Somewhere a few miles before Hawes (view from, above) I passed the 100 mile point. 100 miles walked from Derbyshire to North Yorkshire. Someone said I’m walking to Scotland.
I know it looks like I’m almost halfway - but I’m clearly not.
It was a relatively short day today after the epic of yesterday, which was no bad things because we were definitely fatigued and were also down to the last dregs of food for the day. We shared a cup of tea, 1 sachet of porridge, a muesli bar and a peanut butter sandwich (from Monday) for lunch. It was delicious by the way.
We were in the cloud and mizzle a lot but at least it didn’t really rain which is always a bonus.
But we knew Hawes was only 13.5 miles away we could eat when we got then. And we have. Arrived and eaten. 😀 Now it’s time to do some washing and get ready to say bye to Tris who leaves in the morning. Can’t say there isn’t a bit of me that’s not jealous. And in place of Tris comes my wife, Evelyne. My folks even came over so we could all have a meal together. It’s felt like a half day off !
What a difference having friends, family and allies around you makes. Every thing seems easier, no challenge seems impossible - the feeling of not dealing with stuff alone can’t be underestimated.
So many of our young people don’t really have family to speak of. 60%+ have been in care. And often where they do exist they are not willing or able to provide that sense of security, love, assurance and empowerment that can make the difference to them trying something new, stepping up to a new challenge and stretching themselves reach the next goal. Often without an In2Out mentor no one else will fill this role. It says a huge amount that they often stay in contact for years just because of that level of consistency and care that they haven’t found anywhere else.
So hats off to Tris - his actually hat blew off many times - we had a lot of great conversations and a lot of laughter, a bit of grumbling, but having him there to journey with these last days made all the difference in building my confidence that I could move from going on a long walk for a day or two to now being on the cusp of day 7 of my walk to Scotland. Thanks mate!
As a famous Scotsman once said, ‘Grumble you may. Go you must’. 😀 So I will, because I now know I can.
Thanks to all of you who are following along and leaving encouragement. Have no doubt it makes a difference. We all need to know we’re not alone and that there are people who care. Thank you.
Morning Mark I’ve had a great reading sent this morning so forwarded it to your email as I haven’t a clue whether it will fit on here but it’s from Proverbs, very fitting . Onward And upwards in the feet of the wise !!
Which hopefully are less sore God Bless.
Well done Mark. This very old song comes to mind (shows my age!!) -
Keep right on to the end of the road, Keep right on to the end,
Tho' the way be long, let your heart be strong,
Keep right on round the bend.
Tho' you're tired and weary still journey on, Till you come to your happy abode,
Where all the love you've been dreaming of Will be there at the end of the road.
God bless.
(2 of 2) It’s been a blessing to walk with you. You’ve got this champ. What are star you are . The support from all the friends, family and encouraging comments show I’m not the only one who thinks so.. the heart you have for the young people you work with is inspiring.
I’ll be following your blog and a bit of me will be wishing I was still on the trail with you.
(1 of 2) Hi mate, thank you for inviting me into this journey with you. I can imagine what a daunting prospect this was at the beginning. Yet after a few days (and aches) we’d come a long way and progressed. And so It seemed less daunting (to me at least but then I was only going as far as Hawes😉).
.. .. brill that Tris could be with you then the family and now Evelyne!! Very well done on passing the 100 mile point and we're trusting the weather stays good for walking .. praying you though every day :) G&J