Castle Kennedy |
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Welcome to Scotland's Southern Upland Way, a coast-to-coast walk that begins at Portpatrick on the Irish Sea and ends at Cockburnspath on the North Sea. In between is an up-and-down roller coaster that goes across the lay of the land, meaning that instead of following contour lines, it crosses them. The Southern Upland Way does not feature Scotland's most famous scenery for that, you have to go farther north, to the bigger mountains. Scotland's most popular long-distance trail is the West Highland Way. The West Highland Way is admittedly more scenic, shorter, and easier to hike not to mention that you can sleep in a real bed every night. The Southern Upland Way is pretty rather than striking; longer, hillier, and unless you are willing to walk more than 20 miles a day, you're going to have to carry your bed with you. The result: While the West Highland Way is frequently jam-packed, on the Southern Upland Way, you're unlikely to meet more than a handful of other walkers.
But that doesn't mean it isn't worth it. This is lovely country, with high open hills covered with the sort of big sky you expect in a place like Montana (when you can see the sky, that is). But the lochs, the moors, and the heather (not to mention the brogues, the midges, and the rain) place you firmly in Scotland, which means encountering Scottish hospitality, sometimes at the most unexpected places: A man pops out of a hostel and invites you in for tea, or a family celebrating at a bothie hollers for you to come down off the trail and join their feast.
Walking in Scotland also means walking straight into history: Along the way, you'll see ruined castles (be sure to stop by the beautiful gardens at Castle Kennedy), mysterious standing stones thought to have been put in place thousands of years ago, and, of course since you are so near the English border plaques and memorials everywhere commemorating a multiplicity of Scottish battles against the English.
Walking along Loch Trool some 50 miles down the trail in the sort of hazy weather that midges like best, I come across Bruce's Stone. It's a massive boulder commemorating the 1307 victory of Robert the Bruce over the English. Plaques and guidebooks tell the story of the avalanche of rocks that fell upon the hated invaders, and the heroic Scottish fighters who finished the job. But as I swat the midges, what I want to know is this: What did those heroes of yore do about the flying teeth of Loch Trool?
from Away.com
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