SNT (day 3) - Fairnilee to Glen Etive

After following St Cuthbert's Way and Southern Upland Way, I've spend majority of the afternoon following the nameless trail alongside river Tweed, I didn't meet a single hiker only few loggers who completely ignored me as I was trespassing on their logging site but since there wasn't an alternative route I just went for it and it was all fine.

I've seen some of my favourite sites so far today, especially in the afternoon, beautiful, gently rolling hills with grazing sheep and cattle, a row of old oak trees running alongside the trail some kind soul must have planted here over 100 years ago, I kind of wish they could be here to see what a cool place they have created.

I've passed through a town called Peebles which might have been my favourite so far as well, I've ate here a "lasagna pie" and it tasted really nice! I've also had several coffees and sausage rolls at Gregg's and hiked out well nourished and in good spirits.

I've seen few skylarks and swifts in the morning, it's a rare sight in England and I think I've only saw them when I was hiking in Wales few years ago. Swifts especially remind me of childhood spend in the country side where they would hover around the fields in the mornings and evenings. I also really enjoy skylarks chattering while hanging in the sky,seeing both of those species made my day better.

Weather was again excellent with few clouds sheltering the earth from relentless sun. I've done my miles quota for the day and even put few "in the bank" for the future. I should be going through Edinborough tomorrow but decided to not stay there for the night but rather push on and perhaps have a nice hostel night around Glasgow just before starting the hike on West Highland Way.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Appalachian Trail (day 99) - Birches Campsite to Katahdin / mile 2198 [The End]

Image
"When you get to the top of the mountain, keep climbing." Jack Kerouac  It is over, and what a bittersweet feeling it always is, my body is ecstatic that it can get some well deserved rest but my mind would like to keep on going. We started the ascent onto "Momma K" as people tend to call Katahdin around here at 5 AM I left the campsite with Trademark and we went all the way to the end together which allowed for extra remarks and pictures along the way. We left some of our gear by the ranger station so the packs would be lighter on the way up, it was almost like slack packing. Hunt Trail was our chosen path up, it was steep and technical but in a fun and challenging way, good weather was definitely a deciding factor why this was the case. Around half way through the trail plateaued and has been quite easy from here all the way to the top. Views were spectacular with rock gardens, alpine plants a...
Read more

Appalachian Trail (day 92) - Middle Mountain to Shaw's Hiker Hostel / mile 2081

Image
Another early start in order to push to the last town stop on the AT - Monson, Maine. My initial plan was to stop before Monson and have a nero day there tomorrow, but a prospect of a shower, comfortable bed and of course town food was too good to pass on, especially as it was the last chance to have it. [Snail and myself with his massive food ressuply for Hundred Mile Wilderness] The theme of the day were river crossings, three to be precise. After climbing over Maxi Bald Mountain with great views of the surrounding area, the flat, muddy trail was going through the Bald Mountain Pond, Bald Mountain Stream and Piscataquis River. Since there was not much rain for the past couple of days all of the crossings were safe with the riverbed clearly visible and water at the knee level with slow to medium current. It still meant that my feet were wet for the entire day but it was a price I was willing to pay for very little elevation gain along the way. ...
Read more

Philadelphia

Image
My third stop was in Philadelphia. I've stayed here at the Apple Hostel located close to Delaware river in quite central location. First place I visited was the Philadelphia Museum of Art featuring the famous Rocky Steps and two of his statues! Tourists were running up the stairs and raising their hands on the top as Sylvester Stallone has done in the movie, there was a sizable queue to take a picture with both Rocky statues as well. From here I went to see the top site on my list of things to visit in Philadelphia: Eastern State Penitentiary, Americas first prison which promoted solitary confinement and emphasized reform rather than punishment. It got closed in 1970s and was kept in the state of explorable ruin ever since it became a museum, it really scratched that urban exploration itch I had for a while. I'd say it was 23$ well spent! The following day I went to see t...
Read more