Made it

I've been too tired to blog these past few nights but suffice to say that I made it at 5.10 today.
Janet Donnelly
Sent on the move

Sorry that was a pretty pathetic post wasn't it....I strolled down the road towards the village green in Kirk Yetholm and plonked myself on a bench at the Border Arms just after 5pm after one of the best days walking I've ever had. The weather co-operated, my darling Roy was with me and I just had a daypack on. The views were breathtaking and the walking just challenging enough to make me feel like I had accomplished something on the last day. Did I 'pop' up to the top of The Cheviot? No I didn't....Did I take the high or the low level route at the end? I took the low level route and enjoyed every minute.

Whilst at Clove Lodge I started to flick through Wainwrights Pennine Way companion written in 1968 and in it he said words to this effect (I'm paraphrasing here)

When you get to Kirk Yetholm, nobody will be there to greet you, there won't be a fanfare or a tape to break at the finishing line and in reality, life will go on for everybody else much as it did before. Nobody will care that you've just walked 268 miles in the pouring rain/scorching sunshine/knee deep bogs but don't worry about it. The achievement is yours and yours alone and nobody can take it away from you. Have a pint, enjoy it and pat yourself on the back.

Well I did all three and Wainwright got it exactly right - I don't mind admitting that I shed a few tears at what I'd achieved and at why I decided to do it in the first place - I hope that Jane would have been proud of me.

Jane, my dad and me - October 2009