Читать книгу The Southern Upland Way. Scotland's Coast to Coast trail онлайн

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Hopefully by now your appetite for the SUW has been well and truly whetted. So you now want to walk the SUW, but how do you realise your ambition? The introductory sections that follow will help you in planning and arriving at the start of the walk, Portpatrick, and from there the route description should safely guide you day by day on the SUW ‘Over the hill to Away!’

West to east or east to west?

A west to east traverse, as described in this guide, is the direction of choice. The depressions that come all too frequently across the Atlantic bring moisture-laden air from the south-west and dump much of it across our mountains, hills and moors. So the chances are that if you walk from Portpatrick to Cockburnspath you will have the wind, and hence any unpleasant weather, at your back all the way. However, if you happen to be unlucky enough to choose a period when a bitterly cold north-easterly is blowing, which is not uncommon particularly in the winter months, then you may have reason to curse both my advice and your decision. But may the sun always be shining! From a scenic point of view the views are equally fine if the Trail is walked in either direction.