Log No 16. Sun 14th Apr 2013 - Scottish Border to Pease Bay, 21 miles (284 miles walked)

I gave my feet a treat and put on a clean pair of socks, this will be my third pair!!

The tent came down dry and it was a cloudy start at 7.25 with a brisk south wind and not cold, at last.

It was a good path alongside the railway then it got a bit confusing with the map apparently out of date but there were signposts directing down the side of the cliff to Cowdrait, a very small village tucked under the cliffs.

The road went to the harbour of Lower Burnmouth then it was a climb back up to get back up onto the cliff top, I had another break at 9.20.

I stayed on the path getting into Eyemouth for 10.10 where I stopped in a cafe for a pot of tea and to finish the log.

I left Eyemouth at 11.00 and made my way onto the cliff top.
There are no footpaths shown on the map but there are signposts for the Coast Path and there is a good path to follow.

I had to put my waterproofs on for 10 minutes while a shower passed, the wind had also picked up and was now gale force with the sea white. The weather was now predominantly sunny.

Just before Coldingham the path dropped down to a stream then went along the edge of the shore round Coldingham Bay and to St Abbs.

Coming out of St Abbs the path climbed back up towards St Abbs Head.

The strong wind made going too near the edge dangerous as the gusts would keep pushing me off balance, it was difficult to walk in a straight line. I sheltered behind a wall for a break before getting up to the lighthouse, there were quite a lot of people about.

Leaving the lighthouse the path dropped down to a road before signposts directed me back up the hill.

All the signposts looked relatively new and with no paths shown on the map I quite happily followed them.

This was almost like being in the hills with all the climbing but at least the grass was short from the grazing sheep.

Coming to one large detour I was disappointed not to be redirected back toward the cliffs, instead the path went to the farm at Dowlaw then along the roads.

It only came back to the cliffs on a couple of occasions.

My destination for the day was once again a failure, Pease Bay was just for static homes, so for the second night in a row I had to wild camp.

I managed to find a piece of very rough ground with some shelter from the gale force winds which show no sign of abating.

The head wind and the hills made todays 21 miles tiring but up until the detour had been a very good walk.

I hadn't managed to top up my water bottles and didn't have enough water for cooking or a hot drink so I had to make do with sandwiches & a muffin for my evening meal.