07/06/2007

We have previously published Daryl Hayler's progress as he made his way on foot up the spine of England along the Pennine Way, from Derbyshire to north Northumberland. Here we have the last two days' log as he finished his sponsored walk, following the Scotland-England border itself for about 20 miles, before reaching the Borders visit of Kirk Yetholm and the end of the journey.

Day 17: Byrness to Cocklawfoot   16.9 miles today and the penultimate day. For the most part it was more of the same, swamps and bogs but at least we we had dry conditions. So much so that at Windy Ghyll, we were almost blown off the side of the fell. This would be a superb place to put a wind farm. I think that whoever decided to put these last four days on the walk did so just to add to the agony, because there is certainly no pleasure in it, other than overcoming the endurance test that is set by them.

Also, who is it that writes these books on this walk? The books state that there are no significant climbs. What they don't tell you are that the insignificant climbs total some 4,300 feet. To add to it, the climbs were especially muddy, so much so that we were sliding backwards as were trying to get up. This was very tiring. Still, we only have one more day to go, which starts with a two-and-a-half mile climb. Oh joy! Party time tomorrow.

The 18th and final day saw us arrive at our final destination of Kirk Yetholm at around 3.45 p.m. after a last 13.76 miles. The day started with a 1,000 foot, 2.5 mile climb out of Cocklawfoot just to get us back on the Pennine Trail. After a further high climb and steep descent, my energy levels were reaching rock bottom, such that I was having trouble putting one foot in front of the other. I needed coffee and chocolate to get me going again. We were rewarded today with the best weather of the trip and after some tedious scenery in the last few days, we had some great views. As with most of the previous days, I spent much of the day walking with two others, the lycra boys, named as such because of the cycling shorts they wore to hold in all their hernias, ruptures and other bulges. I felt quite at a disadvantage without any. The final walk into Kirk Yetholm in the sunshine was great and we all congratulated each other when we reached the Border Inn, the official finishing line.