My completion of the Borders Abbeys Way!

Since April last year I have been walking stages of the Borders Abbeys Way, a 68 mile circular route in the beautiful Scottish Borders, land of my childhood and hopefully the land of my future home!

Each stage has been different, enjoyable, refreshing, eye-opening and full of interesting sights.

I've been looking forward to completing the route ever since I started, and just over a year later, I finally have!

It has been a funny week for the Anxious Ambler with a few health-related issues that have stalled me slightly. I won't go into too much detail here, now (although I think it could make for an interesting blog post sometime soon). But one small thing happened this week that I will share - because I'm sure you've been concerned about the state of my wee pinky toe post-West Highland Way.

My pinky toe hasn't been sore since I wrenched my boots off in Fort William. However I've been ignoring the post-blister state of the wee yin ever since then. On Wednesday the moment took me and I decided to have a look....then I couldn't resist just removing that wee bit of loose skin....then....I pulled my toenail off. I've lost a toenail! I couldn't help but feel...happy!? Only proper athletes lose toenails right? And now I'm one of them!

With a decent forecast for Saturday I decided it was time for me and my nine toenails to finish off the Borders Abbeys Way. After a lazy morning, Dave and I made our way south, eventually leaving Hawick at 12.50pm.

Ahead of us was 12 miles to Selkirk. 12 miles?! Without meaning to sound too flippant, 12 miles just seemed nothing now. My post-West Highland Way self is just itching for another challenge. In fact I have one up my sleeve - 12 mile walks are extremely good training. And I really don't want to turn my nose up at any walk, as I'm genuinely thrilled to get out there, and move. I just want to keep walking!

The first part of the walk took us out of Hawick quite quickly, and soon we were in the countryside. Thus began a stroll through the Border fields that would last for around...12 miles. This perhaps wasn't the most exciting stage of the walk, but it was simply pleasant and straightforward. And a great time of year for it, with wee lambies hopping around everywhere...

I have to say I was a little bit anxious (remember, not a sheep fan) passing by so many lambs and their mummies. I clung to Dave regularly when mama sheep gave me the stink-eye. Don't trust them...

Not only did we see plenty of fluffy white things (sheep...as well as clouds), we also spotted a hare, a wren, and a majestic pair of roe deer, their white fluffy bums disappearing into the trees. As scared as I am of sheep, the two guard geese we passed near Ashkirk were pretty intimidating!

However, the funniest animal sight of the day was most certainly the wee lamb standing on top of its parent:

Amazing!

We plodded up a single track road for a while, before joining a forestry track and heading onto the Buccleuch Estate. The glimpes of Bowhill House were quite incredible. The panoramic views across to the Eildons were wonderful.

Then. We stumbled upon a wee problem. Just a small one, mind. A couple of fallen trees....

The path entirely disappeared as we picked our way through...

Quite bad - obviously there was been a fair bit of damage here. I do hope it can be cleared soon as it may be quite challenging for some to get through.

Soon we were free of the fallen trees, and shimmying our way round more fields, farms and fear-inducing sheep.

Eventually we reached Haining Loch, and the Haining mansion - impressive stuff. The ruined dovecote was also a favourite sight of the day.

Just round the corner, Selkirk awaited us. It had taken us slightly over 4 hours but we had enjoyed the simplicity and pleasant nature of this day.

On the downhill stretch into Selkirk we were joined by Dad and Robbie (this is becoming a common occurance!), out for a stroll. And a lie-down.

And there it was! My completion of the Borders Abbeys Way - I suppose my second long distance trail!

It has been such fun - I've had great weather, fantastic company, great walking, and have found an even deeper appreciation of a beautiful part of Scotland.

It went a little like this (not always in the right order or direction, but I found my own way):

St Boswells to Melrose, April 2012

Selkirk to Melrose, June 2012

St Boswells to Kelso, June 2012

Kelso to Jedburgh, November 2012

Jedburgh to Hawick, March 2013

Hawick to Selkirk, April 2013: this post!

I'd thoroughly recommend any and all of this walk to everyone. Fresh air, scenery, friendly people and Borders banter. Ye cannae whack it.

So what's next?

More long-distance trails in stages, and hopefully in their entirety. I hatched a plan last weekend, whilst down on Yellowcraigs beach, to walk the John Muir Way pretty soon. Which seems appropriate to say on this day - John Muir day! There's also a very exciting Munro plan being formulated too....watch this space!

Home is where the heart is...

Here I am, fully immersed back into 'normal life' as if nothing out of the ordinary has happened. I was - and still am - determined not to forget that feeling of freedom that being out on the West Highland Way brought to me. I must - and I will - channel that positivity in productive ways. I must - and I will - remember the happiness and sense of well-being I felt.

The happiness continued following my previous post. The feedback I received regarding my tales from the trail was truly overwhelming. May I take this opportunity to thank everyone who tweeted, shared, commented on, and read the post. For me this support is genuinely appreciated.

I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel a bit flat on returning to routine. However I do hope to make the most of my weekends and get out and about as much as I can. My urge to Munro bag is returning. I haven't been brave enough to get out there in the snow, apart from my winter skills day at Glenshee of course. Now the snow is gradually beginning to go (I shouldn't speak too soon - apparently there's more to come tomorrow!) it's time for me to embrace Alba's mountains once more.

First things first, I need to get new laces for my boots, which snapped in Glen Nevis after 93 miles!

And so at the weekend I took my trail shoes out and embraced how much home has to offer. I was looking after our family dog whilst my mum and dad were down in London, and it was so nice to breathe in country air once again. No sharing walls with noisy neighbours, no car noise, no noise...just birds tweeting and proper air. I learnt yet another interesting fact from Dave whilst out walking; that the lichen growing on the trees above our heads - Old Man's Beard - only grows properly in good quality air.

We took a stroll out past the Golf Course towards Mendick Hill, a favourite climb of ours. It was great to see all the wee lambs hopping about madly in the fields.

We strolled all the way to Garvald, briefly leaving the Scottish Borders and entering South Lanarkshire as we went. The path was good, the walking was straightforward, the sun was shining, and it was just nice to be out again. The route took us back past a couple of interesting cairns, before arriving back at the Golf Course, at the ninth green.

Just a couple of hours, around 9 miles, but enough to cheer me up again. Home will always be home, happiness will always be fresh air and blue Scottish skies.

I have so many walks I want to do. I just really hope the weekend weather behaves itself in the weeks (and months!) to come.

I hope you'll continue to follow my progress as I go!