?!
Ugh no! ?
We were so horrified and focused on sorting them out I forgot to take a picture of the worst ones! Will get some evidence of them healing so you can see the scale. They were poking out the Compeed blister plasters!
Love the photo from inside tent in the orchard in particular.