It's certainly remote enough that you'll be able to find camping spots, though on the approach to Callander and alongside Loch Lubnaig you do enter restricted camping zones (like Loch Lomond). The most awkward place is probably the road section alongside Loch Tay as it's quite a steep slope above and below the road, with rather a lot of properties along it. There are certainly plenty of likely spots elsewhere though.
@@vvs3796 No problem. Hope you have a great time on it. Really good trail, but soooo much hard surface. Also, look out for beaver activity on the trail. There are a few places they've been reintroduced
The main route comes in at around 127km. I would (very roughly) estimate that somewhere between 80-100km is on some kind of hard made surface (road, cycle path, forest track etc) - not necessarily road. I would err towards the higher end of that estimate. As for public roads, possibly somewhere around 40km. The longest stretches are on day 1 from the start and between Killin and Aberfeldy. The roads are very quiet though.
I'm walking the RRW next May and I found your videos so helpful and interesting. I've subscribed and look forward to watching more of your walks. It's nice to have someone of a similar age admitting parts were hard, rather than a twenty something bouncing around making me feel old and past it haha Thank you 🙂
Thanks for watching. I really enjoyed the RRW - even with all the hard surfaces along the way, it surpassed my expectations by quite a distance. I still need to get back and walk the remote loop from Aberfeldy. Hopefully I can get round to that some time this summer!
@@josmith3360 I do think it's a little difficult logistically when doing the whole route. There was a hotel around the midway point, but it's been closed for several years now, sadly.
I have completed this twice so far, but I must say it was a long time ago 1975/6. I did this to train for when I joined the Army. So I will follow you and jot down a few of my Memories of this Hike. All the Best for your Hike to Scotland. So with your first few steps already completed I took a different route up to Kinder Downfall. Starting at Edale Pub I took the right turn outside and followed the stream to its source, that just left me a mile or so over the top to Kinder Downfall. OK maybe its not as easy as the stone steps of the Updated route but this was Wainwrights Original Route (and no doubt there are other alterations to that route to Kirk Yetholme) Good Luck with your hike. Tony an Ex Hiker of Long Distance Paths.
I'll need to return one day and walk the original route to Kinder Downfall. Must have been a really different experience in the 70's. Much more bog, I guess. There's a wonderful community around this trail. It's a journey that will live long in the memory!
@@blackcathiking7831 Oh yes the route was very different in places, but the aim was the same... Kirk Yetholme. It took me 12 days backpacking with 2 days in the YHA. Some wet days but most were sunny and warm. Happy Memories and I only wish I could do it again now that I am retired. Tony the Retired Hiker in Essex.
Day 3 for me was M62 Bridge/Radio mast to Mankinhole Radio/TV Mast lots pretty flower bushes but what sort I do not know. One 5 minute shower of rain but otherwise sunny and breezy.
My day Two started about 50 yards past the Rifle Range and continued to approx 5 miles past Standedge to pitch my tent in the wild Heather and away from the road for my mid day coffee and sandwiches. Sunshine and showers predicted for my days hike and it turned out to be true. Tony the Retired HIker from Essex
About half way up to that first summit I caught up with a party of three teenagers (1Male and 2 Females) they were struggling but they soon tagged onto the follow me as their map reading skills where none existant. Needless to say I slowed my pace down to match theirs and we all arrived at Saddleworth Moor where I retold the sad story of the Moors Murders of some young children in the 1960s, then onto a nice waterfall near Diggle for our Lunchtime break. They stopped at Diggle and I continued for another hour or so before I stopped for my overnight camp not far from the Large Mast near the M62 bridge. The following day I waited for my companions so for me it was a later start. Tony the Retired HIker from Essex
A slightly easier route is to start by the Pub and FOLLOW that stream (Grinds Brook) at the side of the Pub up to its source then just cross over the top of the Moor to Kinder Downfall. That was the Original Route, but due to the ammount of walkers doing the route and any possible errosion damage they may cause they changed the "Offical Route" to the Jacobs Ladder alternativeroute. Tony a Retired Hiker and twice route walker, first South to North followed a year later with a North to South #Pennine Way
@@blackcathiking7831 A simple solution being a map and a compass and the knowledge of how to use both of them together. Me I just seem to head off in the right direction and if I get lost I sit down and make pot of coffee and wait for the mist to clear. That worked for me on the top of Cross Fell and later just before I found the summit and near by Greggs Hut.
