The Road goes ever on and on; Down from the door where it began;
Now far ahead the Road has gone; And I must follow, if I can;
Pursuing it with eager feet; Until it joins some larger way;
Where many paths and errands met; And whither then? I cannot say.

[JRR Tolkien, Lord of the Rings]

Sunday 26 July 2009

Sophie and Patch

Taking a bit of a detour on a journey back from Scotland*, we popped by where Sophie and Patch (who are currently walking from John O’Groats to Land’s End) were camped last night, just north of Hebden Bridge.

After a bit of a hairy ride down a very narrow and windy road, both Sophie and Patch were found pitched on an otherwise deserted campsite, from where we whisked them down to Hebden Bridge, which was almost bustling in the sunny weather.

090725 Sohpie and PatchSophie and patch, with tarp and bivvy

A couple or three hours were passed eating, drinking and chatting in the Shoulder of Mutton where Sophie proved herself to be in very good spirits after 8 weeks of walking, and (impeccably behaved) Patch just wanted a good kip.

With a couple of hours of our nine-hour journey home still ahead of us, we finally had to drag ourselves away, so Sophie was deposited back at the still-deserted campsite to do battle with the midges and off we tootled back home.

Hopefully we’ll catch up with her for a bit of a walk in a couple of weeks’ time.

Sophie’s having problems with technology and so isn’t able to blog very often, but you’ll find her blog here.

(*by coincidence, I found out this morning that yesterday morning we had stopped at the very same services in Perth where Richard, another JOGLEr, had stopped for his breakfast just a few hours before; we must have passed within a couple of miles of him a few miles further down the road.)

2 comments:

  1. Brilliant stuff!

    Has Sophie got a route online? It would be great to try to find her for a day's walk. Piglet is very keen to meet Patch.

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  2. She doesn't have a route online - but I can pass you the latest information that I have as to her movements over the next few days. Drop me an email at: thegateposts at gmail dot com and I'll let you know what I know. I'm sure that she would very much appreciate meeting you and Piglet.

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