Total miles: 18
Elevation gain: 2,966 ft
Time walking: 11:15am – 8:15pm
Miles to date: 860.2
Another great day, not without its challenges (admittedly mostly of my own making!) but incredibly satisfying.
I set off from Bellingham far later than I intended but I did manage to have two breakfasts (partly because I need to eat as much as I can and partly because I needed to use up some food!) and somehow fit all of my food into my rucksack, including five rounds of sandwiches, half a loaf of bread, two packets of crisps, half a bag of granola, half a packet of pasta, the leftovers from last night’s bolognaise, two bananas, an avocado and an apple. On top of the usual cereal bars, protein powder, chocolate bars, oat cakes and jelly babies of course! Rucksack bulging at the seams and me gasping at the weight (not ideal but there’s no food between here and Kirk Yetholm in three days’ time (unless I ate at the hotel in Byrness like most sensible people…)), I set off in gorgeous sunshine, not looking forward to the hill climb out of Bellingham.
Yup, that was a tough climb! Well, not really that tough considering some of the other climbs I’ve done, but the first bit was along the road, it was hot, my pack was heavy and the path just kept going up and up and up! The elevation gain made for pretty views though and I was back in the heather again, so I just took it steady and kept breathing in the gorgeous heathery smell in the air. It was great to be back on the moors again, with that feeling of space and oodles of sky. The path was reasonably well marked here, or where it wasn’t waymarked the tread of countless footprints gave it away. Past the crossing of the road a little after Hareshaw House the path started to become fainter as it turned up the hill and eventually I lost it completely. I’m not sure if I missed a bit heading off to the side or something but when the bit I was on peetered out I couldn’t see another path anywhere! I knew where I was aiming for though – the summit of the hill, so I forged my own path through the heather. I felt bad, tramping over the heather, but I didn’t have any option. I tried to keep to the grassiest/mossiest bits I could find, and slowly (the heather was knee high in places) I made my way towards the top. As I got closer I spotted a signpost, phew, always a good sign! (Literally, haha). And out of nowhere I came across a very well defined, albeit narrow, path. It amazes me how a path can fizzle out at one point but be so clear at others!
Glad I’d found the path and the top of the hill I stopped for a quick lunch break. I was only about 5 miles in but was already peckish, despite my two breakfasts, and figured I could lighten my pack just a little. Also, the sun was lovely and warm and the view was fab. Refreshed, I tackled the next section, a short and occasionally boggy descent followed by a gentle climb up to another summit. Here I crossed paths with a guy coming the other way. He was just doing a couple of days but he mentioned he had stayed in Spithope Bothy just outside of Byrness and he said it was really worth a visit. I also gathered he had met Sean – who had stayed in the bothy with him – who had told him about me! Whilst I was pleased that Sean had made it to the bothy I was also sad as I knew that meant he wouldn’t be there tonight and he was now a day ahead of me, so we’d be unlikely to cross paths again. There was something nice though, about knowing he was out there on the path somewhere, ahead of me.
The next couple of miles were pretty, more moorland (and a few annoying midges), a bit of drizzle and then a steep climb up along the edge of a forest. I say ‘a’ forest…I probably should say ‘the’ forest – I’d reached the edge of Kielder Forest, the largest forest in Great Britain! Also one of the largest man-made forests in Europe! (Another “biggest” for the list!). The climb up was a bit of a killer and involved having to duck under a fallen pine tree (not so easy with a big pack on your back) but once again the views back were lovely and with the drizzle gone it was quite pleasant. I even found bilberries! The first actual berries since Offa’s Dyke. I’ve seen lots of the bushes but none of the berries til now, so I ate as many as I could find!