Well done for having a go . I walked the PW from South to North in the early 80’s and although I was glad to have finished it in my opinion this is a very overrated LDF. Much dull and ordinary walking with numerous sheep fields. Yes there are a few highlights but not enough . I would highly recommend the 2 Moors Way , SWCP , Pembrokeshire Coastal Path and course Wainwright Coast To Coast . Far better experience
So glad to have done it. Some people love it. I enjoyed it, but probably not enough to do it again. There are still loads of trails out there to be hiked!
Well done mate, i enjoyed following your journey! I start the Pennine Way myself in just over a week, cannot wait to get going! You'll love the Coast to Coast!
Best of luck. I hope the weather picks up a bit for you. You must be starting around the same time I did last year. The first two days are really tough going, but once you're through those it's (almost) plain sailing. Hope you have a great time on the trail!
That made me laugh - your comment about the bus being late!! Well done - I know you were disappointed not to do it in one go but what an achievement - fantastic. It must have been difficult to get back into the swing of things again. Coast to coast is fantastic :-)
Really looking forward to the C2C. Doing it east to west, so will be going against the flow, but I really want to leave the lakes until last. Glad to have finished the PW now, though I may revisit the Cheviot for a couple of days to get to the summit and walk the low/high routes from Kirk Yetholm
What a fabulous place to spend the evening. It's been a long time since I've walked in an area as remote as that and it looked beautiful. Well done carrying all that water 😟
The good thing was the pack got considerably lighter through the two days. Water is the big problem up there, and there's not much, unless you drop down from the tops. Was a surprisingly comfortable way to spend a night in there!
It's amazing how quickly everything just seizes when I stop...getting going again is just the worst. I suspect beer is the best, albeit temporary, alternative solution!
Great video! I love the scenery and enjoy your commentary. I've visited Vindolanda and the portion of Hadrian's Wall from Steel Righ carpark. Hope to make it back to the UK to do the complete Hadrian's Wall walk.
Vindolanda is just fantastic. Some of the finds they have there are incredible, and the exhibition is always developing. They've recently started excavating a new section of the fort as well, so hopefully plenty more interesting finds to come.
Well done, that looked a tough day. So glad I got to see Sycamore Gap a couple of years ago on my unfinished Hadrians Wall walk. Just out of curiosity, which bothy had you intended to stay in on your original plan?
It's mainly my trail fitness not being where it should be, but all those stiles at the end of the day were a killer. The bothy was Haughtongreen, only a few hundred metres off route in the forest just north of the wall. It would have made the day that much more manageable, leaving around 11 miles, I think.
😂😂😅. The pronunciations around this beautiful part of the world are wonderful aren't they? Bellingham=Bellingjem. Byrness=Burness (not Byre- ness). And my favourite, (my campsite), which I asked directions for in a local pub in Bellingham, 100mtrs away from the campsite itself, Demesne, which is pronounced d'mayne, & they had no idea what I was talking about 🤣😂....so I had a beer instead, 2 actually ! The people are wonderful but the language is in a world of its own. The UK is such a small place but incredibly individual. Which is why the PW is so special, taking u thru UK history & culture, something the C2C doesn't achieve (refer to my ditty in the hut/shelter wall on Cotherstone Moor). Im not at all religious but I feel blessed that I've lived my life here. Why are 'we' in such a rush to discover the 🌎 when there is so much on our doorstep. What's next for you, its the SUW for me in 2026? Keep vlogging cos we love your images & dialogue. You create memories for the hikers too lazy to bother or too unable to produce a quality video people want to watch. Hope your cats are well. Best of wishes to you. Sean
