Day 22 - The end of the road...

Barrowburn to Kirk Yetholm

Today's miles: 14.4
Today's Ascent: 3093 ft
Today's Descent: 3638 ft
Total miles so far: 280.6 (more than expected!)
Star team member:  Team effort. No explanation needed!

Well folks, we made it. We did it. Despite all the odds and the doubts, we did it. Upon asking my Grandad if he thought I would do it, there was a long silence, and finally, after a lot of thought, he said "Well, It's very hard." My Grandma has been collecting money at the Trefoil Guild for the NEAS and most people have said "Well, I will wait to see if she does it before I pay". So there! To all the un-believers- I did it!

We were given a lift from our hut to Trows Farm, to climb back up Windy Gyl, back on to the Pennine Way. This lift was a massive help as it saved us 1.5 miles, and believe me 1.5 miles makes all the difference! We started to climb Windy Gyl in the wind and rain, but trudged up to the top for 10 o'clock.

Trows Farm - the start of the last leg

After a piece of chocolate and a break from the horrendous weather we plodded along the limestone pavements in the rain. We were heading for a hill called The Schil, but first we went partly up The Cheviot then turned off, still along the limestone paving slabs.

The rain came

We could see The Schil, about 5 miles away and walked along a ridge. The rain had stopped but in it's place came the wind! It was like a gale, we had to walk down for a while, and at one point thought we were going to be blown away, it was that strong. Clad in our waterproofs to keep the icy wind off we stopped for a break then walked up to a bothy (wooden shelter). There were already people in it, and it could only fit about 2 people inside so we stopped outside, because the sun had started to shine.

Looks like one walker had not made it to the end!

We could see the ridge we had to walk to reach the summit so got a move on, Paddy and I leading the way. Paddy always likes to be in front of the pack, but he hates it if anyone is lagging behind, so he spends all his time going forward and back.

Superdog!

Finally the sun came out, and we were met by a great view on the way up. Up the ridge we went and found a little rock cubby hole at the topwhere we could eat our lunch.

View on the way up The Schill

From the top (it was still a bit windy) we dropped down and hit a track down the hill side, and sang some Beatles classics, as well as that well know wartime song "it's a long way to Kirk Yetholm, it's a long way to go!". Mam and I sang, for the last time 'There was an old lady who swallowed a fly', and I did a suitably dramatic death at the end. Finally we saw our first sign post pointing the way to Kirk Yetholm and, as we were in Scotland, Mam and I did a little jig to some (imaginary) bagpipes. What larks!

Kirk Yetholm on the PW sign at last!

We turned off and went around a hillside and onto a farm road where we had our last stop, with 2 miles to go (Well a signpost said we had 2 miles to go, and that was quite a way back, but we were going with Dad's boy toy SatMap, which I think is all lies!). The road took us up a hill that Wainwright entitles 'The cruellest hill of all'. I can agree on that matter, it was pretty cruel! It was the last hill of our journey and it went on forever.

The last hill

After climbing the cruellest hill of all, we walked along the road to be greeted by our first sight of Kirk Yetholm. I had a little cry, as it was a sight I knew I would always see (Grandad wasn't so sure!), but still it seemed a bit surreal.

The first view of Kirk Yetholm

We followed the road down and into Kirk Yetholm. There was no brass band to fanfare us in, nor someone waiting with one of those silver foil things you get at the end of marathons, but we had our pride, and a euphoric feeling of achievement. The church bells did chime to mark 5 o'clock though! We walked to the Border pub, the official end and had a few well deserved drinks as well as signing the book. We met some fellow Pennine Wayfarers at the pub, who we had seen a couple of times, and exchanged some happy memories of the walk we had just done.

The end of the road

Mam promptly took her boots off, and said they wouldn't be going back on for quite a while! Of course, we had to take our picture at the end. We were in a bit of a trance, not quite believing that we had actually done it. We always believed in ourselves, but we had our doubts about Paddy; he must have heard us talking on the phone to Uncle John, and the prospect of possibly having to wear doggy walking boots (what a shame!) and pulled himself together.

A team effort!

So folks. This is the end! I would like to thank everyone for sponsoring and supporting me, and your lovely kind comments, texts and e-mails have really helped us along. So, thank you for taking the time to read this blog (and staying up so late!), but why not join me for one last time? I am going to write a post reflecting on my journey so you could read that, if you haven't had enough by now! I would like to end on the words of Alfred Wainwright, as he sums up my feelings exactly;

'You have completed a mission and achieved an ambition.... This will be a very satisfying moment in your life. You will be tired and hungry and travel stained. But you will feel great, just great.
There is no brass band to greet you; there is nobody waiting to pin a medal on your breast. Nobody cares that you have walked, and just completed the Pennine Way....
It will be the same when you get back home. When you tell your friends you have walked the Pennine Way they will not jump for joy: more likely they will look at you out of the corner of their eyes and whisper among themselves....
You will be more ready to tackle big ventures and more able to bring them to a successful conclusion. You have learned not to give up. You will be a better man because you have walked the Pennine Way.'  

Thanks again,
Caitlin xxxxx (I would put 268 kisses but maybe that's a bit excessive so 5 will have to do!)