Circumstances have meant that it has taken me a while to get round to wild camping my first trail. As I have attempted to explain in other posts, it has been a gradual journey from bed and breakfasts on Hadrian’s Wall to tea in a tent on my first wild camped trail – the Berwickshire Coastal Path. I have written a complete trip report in the Trails section, so this is just reflections on the trip in the context of my wild camping trips so far.
Berwickshire in the Scottish Borders has some very dramatic cliffs and plenty of dark skies, which make it a challenging and dramatic experience which is ideal for wild camping. I don’t often hear this trail mentioned in hiking conversations, perhaps because people who backpack in Scotland are more drawn to the Munros, the National Parks or the Highlands and Islands, and sometime ignore the beauty of parts of the east coast.
I was on a trip to Edinburgh gazing out of the window, and I noticed a couple of backpackers across the field who waved at the train from the Coastal Path. I had an overwhelming urge to be there waving, instead of on the train on my errand, and so a week later that is where you would have found me. The attractions of this trail for me were; firstly it is a short trail to begin with, secondly it is full of great scenery, thirdly it is in Scotland with its more enlightened access laws, fourthly it is fairly familiar ground for me, and finally, while it is quite rugged, it is never too far from civilisation.
For the first time on a trail, I didn’t have to adhere to a plan or write schedules, except to ensure that I carried the right amount of food for the journey, which I almost succeeded in doing. I realise that this freedom will be familiar to frequent wild campers, but it is still a novelty for me.
I decided to take my time as I had to re-acclimatise to the routines of pitching and breaking camp each day, finding water and looking after my own needs. It was mid March, which is still British winter time in terms of the daylight hours, so it began to get dark at about 6pm. This affected the structure of my days, with early starts in time for sunrise at about 6am and long evenings spent in camp.
It was lovely to be able to wild camp, unlike on my attempt at the Northumberland Coast Path, where there are actually police signs against any form of camping, but there are no legal alternatives such as campsites. I found it hard to feel the sense of freedom on that trail which I now realise that responsible, legal wild camping can offer, as I was constantly tense about breaking the law.
I had hoped to complete the Berwickshire Coastal Path in three days, but strenuous post-winter gradients, a broken tent pole and bad weather meant that I had to add a fourth short day to my itinerary. I know I made some rookie errors such as not taking a repair kit. However, I really enjoyed the challenge and freedom of finally combining a little bit of trail walking with wild camping.
A big thank you to the people who have continued to be encouraging about my wild camping.
March 2017
Rucksack Rosie 