A Celebration

 My partner and I have just walked the Southern Upland Way, a path that crosses the boarder lands between Scotland and England, from coast to coast. Because of long ago wars and lawlessness, it cuts across some of the most unpopulated parts of the British Isles passing through dramatic hill country.
Being 215 miles long and requiring 8500m of ascent whilst carrying a pack of camping gear and food, I was not convinced we could manage it, when first suggested as a “holiday” by my partner.

But the real failure in life is not to try, and we have done a lot of walking in the past, so two and a half weeks ago we walked out of Port Patrick, heading for Cockburnspath with an outline of a plan and only thoughts of where to pitch the tent that night and how to obtain water.

Well, luck was on our side and the weather was cold and dry, rather than wet and windy. We had a great time walking the hills, sleeping under dark skies and waking with heavy frost on the tent. We learnt about the areas we past through and met some great people; isolated farmers, walkers from aboard, friendly locals and also the path ranger who works  hard to maintain the path.

The last few miles, the glory path just before completion, are always the best. We strolled the cliffs at dawn, just as the early morning sun set the sea on fire with a golden light and the fog clad the hills with a silvery mist all to the orchestra of waves and sea birds. It was great to be alive.

Some people, from less fortunate parts of the world, don’t understand why we do such things. When asking why westerners want to climb a mountain they ask “ what’s up there, what’s so fascinating ?”. Or when they discover we go on camping holidays, they think we are mad - to them camping is associated with poverty, homelessness and refugee camps.

Nearing the end, we met a farmer, who was polite but standoffish. Perhaps previous walkers had caused problems, but I sensed he just had no comprehension of why people keep tramping across his land. At first I couldn’t express why we do such things. It’s hard work, some of the time unpleasant, but as one of my friends says “What’s the point of doing easy things? There’s no challenge, no achievement”

On reflection I choose to do walks such as this because it is a celebration of being alive, of living simply and experiencing this wonderful world with minimal impact. (Not to mention getting away from all the **** in the news.)

My only wish is that every one in the world could also have the health, the wealth, the time, the support, the companionship, the peace and above all the freedom, to take what ever path they want to walk with minimal impact on others..