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Journal: |
It was raining when I woke up, but had stopped by the time I left
the hotel around 9:30am. The hotel was really set up for
fishermen and, as well as the breakfast buffet, there was a buffet
and plastic lunch boxes for guests to make up there own lunches to
take fishing. Once again, everybody was very well-dressed,
some of the men in plus-fours (sp?). I think one of them was
an actor I recognized from British situation comedies, but I can't
remember the names of them. I made myself a couple of
sandwiches. When I paid the bill before leaving, I was a bit
staggered by the prices, but there's no choice out here. Hope
I don't run out of cash.
Soon after I left, I called the Overscaig Hotel, my target for
tonight, to let them know that I was late leaving but was definitely
coming. They said dinner finished at 8pm and to give them a
call when I got closer if I thought I was going to be late (my
mobile phone with the Telstra [Australian] SIM Card inserted can
choose between a number of local carriers and enables me to make
calls when my British SIM from T-Mobile doesn't have coverage,
however, it's much more expensive using the Telstra card).
Conscious that I had a long day including some rough walking, I
was pleased that the first few hours were easy walking along a
gravel track which gradually followed the Oykel River upstream.
It was very picturesque and, although I didn't see any fishermen,
there were fisherman's huts and facilities along the way. My
gravel track eventually ended and I had an hour of following a
difficult trail through sodden calf-high undergrowth while still
following the river upstream. Soon my feet and socks were
sodden again but I still maintained a reasonable pace alongside the
babbling river.
My route then took me through a forest on a track which emerged
on the shores of the picturesque Loch Ailsh. It was a very
peaceful scene with two dinghies with fisherman way out on the calm
water, backed by high hills forested on the lower slopes. Soon
after, I left Loch Ailsh I stopped briefly for a sandwich and then
began following an old cart track which gradually climbed higher and
higher into the moorland. It was boggy and sometimes hard to
follow, but the scenery was again dramatic and beautiful, and I was
feeling strong and enjoying life.
After a couple of hours and some exciting stream crossings, I
reached the point where my route left the cart track and, for five
or six kilometres went cross-country. As usual, it was
difficult, slow and tiring, with the way frequently blocked by peat
channels and bogs. I also had to ford the River Cassley, which
involved wading calf-deep across a fast flowing and reasonably wide
river. Before entering the water, I made sure everything
valuable was watertight, but I had no problems, apart from sodden
boots and socks again. After the river I had to cross a low
pass and then descend across very rough country to eventually reach
a road on the shores of Loch Shin. I arrived there soon after
6pm and calculated that I should comfortably reach the Overscaig
Hotel before 8pm. I actually arrived at 7:30pm and they took
my dinner order before I went up and had a quick shower and returned
to eat. The manager tells me I am the second Lands End to John
O'Groats hiker they have had following this route in a week. I
did see a few footprints out there in the wilderness.
Unfortunately, still no T-Mobile coverage (but everything else!).
I have a short day tomorrow, and am looking forward to it.
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