Trip to the seaside

I decided to give my running legs a workout not having done anything of length since I’d been on holiday, get them used to it again. The route of choice was the easterly section of the Southern Upland Way. I’ve slowly been doing the route in chunks getting to know it and at the same time collecting the hidden treasure from the hoard.

One of the hoard.
A wooden sculpture,
but some aren't a
so obvious.

Weather was good; dry, slightly overcast, but very close and as a result it felt like I spent the whole day sweating out as much as I was putting in. The trial jacket I had with me, again never got a look in. Like most of the time I’ve been on the way I come across very few people. The only other people I saw the whole day were a father and son who were perhaps just embarking on the route north to south and a few fishermen at Watch reservoir.

The Treasure

The route at the moment is iron hard and as such I wished I’d worn road shoes with a bit more cushioning, as the hard surface seems to have a debilitating effect on my legs. For the majority of the time the path follows defined tracks paths, but there was a fair chunk of tarmac which I hadn’t particularly anticipated. But it’s difficult to know this just from looking at the map.

Just in case you weren't taking it all in

Looking back this section carries that feeling of remoteness (despite its relative proximity to Edinburgh) as you travel through the Lammermuirs an area that other than a few scattered farms and cottages has very little in the way of major roads or developments. It made me think that for walkers this must be quite tricky as you would have to be self sufficient for a couple of days to cover the ground & there isn’t much in way of accommodation without diverting away.

What you would see from the above

Twin Law cairns

What shouldn’t be possible is to loose the path unless of course you switch off and have a senior moment like me. Which I managed to do in fine style adding at least another 4.5m to my tally and severely denting my moral at the time. But at least it reminds me to pay attention in future and listen to my instincts.

  

At last the sea after 30+ miles!!!

Cove Harbour

A good day out, though the legs got a bit tight towards the end, but that was to be expected after nearly 40 miles. My only disappointment being I didn’t find the most easterly hoard, so that will involve another trip back to root it out.

And here's the random odd thing I saw on this trip in the middle of knowwhere up some track?