Walking the Southern Upland Way | March/April 2018

This video wasn't meant to be that long, but I hope that you like it still. It shows impressions of my journey along the Southern Upland Way in 2018 (340 km / 212 miles). It is a brilliant path, the nicest one I've completed so far. The lands that the path passes through are quite remote and secluded and you can enjoy a lot of fantastic views whilst walking. There were more ups and downs than I expected, but all in all the Southern Upland Way ascends and descends both about 8,000 m - so that's why...
I hope that this video gives you a hint of what it is like to walk the Southern Upland Way so you can decide if you'd like to walk it - if you decide to walk it, I wouldn't recommend to walk this route during March and early April. The snow during the last days surprised me and if it had been there during the first part of the hike, I probably would have quit the walk. But it has been a unique experience of course to walk and camp in the snow and the cold :-D during some nights it got down to -3 or even -4 °C, so be prepared for cold temperatures if you decide to walk this early :)

Here you can find a lot of information: www.southernuplandway.gov.uk
and there is quite a new guidebook by cicerone: https://www.cicerone.co.uk/the-southern-upland-way
if you'd like some good maps of the trail, I'd recommend subscribing to OS Maps for a month (3.99 Pounds) and to print them off.

- the stages -
March 21st: Portpatrick to Chlenry (24 km) via Castle Kennedy
1:27 - 2:40
March 22nd: Chlenry to Beehive Bothy (20 km)
2:41 - 3:53
March 23rd: Beehive Bothy to Bargrennan (21 km) + 1 km to campsite
3:54 - 4:42
March 24th: Bargrennan to White Laggan (17.5 km) via Loch Trool + 1 km from campsite
4:43 - 5:40

from here onwards there was one 'more' hour of daylight, so it was possible for me to walk longer distances as I find it very hard to start hiking before 10 am, let alone 9 am :-D

March 25th: White Laggan to Butterhole Bridge (30 km) via St. John's Town of Dalry
5:41 - 6:50
March 26th: Butterhole Bridge to Sanquhar (35 km)
6:51 - 7:41
March 27th: rest day
March 28th: Sanquhar to Overfingland (21 km) via Wanlockhead
7:42 - 8:26
March 29th: Overfingland to Moffat (26 km)
8:27 - 9:04
March 30th: Moffat to Scabcleuch (28 km)
9:05 - 10:08
March 31st: Scabcleuch to Innerleithen (29.5 km) via St. Mary's Loch
10:09 - 10:58
April 1st: Innerleithen to Melrose (30 km) via Galashiels
10:59 - 11:52
April 2nd: Melrose to Lauder (16.5 km)
11:53 - 12:27
April 3rd: Lauder to Longformacus (25 km)
12:28 - 13:24
April 4th: Longformacus to Cockburnspath (28 km) via Abbey St. Bathans
13:25 - 14:34

- Accomodation -
London: YHA St. Pancras
Portpatrick: Castle Bay Holiday Park (camping)
Chlenry: Chlenry Farm house (camping)
Beehive Bothy (stayed in the bothy)
Bargrennan: Glentrool Camping and Caravan site (camping)
White Laggan Bothy (wild camping)
Butterhole Bridge (wild camping by the river)
Sanquhar: Newark Farm (B&B)
Overfingland (wild camping)
Moffat: Camping and Caravanning Club (camping)
Scabcleuch (wild camping)
Innerleithen: Tweedside Caravan Park (camping)
Melrose: Melrose Gibson Caravan Park (camping - the tent field opens in May, so I had to camp by the toilet block)
Lauder: Thirlestane Castle Caravan Park (camping)
Longformacus: Whinmore (B&B)
Cockburnspath: Caravan Park (camping)
Edinburgh: Light House Hostel

- getting to Portpatrick from Germany -
Flixbus from Cologne to London, stayed a night in London, took a train to Carlisle, then to Dumfries, then a bus to Stranraer and another bus to Portpatrick
(note: bus 500 seems to regularly run a little late, so better try and catch one as early as you can to get to Portpatrick soon enough)

When you finish in Cockburnspath there is bus 253 that will take you to Edinburgh or Berwick (https://www.bordersbuses.co.uk/timetables)

journey back: train from Edinburgh to London & Flixbus to Cologne

- some of the gear I used -
camera: JVC Quadproof Everio GZ-R315
backpack: Montane Grand Tour 50 (women's, blue)
tent: Six Moon Designs Lunar Solo LE
sleeping pad: Therm-a-Rest Neoair XLite (women's size)
sleeping bag: The North Face Cat's Meow (2018 model)
hiking poles: Black Diamond Trail Back
headlamp: Black Diamond Spot
gas stove: Coleman Fyrelite
cooking pot: Toaks titanium 1100 ml
rain jacket: Kaikkialla Anselmi
other clothes: Frilufts Sjunkhatten tights & Quechua Techwool 190, Nike shorts, Nike Crew sweatshirt, Sherpa Ananta fleece hoodie, Quechua merino t-shirts, Quechua rain cut trousers, Quechua Fulldown jacket (I'm really sorry about buying this. I didn't know anything about the production of down products in 2017. I'd only buy synthetic products now, not even merino clothing, especially when it seems to be too cheap..)
boots: Meindl Ohio II gtx

- music used -
1. Classic Rose 2 - Vibe Mountain
2. Accidents Will Happen - Silent Partner
3. Ruination 2 - Vibe Mountain
4. Magic Marker - Silent Partner
5. Clover 3 - Vibe Mountain
6. Crispy - Silent Partner
7. Secrets Secrets - Silent Partner

Видео Walking the Southern Upland Way | March/April 2018 канала hanry