I woke up with a screaming headache, so walked out of the woods to High Valleyfield, the nearest small and dreary town, to find the Co-op open before 7am. They IDed me for ibuprofen and a bottle of water, looking and feeling like absolute shit, still in the clothes I'd slept in straight from the woods. Haha. They sold me the ibuprofen anyway.
We had to hang around until Culross Palace was open. Mostly we chilled in a park nearby, and visited the gardens for a bit.
The palace was great actually. They even had a dog-volunteer (another dog) who Max could wait with while we followed the guide around inside. It's interesting how much history has been preserved here due to sheer neglect over the centuries.
We delayed further by having cake in the cafe.
We finally commenced walking. Most of the route was along roads and quite rubbish. At Newmills we met some people scavenging a door from a skip. We were about 18 hours behind our original schedule at this point, but managed to chat for over an hour about .. the environment, state of the world, reuse and recycling, litter, etc...
We took a detour towards Charlestown off the official path, because it looked like a nicer woody trail rather than a main track. So glad we did! There was a lovely stream, some interesting caves, and... We found so much chicken of the woods. We harvested it, and continued to the town. It wasn't going to survive a night in the tent and another day of walking, so we decided to just call it and get the bus home.
We went to see the lime kilns, and continue to the town of Limekilns. I wanted to press on to Inverkeithing or at least Ferrytoll, but the buses were scarce, my feet were hurting, and most of that stretch of the route was along road. So we just got the bus home from Limekilns.
So there's a stretch of the Coastal Path between Limekilns and Inverkeithing that I've never walked... I'll have to get back to that.
Took an afternoon bus to Kincardine with R and Max and the tent, and began the first segment of the Fife Coastal Path. It wasn't really very coastal. We poked around Culross when we arrived, and debated marching on for another few hours, or hanging around to visit the palace in the morning. We decided to stay. So we passed the evening with some unnecessary miles around the perimeter of Preston Island, and camped in the woods. Culross is very cute. So far this part of the rest of the coastal path has been uninspiring though.
It's the time of year again for a long hike. This time, through the middle of Fife to the north coast, then along the coastal path to the Tay bridge, and over to Dundee. I had thought if we were at the bridge with enough time and energy, we might continue round to St Andrew's from the other direction instead, but that was not to be. We had way points, but not a route plan, and figured it out as we went along. The result was less direct than it could have been. The weather was primarily great, and although my walking boots rebelled and were causing pain by the end of the first day, it was still a fab trek.
Loading...
The quality of the photos is atrocious; my camera is now completely out of focus on the right hand side.
Day 1: Dysart to Falkland Hill
I was absolutely convinced we could get to Pillars of Hercules by tea time, but after 12 and a half miles of walking we had barely even made it to the Lomond Hills. We followed Queen Mary's Road from Wemyss to Balgonie, went through Markinch and skirted around the east and north of Glenrothes via a little detour through Balbirnie Park, and stopped to fill up our water bottles at the Pitcairn Center, before heading towards the Lomond Hills and pitching camp at the corner of some woods, away from the main trail at the foot of East Lomond. This was all familiar territory, and we were perhaps overconfident in terms of ground we could cover, and did lots of unfocussed zigzagging.
At some point Max picked up an empty plastic bottle and decided this is much better than a ball for fetch.
We walked between East and West Lomond, along the lime kiln trail, and into the back of the Falkland Estate. We finally got to Pillars of Hercules, in time for a spectacularly disappointing not-sausage sandwich. But a nice coffee, and some communing with a friendly robin.
The accessible footpaths were not giving us a lot of options north of Falkland, and we took an indirect route to Auchtermuchty via Strathmiglio. We almost had to detour all the way to Dunshalt, but cut through a field instead. On the way into Auchtermuchty we passed through the grounds of a big fancy house, which were very nice. In Auchtermuchty itself, we looked around the high street and old buildings, said hello to friendly locals, and then I stuck my head into the one cafe in town thinking - after the Pillars disappointment - that maybe they'd have one vegan cake, for a treat. A treat! Almost all of the cakes were vegan, and there was a range of about twenty options. They had vegan cream and marshmallows for a hot chocolate, and vegan dog treats (handmade in East Wemyss!). They took a picture of Max doing 'nose' for their facebook page. Even though he was wet and muddy, and slobbered the treat all over the floor, they made him welcome. We stayed for a while, enjoying the fab treats and lovely atmosphere. The cafe - the Old Barn - is also (was originally) a furniture upcycling shop. Definitely recommend if you're in the area.. or even worth going out of the way for.
Out of Auchtermuchty and into Pitmedden Forest we went. We've been here before, but took a route through the woods which was new; one that skirts around several hills. The woods were full of downed trees from recent storms. Ancient things with huge roots which had hoisted enormous clumps of soil up into the air, and sometimes nearby fences to boot. We camped under the conifers, out of sight of the well-used track. Our longest day, at 17.9 miles.
The next stop was Newburgh, which would signify us finally reaching the banks of the Tay, and the Fife Coastal Path at last. In fact, Newburgh is the very start of the Fife Coastal Path, and I was determined to find the beginning of it. I backed up along the coast until I ran out of signs, but saw nothing of any significance. But later discovered I should have gone inland a bit, for the true start. Maybe next time. Or, close enough.
