Around The Cheviot

Distance: 19.2 km (11.9 mi)
Time: 6hrs 57
Average speed: 2.76 km/h (1.72 mph)

I'm currently visiting my parents for a long weekend, seeing how my niece and nephew have grown in the 6 months since I last saw them. Normally when I visit around this time of the year, after the school holidays are over, I like to walk along the Wall but this year I thought I'd go further north into the border area and The Cheviot. It's 815 m above sea level, one of Englands highest peaks (and the highest outside the Lake District), and I've only been to the top once when I was less than hald my current age.

This was one another one from a Jarrold guide book. Starting from the Harthope valley loop around The Cheviot in an anti-clockwise direction with an option to go for the summit.

There are various places to park off the road in the Harthope valley so I left my car at the closest one to the start of the route and set off at about 20 past 1 on a Friday afternoon. As we shall see, that was my second mistake. The start is about 215 m high, so about 600 m to climb. The first part was up alongside the Hawsen Burn to about 460 m. Here I was reminded of the accuracy of weather forcasting, unlike the sunny intervals forecast for the RAF base on the coast I was faced with a fine drizzle that rapidly turned into a facefull of rain. Fortunately the rain died out after the first half-hour, leaving just the wind to contend with.

The route then descends down to the Lambden Burn at about 300 m. Pleasant though the view was, I do resent every step downwards I have to take before the peak. I was also suffering from a serious Ear Worm that was not going to go away. I know Stargazer is about 8 minutes long, so how come I was hearing it for over 7 hours?

I left the Lambden Burn at Dunsdale and cut across to the College Burn. Here I got to see the climb that awaited me. First from the College Burn up to Red Cribs (300 m to 490 m), then as Hen Hole came into sight the climb up beside it to Auchope Cairn (720 m).

Well the first climb nearly killed me. I'm just not used to slopes like that. I had a nice long breather at the Mountain Refuge Hut and reviewed the situation. I was already well behind my optimistic schedule and unlikely to make up any time. The weather wasn't too bad. I eventually worked up the energy to set off again. The second climb up to Auchope Cairn was worse than the first. I was down to 10 paces, rest, 10 more paces, another rest. Eventually I reached the Cairn and was rewarded with a fantastic view into Scotland and cramps in the legs.

Now that the ground flattened out, and the boggy parts had wooden planking or stone paths laid across them, I was able to get moving again. At Scotsman's Cairn I was within half a mile of the summit but decided against it. The sun was already setting and I was still nearly 4 miles from the car.

This next part was horrible. Picking my way down the hillside, trying to find the source of the Harthope so I could follow it down to the car. Even with the GPS I missed it and came down further east than I should and had to clamber down a muddy bank to get to the Burn. Even with the Harthope to follow it was't easy. I was criss-crossing the burn, picking my way through bogs, climbing up and down banks hoping handfuls of vegetation would support my weight for long enough. I realized I should phone my parents to warn them I was running late to discover, unsurprisingly, that there wasn't the trace of a signal. After ripping my trousers open and seeing the light fade I abandoned all efforts to keep my feet dry and just went for the quickest route.

Finally as darkness fell I was rewarded with an actual Public Footpath sign and a decent track away from the burn. I stopped to fish my torch out of the backpack to discover my first mistake: I'd left it on my parent's kitchen table. Fortunately the track quickly turned to a road and I simply followed it, trusting to my night vision and a high-vis armband.

At about 8:25 the GPS battery gave out (hence the stats at the top are incomplete), but that didn't matter. At around 8:45 I turned a corner to see a familiar looking bridge and a red shape that chirped and flashed its yellow lights when I used the remote. I stopped briefly at Wooler to phone my parents to tell them I'd be back by 10 and that the Cheviot had beaten me.