A Scottish Story – Day 5, On the road from Hare Law to the town of Peebles.

Distance – 19km

Well. After the highs of yesterday, honestly it all fell apart a little bit today. Not in a major way. Just…in little increments that culminated bit by bit and drained the enthusiasm. I’m fine again now, and keen to continue on, but it just goes to show how quickly things can turn.

It started last night. The tent was on a bit of a slope, so I keep sliding towards the side wall, thrashing about, tossing and turning. At one point I was ripped out of a pretty vivid dream to the sound of a tenacious little dog, yapping at me from outside the tent, repeatedly and ferociously. I had thought I must be dreaming. I hadn’t seen anybody in hours. What was this dog doing here?

I heard somebody calling it. A woman. Eventually the sound of the yapping faded into the distance. I looked at the time. 12.15am. For some reason it discombobulated me a little. People can come so close at any time. And when you’re on your own….well….it can be unnerving. The upshot is that I didn’t get much sleep.

The day dawned beautiful and bright. Dazzling sunshine and the clearest of views. I came to the turnoff which led to the top of Minch Moor and decided, in this weather, it would be a crime not to climb to the top. It was the highlight of the day. Incredible views for miles around, and the whole place to myself.

Fom there, things started to take a…downhill turn. Quite literally. Down, down, down I travelled, mostly through logged pine plantations, the bases of the big old trunks baking in the sun.

Once at the bottom, road walking. Turns out road walking is the same regardless of the country. Kind of uncomfortable, hard on the feet, and with cars whizzing by with little regard for the hiker on the road.

With relief I reached the track turn off. I had now left the signposted Southern Upland way and was following written descriptions and a GPS route map. I spotted a little stone seat and decided to take advantage of it and read my track notes. I sat down.

YEEEOOOOWWWWW!!! Burning. Burning. BURNING! Intense burning on my legs. I sprung up, not knowing what was going on. Looking at the seat, it dawned on me. I had become horribly acquainted with the Scottish stinging nettle!

The shitful seat

My legs were burning and I was starting to bake. It wasn’t helping the stings. I quickly hit another dirt road where I found a track closure sign due to Forestry works. More road walking on the busy road. And no toilets, absolutely anywhere. Sometimes, there is no worse feeling or distraction for interrupting your hiking enjoyment.

On top of this I had earlier contacted the hotel to let them know I would be there around 1 pm. The owner was going to turn up to let me in. Time was a ticking, and for the first time on the trip I felt pressure to be punctual. I was running late.

Golfing dreams dad. Golfing dreams.

It meant that I pushed it. Not drinking enough. Not eating enough. It felt like forever, even though it was only 19 km. I got into the room exhausted, face as red as a beetroot. I’d been completed sizzled by the Scottish sun.

The owner of the Neidpath Inn was kind, and there was four bottles of ice cold sparkling water in the fridge. Heaven. A cold shower and out for a feed, and I feel a new person. Legs still itching like anything, but that’s ok.

Tomorrow is a new day.

This article was first published on The Trek which can be found here