A belated thank you post and some reflections

You can skip this post if you want to. The only person that knows everyone on the thank you list is me, and so it might be dull. However, everyone on the list has appeared on the blog at some point so you will at least have heard of them. And my reflections aren’t profound […]

Day 122 Going home

We spent the night in Thurso, at the third MGM hotel of the trip. You will remember that the previous two were in Tyndrum and Fort William. This one was definitely the least showy of the three. Not a sparkling mosaic in sight, and only one picture of MGM himself. We had dinner at a […]

Day 121 John O’Groats

Today I reached John O’Groats. I set off after breakfast at 9am. I had decided to do some road walking and then I would take to the cliff tops. The views are stunning and the path is described as Easy Walking. That means no fences to climb or rivers to ford rather than a gentle […]

Day 120 The Penultimate Day

Today was a relatively short day made even shorter by my decision to skip a headland. The trouble with my two unscheduled rest days is that I now just want to finish and am losing interest in scenic routes. I was determined not to set out too early. Fortunately this is quite easy in Wick […]

Day 119 Not Very Restful Rest Day 19

Today’s rest day wasn’t particularly restful. Because I made a late decision to walk directly to Wick I couldn’t stay for two nights in the same place which meant I had nowhere to go in the middle of the day. However, I had things to do. First task was to find a cardboard box in […]

Day 118 Wick

This morning the weather had changed. It was overcast but clear and much chillier. I had to wear an extra layer. I also put on my waterproof trousers initially to protect me from wet grass on the verges but later to keep me warm. I had had a good night’s sleep on the strange but […]

Day 117 A wet and foggy day

I knew the forecast was for rain, and indeed it started in the night and by morning was a foggy wet drizzle. I packed away the wet tent, and was off by 9.40. Today was a relatively short day of about 9 miles and so I knew I would arrive in Lybster by lunchtime. I […]

Day 116 Rest Day 18 Dunbeath

I hadn’t really planned a rest day. The guidebook said it would be two days from Helmsdale to Dunbeath but because I took the road it was only one day so I had an extra night. I didn’t have high hopes for my rest day. Dunbeath seemed to be a closed village without much going […]

Day 115 I brave the A9

The JOG trail today is reputed to be the most difficult part of the trail. I had decided not to do it but to take the road instead. I had heard bad things about the road as well- but I had been observing the traffic as Tim and I had met the road on our […]

Day 114 I say goodbye to Tim

I had a surprisingly bad night in my tent. Usually once I get to sleep very little wakes me, not so last night. And last night was the first time it wasn’t daylight when I went to sleep-I used my headlamp for the first time in this trip. When I woke, I had breakfast and […]