The South East leg to Falstone once again offers a relatively quick leg for your consumption.  Terminating at Falstone the route stays low as it ebbs and flows along the shoreline of the reservoir with it’s small hills there to be ascended with relative ease.  Setting off over the viaduct you’ll be on the trail of the long gone railway line that served the area, including the building now underneath the water.  It’s not until the final approach to the dam are you taken away from the reservoir for the only notable climb of the leg.  Hugging the Belling Burn you are arced around Hawkhope before dropping into Falstone via Hawkhope Hill.

Make your way to the village hall and our team will be on hand to feed and water you whilst you gather your strength and see if you’re on track.  We’ll have food and drinks here to try and fill those energy tanks up.  There will also be cold and hot drinks such as the essential coffee.  By the time you leave this checkpoint you will know all that lies ahead is the first hill and then a bit of teeth gritting back to Kielder via the Lakeside Way.  It’ll be interesting to see where this leg gets placed in order of completion.

Route map for North Star (South East) Falstone by Drew Swinburne on plotaroute.com