Our weird and wonderful country has so many unpronounceable place names. I'll never complain about folk getting place names wrong - though it amuses me - and I'm always happy to be corrected (I was wondering how that campsite name was pronounced!). Some have fascinating histories too. Over the past 20 years hiking trails, I've been to places that I would never have dreamed of going. Seen medieval wall paintings in a church, watched a spitfire perform an ad hoc display, seen a Lancaster (I suppose "the" Lancaster) fly past, heard red deer rutting in the autumn, seen pilgrims carrying a cross at Easter, folk on space hoppers (I couldn't believe it either), visited the church that King Edward Longshanks lay in state in after his death, plus too many other things to mention. The trails in the UK are truly fantastic! Next up is the Coast to Coast in September. A slow crossing east to west with not much more than 13 or 14 miles a day. The cats are fantastic. Two little characters who are very sweet natured - though I am getting licked to death by them. They are full of life and just a joy. Finally, thanks for your kind comments. I know I witter on a lot, but my goal is to show the trail, as I figure that's what folk want to see. Best wishes to yourself as well. Ron
As everyone else has said, it is really good to see you back on the trail, your videos are a great watch. I've just had to abort my trip (north to south) at Horton due to a bereavement, so like you, I'll have to finish it off (next year). The best of luck for the final sections. 👍
Hey @blackcathiking7831, glad to see you have started uploading the conclusion to your Pennie Way adventure. I walked in to the Yearning Saddle refuge hut, briefly, and learned of your tooth issue from last year. I have since caught up with your previous videos and look forwards to these final instalments. Well done for getting back out there and I hope you enjoyed the moment of completion.
It was a little bitter sweet in the end, but was great to finally finish. Still sad I couldn't get there last July, but got there in the end. Was good chatting with you in the hut! If I'd carried on to try and make the second, I think I might still be up there.
@blackcathiking7831 For sure, it was a long old slog to get there. I basically arrived, chatted with an American bloke, and went to sleep! You had no choice last year, and it's all completed now. We'll done that man.
It was. I found the descent harder, and the Schill was just designed to finish me off. Looking forward to getting the rest of the journey up! Thanks for checking out the channel.
It was great to meet you guys and nice chatting to you. I may have been ever so slightly knackered in the hut! Good to share a pint in the pub to. Best of luck on whatever is up next!
Coast to Coast for me, hopefully in September then after that I'm not sure. Working my way through the John Muir Way just now too, but it's not the same as being on trail everyday
Finished a week ago Friday! Just getting round to editing the footage, so may take a bit of time to get the others up. It seems I took rather a lot of footage, so a lot of editing to do. So happy to have completed it, but still a little frustrated it wasn't in one go. Thanks for watching!
Thank you for showing off the lovely border walks , that pull at the end getting the heart pumping 😢done it a few times and it doesn’t get any easier but great feeling when you reach the top . Well done 👍
The purple stuff is flouspar - Used to be ignored until it was found to be useful in steel making. It is the same material as the Blue John found in the Peak District around Castleton and Hope but there the crystals tend to be much larger and more easily polished as jewellry. As Wainwright suggests I have a miniature cairn at home made of these fragments collected when walking the PW in April 69 - and a few times since.
We’re so sorry you had to cut your walk short due to tooth ache of all things! Your two babies Trip & Chase are gorgeous. Of course you’ll never forget Gilbert (or Sully) but your heart is big enough and has enough love for these babies too. God bless you. ❤️🐾
Thank you for your kind comment. As I type this, it's two weeks to the day until I restart the Pennine Way from Twice Brewed. The two boys are curled up asleep on my bed, after an energetic day! They are both very different and very sweet (Chase loves to bring me his favourite grumpy cat toy) and very close to each other. They can never replace Gilbert, but they were never intended to. They are full of energy and character. Hopefully they will appear in a couple of planned videos over the year! Thanks once again for your kind thoughts
Lovely photos that bring back memories. You backpack is enormous, its no wonder that you have a hard time on the steep and boggy bits. I can't get over the pathway. When we did it there was no path and just a sheep track in the grass to follow. We did it on a sunny day and it was a breeze with our 20lb backpacks and being just 20 years old. Now I can't make it to the nearest bus stop, which is from years in front of a computer screen, not good for you.
