New Lanark to Annan Water Day 2.
Distance today: 20.8 miles.
Total distance: 455.9 miles.
Accommodation: campsite.
Health update: I have niggles. As many people know, the symptoms are typically mild but in rare cases, it can lead to a debilitating condition. It’s my knees mainly. There’s just an occasional stabbing pain if my foot lands at a different angle. The obvious question being: is this something I should be worried about or can I just walk it off? Stay tuned, health fans. One thing I can say categorically is that my knees would be in far worse shape if I wasn’t using trekking poles. What an amazing revelation they have been.
There were a lot of road miles today. Fortunately for the most part, if it wasn’t a traffic-free road, it was a generous strip of tarmac next to the road. One long section seemed to be an access road which ran parallel to the very busy A74. It felt odd to be that close to such a volume of traffic but it was easy miles. I was still following the route provided by the other Adam and at a certain point, it veered away from the A74 and went a bit cross country. Thankfully it did end up on a forestry road which felt like it was taking me in the right direction. I admit there was a degree of blind faith involved.
And so to my near-death experience. Once the forestry trail had joined the A701 I was back to hopping off and on the verge to avoid the oncoming traffic. On straight roads it seemed safer to stick to the right hand side because you could spot vehicles coming from a distance without having to look behind you. When one car had passed me I instinctively stepped back onto the road because it was much easier to walk there. What I hadn’t anticipated – or bothered to check – was that someone coming from the opposite direction would choose the same moment to overtake. They missed me by a whisker. Holy shit, that was close. I was properly shaken up. Of course I wanted to put all the blame on the driver. They were definitely on the receiving end of a stream of expletives as they disappeared into the distance. Had they not seen me?! I am sure they could have delayed the manoeuvre until they were safely past me but of the two of us, I think I had probably been the more reckless. Lesson learnt.
At around about the viewpoint for the bizarrely named Devil’s Beeftub, I saw a waymarker for the Annandale Way. I thought I joined it further on but I was more than happy to leave the road and follow what turned out to be a well-signposted, well-trodden trail all the way to Moffat.
My first impressions of Moffat was that it looked inviting enough in a touristy kind of a way. Plenty of pubs anyway. After a much appreciated pint in the Stag Hostel I made my way across town to the Moffat Camping and Caravanning Club Site. No surprises, it might have camping in its name but it was all about campervans and caravans. I counted 5 people on duty, all wearing official club polo shirts. It did seem a bit over the top but I wondered whether there was a requirement to volunteer as part of the membership rules. A bit like yesterday, the area for pitching tents was also one of the main thoroughfares but the site was big enough so it was fine.
Out in the evening to find something to eat but I’d left it a bit late. I tried the lounge bar of the Famous Star Hotel but as all the tables were full they wouldn’t even let me stay for a beer. Instead they sent me around the back to the Star Bar which was basically a divey sports bar. I didn’t fancy any of the bar snacks but I stayed for a pint, listening to lots of sweary locals laughing at a coughing local who sounded like he had smoked way too many cigarettes.
