See the first 2 days here
http://www.walkingforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=34674.0Day 3 The College Valley - The Hen Hole - Auchope Hut - The Schil - Auchope Hut. 10km with 550m ascent. About 5 hours walking time, half of that was in the Hen Hole.
It was still windy when we awoke on Monday morning. We had been hit by the wind a bit but we'd slept a bit better than the night before. With pitching in the valley it meant a very long walk to include the Schil and Windy Gyle and there was also the problem of where we were going to pitch for the night later on. We decided to go up into the Hen Hole to see the waterfalls instead. This hadn't been on the agenda at the start but it was a nice substitute for Windy Gyle. We would do the Schil after the Hen Hole and we hoped to pitch there.
The first waterfall at the start of the Hen Hole
The legend is that fairies lure people in to The Hen Hole and they are never to be seen again!
Approaching the three sisters waterfall
It looks more like four sisters to me
On the way up The Hen Hole
Beware the fairies
It is hard work going up the gorge, a scramble route and you have to cross the burn several times from one bank to another to find the best route up. We crossed it three times on the way up.
The longest fall in the Hen Hole
It is safe to say beefy loved the Hen Hole hard work though it was
We had a food break near the waterfall and then retraced our steps back down the gorge. It was even harder work on the way down with our heavy packs trying to pull us into the burn. beefy decided to plunge his foot into the burn and soak it for some daft reason
Looking back at The Hen Hole
The fairies had decided they didn't want to keep us and we made our way up to the border fence near the Auchope Hut. We passed some cows on the way but they showed no interest in us at all
The Hen Hole and the Auchope Hut
We went inside the hut for some respite from the wind and had a brew. A bloke who was doing the Pennine Way came in for a break while we were there. He was on his last leg down to Kirk Yetholm it must have been a hard day in the wind.
Windy Gyle in the distance
We left the hut after a nice long rest; we were still feeling yesterdays walk in our legs. We hoped to find shelter on the Schil to pitch our tent.The ground was wet and boggy in places, not that enjoyable to walk on. We were also carrying 3kg of water each, we'd got it from the College Burn in the Hen Hole. The water on the ridge is not very nice, sludgy boggy pools so we had to carry it from the valley.
beefy on the Schil summit
It was touch and go if I was going to be able to take this shot. The wind almost had me over a few times. There was a lot of cloud in the west so the views I'd promised beefy from the top were non existent.
The Schil summit
No shelter was found here so it was back to the refuge hut. My first ever night staying in a bothy. It was either the hut or descend to the valley again. It was an easy choice to make.
beefy in the hut
He has been wearing his sun glasses a bit too much
We had some food and got our sleeping bags and mats out. Nobody else came to the hut but we were ready to welcome them in, it was blowing a hoolie outside and it was getting late
The view from the hut looking north
Not much of a sunset again, too much cloud
The cows outside the hut
These were the cows from earlier and they were more scared of us than we were of them. We got into our bags and had some Spirit of Louisiana and looked forward to a more peaceful nights sleep than we would have if we were outside in the tent.
TR Day 4 and 5 of a 4 nighter in the Cheviots Sep 16
Day 4 Auchope Hut - Auchope Cairn - Cairn Hill - The Cheviot - Scald Hill - Broadhope Hill - Broadstruther - Hart Heugh. 15.8km with 616m ascent. about 5hrs 45 mins walking time.
We'd had a great nights sleep in the hut, safe and warm out of the wind. It was the first time in a bothy for me and I would certainly stay in one again if the weather was awful. Thanks to the volunteer rangers who look after it. We did our bit and swept it and left it as we found it. We also took some other rubbish away that other folk must have dropped, it had fallen under the benches so we will give them the benefit of the doubt, they may not have seen it. Our walk for the day would take us over The Cheviot and we began the ascent of Auchope Cairn, it was sunny and the wind had died down, a lovely day.
Auchope Cairn
The ground was wet and boggy on the way up and we were pleased to get onto the paving stones, much easier walking and much needed across here, bog city.
Scotsmans Cairn on Cairn Hill
We stopped to have some food here before we rejoined the paving stones up to the Cheviot. We heard a booming noise in the distance, there are Artillery Ranges to the south and the army must have been practising.
beefy on the Cheviot summit
We weren't alone on the top. There were some rangers dropping off cement and water for repairs of the trig column. They'd come up in an ex army off road vehicle with caterpillar treads. We chatted to them a while then left them to their work.
The view south from our descent of The Cheviot. It was very hazy so beefy didn't see the view at its best
The ex army vehicle with caterpillar treads
We got to the stile over the fence and saw the rangers were driving over. Nice of them, we got some good footage and photos. They went through a gate and headed right, they were fixing fences as well not just the trig. Nice to talk to them. We were heading left down toward Scald Hill
Descending the Cheviot on the way to Scald Hill and Broadhope Hill
I remember this route down as a pleasant grassy path but it is eroded and very boggy in places. Is it poor memory or has the path deteriorated since I've been here?
Looking back at the Cheviot
On the way down Broadhope Hill, Cold Law in view ahead
Hedgehope Hill from the way down Broadhope Hill
We'd used all the water we'd got from the day before from College Burn and we'd not found any nice running water all day; only boggy black horrible stuff. We crossed a ford near Broadstruther and there was clear running water. We filtered some and gulped it down then got some more!
Broadstruther
This is a former shepherd's bothy, now used as a hunting lodge.
On the way to Hart Heugh, very easy walking along the track
Looking back at the route beside Broadstruther burn
We'd picked up some water from Broadstruther Burn and began the last climb up to Hart Heugh. We were ready to pitch the tent, we were tired
The Drift on Hart Heugh
We found a flat if slightly bumpy pitch, had some food and chilled out looking at the views.
Humbleton Hill on the right, the first hill we'd climbed on Saturday
The view west from Hart Heugh
Hart Heugh has a few rock tors and a big shelter cairn, a very nice little hill
Some lovely sunset colours
We watched this from inside the tent having some Spirit of Lou, a great end to our last night
We really loved this little top, great views and a good place to spend our last night in the Cheviots.
We awoke to rain and low cloud. We walked down to Wooler in the clag, no photos taken, there wasn't much to see. Day 5 was Hart Heugh - Wooler Common - Waud House - Wooler 4.4km with 32m ascent. We caught the bus at 10am to Alnwick and we eventually got home at 5pm, a further 2 buses later. What a tremendous few days, spoiled a little by the wind, changing our planned route and missing Windy Gyle. But we did the Hen Hole instead. Never mind we will have to come back next year, there is lots more to see over here. But don't tell anyone how lovely it is will you?