I’ll never break any speed records, that’s for sure. Slow and steady it is for me on these things. Everything is easy when you’re young! I wish I had that energy now as well
Lovely video again. I feel for you with your heavy pack. We set a 20lb limit when we did it but then after a couple of days we lightened the load. We did the walk in September to avoid the heat but it was wet and windy a lot without too much rain. We dreaded Black Hill and going through the bog. There was no paved path. Luckily we discovered that my Irish ancestry meant I could walk a path through a bog at four miles per hour and the others just had to make sure they walked in my footprints. Hilarious when they didn't and sank ankle deep into the bog.
It's incredible just how much difference the laying of the slabs down has made to the trail. I've seen a photo of the trig point on Black Hill just surrounded by endless bog. The Pennine Way must have been a completely different beast back in the day!
Really lovely photography. I think it is the best that I have seen and you commentary is at the right level. Your experience of this stretch is so different to mine. I went in a group of three. We went in the visitor centre at Edale the night before to hear horror stories of a search in the fog for some lost walkers where the rescuers got temporarily lost themselves (before gps). The next day when we got to the top the fog was really pea soup thick and we had to walk in a line just a few steps apart. We waded through wet bog for half a mile using just compass directions until we found a beautiful sandy stream in the black bog. We followed the stream to Kinder Downfall and as we approached it we got wet from the wind blowing the river back over the mountain. We were nervous about going over the edge but the mist cleared at the edge. So I never saw the wonderful views that you had but still had a memorable experience to last into my current old age.
Quite often it's not the glorious days that live long in the memory, but the super challenging ones. Sounds like you had one of those great days on trail. Hard at the time, but a favourite memory!
Enjoyed this one from the start. The pace and tone said it all - you were in for a treat with that weather. The approach to Jacobs Ladder sure did look impressive-mountainous almost. I agree it can be hard to loose a life we love. I lost my identical twin and that has taken an age - being happy is almost a betrayal. But they would want us to live fully and you are doing that for sure. Fantastic trail. Thanks to the American ladies. Mark
Thanks for your kind comments. Amazing how a throw away comment (well, a question in a letter) has led to such a legacy of trails in the UK. I wonder what would have happened if they had never asked! I can't begin to imagine how you must feel losing a twin. I don't think it's something that can ever be overcome completely. It sneaks up at the strangest times, and although the gaps lengthen the impact never lessens. I know I miss that little guy every day, even with my two new guys, who are full of personality and a joy in every way (except at 3am when they want to play). Still, I'm returning to the PW in a month or so. It's an incredible trail!
@@blackcathiking7831 Absolutely, them woman are the reason so many are there. What a contribution. That's Ok about Paul - yes it's agony sometimes but when I'm out on trail too I feel he walks with me. Nature helps as it did you on this walk - that was good to hear. Ah, all the best with the little guys - fun fur balls. See you back out on the PW-I'm enjoying your trails and commentary. Peace.
Thanks for this video -- I learned a lot. On the canal and the mysterious wider section: perhaps this wide section is actually a water pound to contain and then provide water for the locks below? I noticed from the video that the locks east of this this are all going down. One way or another the canal builders would need to provide for a reliable water source, and this might have been their solution. Google Earth altitudes seem to indicate this stretch of wide canal is either the highest or near-highest section of the canal.
You could well be right. There is quite a gap between locks - if I remember correctly the first one we meet in the film is the last before reaching Maryhill in Glasgow (they're numbered east to west). I wonder if they may have only built the north side bank of the canal, leaving the south side as a "natural bank" because of the bog. It's a bit of a mystery!
Well done guys. Really enjoying your walks. Watched the last section from carbeth to kirky. Did yous get a nice lunch anywhere on this one? I would take you on my canoe up the next section to save your legs if you like!
Got some breakfast in Kirky, and there's plenty of options there. Usually we'd have stopped at the Boathouse at Auchinstarry, but were a little pushed for time on this one. There wasn't really anywhere else on this.
Very realistic about how wet things can get -- I've lost count of the number of times I've done the P W -- did it down and up one year -- even after starting with food-poisoning !
It was a real damp squib. Ironically, had I made a late start it would’ve dried out to a sunny afternoon! Still, it was worth the early start to get the caravan in Malham. Walking with food poisoning is no fun. I had it once when I walked the Weald Way. It almost ended in disaster - fortunately it went through pretty quickly and I’d chosen that night to be in a b&b!