After Newburgh the coastal path goes inland. On OpenStreetMap it looks like there is a trail running right along the coast, but being somewhat time constrained and not sure exactly how accurate that was, we stuck to the signposted route. I expect to return in future to attempt the very coastal trail though. We passed along the edge of fields with lovely views over the Tay, and regular alternating between drizzly grey and warm blue skies. After Glenduckie we veered from the official path and took a shortcut through the woods alongside Norman's Law. Again, lots of downed trees.
We stopped to look around a very old and overgrown churchyard at Creich. I really wanted to camp closer to the coast, so we pressed on despite being pretty much ready to stop. We finally turned into a narrow strip of trees off the main path, and pitched the tent in a quiet spot, after a total of 14.4 miles.
Almost as soon as we got to the wood that runs along the edge of the Tay we found a far more perfect spot for a campsite. Next time! We lingered over an hour there; Max systematically destroying every one in a giant pile of sticks, and R scouring the beach for agates.
Our next stop was Balmerino village, which is super lovely! I'd move there. We looked around the grounds of the Abby, which includes a giant and stunningly gnarly 400 year old chestnut tree.
The path leads shortly to Kirton of Balmerino, and then, after longer than it feels like it should, to Wormit and Woodhaven. The weather continued to change between extremes at short notice. We passed under the rail bridge, and along the beach a way before realising we had only sheer cliffs and crashing waves in front of us; but instead of turning back to find the proper path, we dug through the undergrowth to scramble up and alledgedly disused stairway and through some spiky bushes and over a 5 foot high brick wall, to the road. It was still far to walk, mostly through the town streets, to get to the pedestrian bridge at Newport-on-Tay.
A storm cloud passed over us as we crossed the bridge, and soaked us. The bridge is infinitely long when you're on foot. Max was thoroughly unimpressed by the loud traffic on either side, and positively tore my arm off with the lead, forcing me to walk at a hitherto unforeseen pace to make it to the other side.
At last, Dundee! 12 miles on the final day. The sun promptly came back out. I made a beeline for Rad Apples but found it closed. So we summoned just enough energy to head across town to Loco Rita's, where Max was welcomed despite, once again, being wet and muddy, and we ate great vegan tacos on a comfy sofa.
Then we conked out for the hour and a half bus ride home.
We covered about 19 miles on the first day. Dysart to Leven is familiar territory; we powered along in record time. When we stopped for a break under the bridge between Buckhaven and Leven, we found a surprisingly good agate in the riverbed. I lost Max's ball, and hit my head on the bridge. At Lundin Links we spent more time looking for agates (and found a couple).
We camped at Dumbarnie Links, among the dunes. Tired and achey after the longest walk in a while. It was plenty warm enough, but I slept terribly.
In the morning, we took it easy. Walked out to a little island that was accessible with the tide out. It was beautiful, with wildflowers and rocks and soft grass. Someone had planted an orange flag on a cairn at the end. We sat on the grass, in the sun, and threw the ball for Max.
We headed off towards Elie. We couldn't do the whole Chain Walk with the backpacks and Max, but I scrambled about half of it before we turned back.
The next stop was a hidden concrete bunker hideout. It smelled of wee, but the views were amazing.
Next stop: Elie. We got great chips for lunch (Lincolnshire potatoes), and spent ages searching for rubies (garnet) at Elie Ruby Bay. I had a nap in the sun. We found lots of not-rubies, then gave them all away. It rained on and off, and we continued on to Pittenweem. Both the chippy and bakery were closed. I got Irn Bru sorbet from the ice cream shop at the harbour, which was a regrettable choice.
Boosted by sugar, we powered on to Anstruther, and had our second meal of chips. It started to rain as we came out of Cellardyke, and we pitched the tent just in time.
It was raining torrentially in the morning. We waited it out until about noon. The rain got lighter but didn't stop, and there was no way we could dry the tent before packing it up. It wasn't far to Crail, where I got vegan sausage rolls from GH Barnett's bakery.
The rain continued. We hid at various stages in huts on golf courses, or in caves. We walked through Kilminning wildlife reserve, then followed the coastal path inland for a while to cross a river over a bridge.
We returned to the coast at Kingsbarns, and walked until we found a spot that looked like it wouldn't get a lot of foot traffic to pitch the tent. It stopped raining for a while. We camped on a beautiful golden beach. The coastal path in this area is gorgeously rugged.
We left late, around 10, waiting for the rain to ease off a bit. Everything was damp. Max was raring to go. We took our time, stopping to enjoy the scenery and look at rocks. Red beaches and rugged coves covered most of the rest of the route. Max plunged into the sea with all his gear on and got soaked. We picked up a few fossils to take home. It was okay, cos we'd eaten most of the rye bread, and weight was about equivalent.
We scrambled around Buddo rock, with just about the last of our energy.
The final stretch contained really more steps and hills than was polite.
We got to St Andrews about 3pm. I got a double espresso, which was divine. We canvassed the high street, asking locals for their opinions about chippys, then went to Tailend which was cheaper with bigger portions. We ate in a little park. Somehow summoned energy to walk around the cathedral grounds.
I wasn't quite ready for the trip to end yet, despite the exhaustion, so we looked for a quiet spot to city camp. After a slight detour throug a school field and over a wall or two, we found a spot in some woods by a river. It was raining by the time we got the tent up again, and few people were walking along the trail. We fell asleep to the sound of the river.
The next morning we picked some jelly ear, and got to the bus station just in time to catch the X60 home.
