Day 66: Melrose to Innerleithen

Another bog standard day, with a bit of an interesting bit in the middle. The bank holiday weekend means there’s plenty of people about, but not that many walkers, mainly cyclists. 

• Date: 25 May 2024
• Start: Melrose
• End: Innerleithen
• Miles: 17.7
• Total miles: 872.5
• Accommodation: Tweedside Caravan Park

I followed the Southern Upland Way this morning, which goes from somewhere to somewhere. I’ve no idea. It followed a river for a while, then through an industrial estate, then through a field where travellers had set up camp. 

I then went to some hills, which was thrilling. It was nice to be actually off roads and tracks for a couple of hours. 

At the bottom of the hill, I crossed a river which seemed to be very busy. There was some sort of kayaking competition going on which I watched for a bit. 

I then had a decision to make, do I climb up a massive hill or do I walk along a road for 9 miles. I chose the latter, so I won’t complain anymore about walking on roads. The bad thing about in between trail routes is they can be quite dull, but the great thing is that if you can’t be bothered climbing a hill, then you don’t have to. I’ve got a big day tomorrow, so I took the easy option. I also saw a disproportionate looking cow. 

On the approach to Innerleithen, there was a lot of noise. I passed what looked like a mountain biking festival given the number of bikes. 

I arrived at the very busy caravan park. What do you expect, it’s bank holiday weekend. Most people are in their fancy camper vans, me being the only one in a tent. There were plenty of people staying with mountain bikes too, they were everywhere. 

After setting up and showering, I went to head to the Co Op, but got distracted by a brewery tap room. 

I arrived at the Co Op and grabbed my dinner, then headed back to camp. There were a lot more tents that had been pitched. 

Tomorrow is a bit of an unknown. It’s a bank holiday, so the availability of camp sites is lacking and anything else is extortionately priced. So, I’m going to wild camp tomorrow. I have a vague location in mind, but I’ll get there late, so you might have to wait for tomorrow’s blog post until Monday.