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Saturday 17 May - We awoke at 6am before the alarm full of excitement for the day ahead, but also with great sadness that our fundraising hike for the Ectopic Pregnancy Trust was coming to an end after three wonderful weeks of hiking 429km (268 miles) from England into Scotland along the Pennine Way.
After breakfast we waved goodbye to Alan and Alan as they headed off on their way to Kirk Yetholm in Scotland, the finishing point on the Pennine Way. We noted that their hoods were on, so this could only mean one thing - rain. Sure enough when we stepped out from the B&B it was raining - it had not rained for 12 days, so it was very refreshing to have rain on the final day of our hike. The trudge back up the hill through the woodland to reach the Pennine Way again was not as bad as we thought it would be.
On today's walk there was the opportunity to hike to the highest point in Northumberland, The Cheviot, which stands at 2,674 feet. It is not an essential and does take more effort, but we were still up for an adventure, despite
Lav and Malcolm - We're Singing in the rain, we're singing in the rain... Pennine Way, Northumberland
No we weren't singing in the rain, because it was very cold, wet and windy...but we still saw the funny side of it! already having walked nearly 429km! The Cheviots were created 380 million years ago - it is thought that originally the mountains may have resembled the Andes. Interestingly the area used to be an island surrounded by a shallow sea. It was a very cold, rainy and windy journey to the summit of The Cheviot - at times we could just about see ahead of us because of the thick mist. Lav's hands seemed to freeze over, which made it very difficult for her to even put on her gloves...Steve and Malcolm tried to help, but to no avail. The weather started to become a bit stormy (exactly what Steve and Malcolm had wanted, so they were happy!) Luckily we were able to find a mountain refuge hut to shelter out of the cold rain and winds to eat our lunch. The hut known as Auchope Hut has a Pennine Way book for walkers to sign, so Lavinia wrote a message and signed the book on behalf of us all. It was interesting to read that several weeks ago the weather had been very bad and a walker who wrote in the book, explained about his immense relief at locating the
hut after experiencing storms, thunder and lightning. The weather was so bad that he had to sleep overnight in the hut and wait for the weather to improve before he could leave. Luckily there are some packet foods in the hut, e.g. porridge and mash potato - not the most exciting, but at least you wouldn't starve.
As we descended slightly, the weather thankfully improved and eventually we crossed into Scotland! After a few photos to celebrate the occasion, we pressed on and came to a fork where we had to decide whether to take the high-level route into Kirk Yetholm or the low-level route. Well given that Steve and Lavinia love a challenge, and so does Malcolm, the decision was unanimous - we decided to take the more adventurous high-level route. The scenery across the Cheviot Hills was spectacular - there were sweeping green hills and mountains all around. We all felt extremely lucky to be experiencing such immense beauty as we descended into the beautiful Bowmont Valley.
Steve and Malcolm's mum and husband came and met us towards the end of the trail. We were all excited to see each other and after some warm embraces,
Steve's mum and her husband revealed a lovely bottle of champagne to help us celebrate reaching the end of the Pennine Way. We took some celebratory photos and drank celebratory glasses of champagne - but as we had not officially reached the finish point (which is at the Border Hotel). After all of the day's climbing, we thought that it would be a descent into Kirk Yetholm, but there was just one more uphill before we reached the town of Kirk Yetholm. It was so exciting to reach the end of what had been an incredible journey hiking from England into Scotland - it really had been an amazing feat and we had loved 'almost' every moment of it - it's very hard to love those peat bogs. We reached the official finishing point of the Pennine Way when we were stood at the bar of the Border Hotel. The landlady provided us both with a half pint of drink of our choice (you no longer receive a pint at the end of the Pennine Way, but a celebratory half pint) and we were given Pennine Way certificates to mark the momentous occasion. We have been left with so many
happy memories and it was great that we were able to share so much precious time together.
After 287 gates, 249 timber stiles, 183 stone stiles and 204 bridges! - we made into safe and well 429km later to Scotland, the 'Long Way Up'!
Our fundraising hike for the Ectopic Pregnancy Trust has been a remarkable undertaking and it's still hard to sink in that we have just completed Great Britain's most challenging long-distance trail. We do feel very proud not only over this achievement, but because we have been able to try and turn so much trauma into a positive, by helping to raise awareness of ectopic pregnancy and the brilliant work of the Ectopic Pregnancy Trust. Hopefully, when our feet recover we will be able to do another long-distance fundraising hike for the Ectopic Pregnancy Trust.
If you would like to make a celebratory donation towards our fundraising effort at conquering the 429km Pennine Way trail, you can go to www.ectopic.org.uk/fundraising/?p=46. Thank you all so much again, Lavinia and Steve.
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