At the top I had a great view of some massive clouds over the valley, brought to my attention by a loud clap and then a long rumble of thunder. There were sheets of rain coming down from them. Cool, but I couldn’t tell which way the clouds were moving. I hoped they were continuing south, not east, as although they were impressive to look at I didn’t fancy giving them a closer inspection, especially being on top of a big hill! I kept an eye on the clouds as I bog-hopped along the top of the hill, still on the edge of the forest. They seemed to be behaving and not getting any closer. Good! I turned my full concentration towards trying not to go knee-deep in bog. Even though I think the moors are far drier than usual right now (I don’t know what sort of deal I have with the weather gods at the moment but it’s a good one!) it was still pretty boggy. I only had a couple of calf-deep moments but there was a lot of ankle-deep squelching!
Sadly the forest wasn’t entirely peaceful as there were forestry works near the path and the quiet was broken by the constant sound of machinery. It was fascinating to walk past a very recently felled section of forest, with the air smelling a little like a hamster’s cage – fresh sawdust and the slight ammonia type smell of the bogs. I could see trees on the other side of the felled area moving as they too were being cut down. This section of the path was very boggy, presumably because until recently it was completely shadowed by tall pine trees.
It wasn’t long before the path joined a gravel forest road, which it followed pretty much all the way to the edge of the forest, save a couple of sections where the path ventured away from the track for a short distance (a welcome break for the feet!). I (along with most hikers I expect) have mixed feelings about gravel tracks. At first they can be welcome respite from heavy boggy trudging, and the pace certainly picks up. But they are hard on the feet and often not all that interesting. I was pleasantly surprised that, although indeed hard on the feet, these tracks had good views – the forest didn’t encroach right onto the path and a lot of it was younger forest. I was still relatively high at this point too and could see out to moorland and distant hills, including a big one I presumed to be The Cheviot.
Several miles of forest tracks later I emerged at a small picnic area on the edge of the forest with some handy toilets. A winding path through more natural feeling woods and along a little river brought me out to the campsite on the edge of Byrness where I had originally planned to stay. It was still early(ish) though, and a beautiful evening, so I decided I would continue walking and aim to get to the bothy. The path continues for another mile before coming out at the surprisingly busy main road next to a gorgeous tiny church. An information board showed a map of the whole Pennine Way and it was amazing to look at it and see how far I’d come even just on this particular leg of my journey.
Across the road the path heads up into more woodland. Straight up! Byrness Hill is a tall steep hill at one end of a ridge which the Pennine Way follows to join the Border Ridge (which follows the English/Scottish border). In the evening sun it looked stunning, standing proudly above the village and the trees, craggy edges catching the sun in a mixture of light and shadow. It was quite a big ask, to climb it at the end of the day and I did wonder if I was slightly mad. Still, fuelled by a handful of jelly babies up I went, through the fir trees, crossing a few forest tracks and out into the sun. The last bit up to the top was steep and scrambly but once up, ohhhh. Happy place! The view was delightfulness bathed in gold! To the south and southwest stretched Kielder Forest, with Catcleugh Reservoir glinting in the sun. To the south east stretched miles of moorland. And to the north, the Cheviots! Rolling hills and valleys at their very best. What a perfect evening for a ridge walk! Part of me wanted to pitch my tent right there and just watch the sun go down!
I was keen to get to my bothy though, and conscious that once the sun went down it would get dark pretty quickly – I still had to find my way down to it through the forest! My plan was to walk along the ridge for a while then cut down into the forest along one of the clearings marked on the map, to reach a forest track, then another clearing which should take me to the bridleway leading to the bothy. Note to self: what looks ‘easy’ on a map is very often not so easy in reality!!! After a beautiful day and lovely evening I had one of the worst hours of the entire trip trying to get down off the hill! It started well, a sheep track led down to a fence by the clearing and it looked like people had crossed the fence before as it was easy to hop across. The reeds were deep and covering squelchy ground in places but again, there was almost a rough trail. The clearing was another matter. Rows and rows of old tree stumps and piles of old wood, divided by often deep boggy channels running down hill. Walking by the stumps and over the wood was slow and slippery, walking down the gullies was wet and unnerving. Several times I had to jump across the gullies as I couldn’t tell how deep they were. This was slow, sweaty, frustrating progress! I began to wish I’d taken the more straightforward option of following the bridleway right up from Byrness…but at least the gorgeous evening up on top had made it worth it! Eventually I spotted the track below. Oh never have I been so happy to see a forest track before! I reached the track and followed it along, looking out for the bothy which would be somewhere below. I spotted it, oh happy sight, and squinted to see if I could make out any smoke coming from the chimney. I was still a bit too far away to see properly. Target in sight I began to look for the best course to take to get down to it. The forest around it had been cleared but I wasn’t such a fan of cleared forest as a route option now! This previously cleared section had been replanted though, and as a result the ground looked slightly better. As I drew level with the bothy I took a deep breath and headed down into the new growth, watching my step very carefully. It was easier than the previous section but I still had to choose my route carefully, detouring around deep or boggy sections or where there was a lot of old wood. The bothy grew closer. As I neared I realised there was another problem. I was coming to a steep confluence of two streams, and the bothy lay on the other side. No way. I wanted to cry! But I’m not getting this close and being thwarted at the final hurdle! I headed down to the banks of the stream and eyed the other side. It was steep and looked a little too far to jump comfortably. I looked around, but couldn’t find any options that looked more promising. Testing the depth of the stream with my poles it didn’t seem too deep so I took a deep breath, counted down from 5 and jumped. I say ‘jumped’, it was more a ‘hurl myself over and hope for the best with eyes squeezed shut’ type manoeuvre! I just made it and clung to some heather to stop me falling backwards with the weight of my pack. Scrambling up the other side I triumphantly whooped, through the tired adrenaline rush. I wasn’t there yet though. I had to cross another stream (thankfully a much easier crossing), then fight my way up through dense, head-height bracken, up onto and along a dry stone wall and jump down into the yard of the bothy. I’d made it! And it was still daylight, just.
Pushing open the door of the bothy I was slightly sad to see nobody else was there (it would have been nice to arrive to a fire, a cup of tea and a sympathetic listener to whom I could relay my “you’ll never believe the journey I’ve had” tale of my trip down the hill) but also relieved as I wasn’t sure I was in the mood for conversation! Thankfully there was plenty of wood for the fire (nice one Sean) so after heading down to the stream to filter plenty of water for tea and dinner I got a fire going in the stove just as the light was fading. I was quite pleased with my fire (although I was very grateful I still had some newspaper with me…haven’t quite mastered starting a fire without paper!) and it soon heated the little room up nicely. I had some challenges finding the right balance between not smoking the room out and having enough light/not letting the fire go out but I compensated for the former by opening the top hatch of the door and praying I didn’t get carbon monoxide poisoning in the night…
By the time water was collected and the fire was going well it was getting late and I still hadn’t had my dinner! I had been planning to try to cook pasta and reheat my bolognaise using my little stove but I found a pan in the bothy so used that on top of the bothy stove. Slower, but it worked perfectly! There was a whistling kettle too which I used to boil water for tea. I do love a whistling kettle! I was pleased to find two candles in the bothy box (another note to self: always bring candles when planning to stay in a bothy!) which I lit to give me some light. My head torch is ok but nothing beats candlelight. I also think I probably need to change the batteries in my headtorch but I’m eeking them out for now. Whilst I ate my dinner and drank my tea, feeling decidedly better about my decision to make it to the bothy, I read through the visitor’s book. It looks like a popular bothy, but not so much for Pennine Way-ers (I now know why!) and people often come out just for the night or after a short walk, some bring their children which I think is brilliant! A few mentions of people arriving in the afternoon, getting the fire going then cooking a stew or something on the stove, enjoyed with wine or beers later in the evening. Sounds amazing, I’m going to have to try it one day! I think it’s fair to say I have caught the bothy bug…!
I’m sad that it has got late so quickly, I would have loved more time to enjoy the bothy, but I’m glad I got here at all. I have stuck my head out of the door a few times as the moon is very bright tonight and I can see the forest and the hills clearly. The stars are bright too, as you’d expect in Kielder, although dampened slightly by the moonlight. I can hear the stream gently bubbling and some owls calling, along with the fire crackling. It’s pretty awesome!
