Day 89 Heading towards a rest day.

Today I only had 11.5 miles to go to Kirkintilloch (or Kirkie, as the locals call it) where I was meeting Elaine who was picking me up in the car and taking me to her house for a couple of rest days before I start the West Highland Way.

You might be forgiven for thinking I had used one of yesterday’s photos again but, no, this was taken today. The scenery hadn’t changed much. There were however a series of notice boards about the canal which is fed by rivers and streams. One of them explained that this led to drainage of one of the marshes next to the canal but habitat has been restored and that part of the canal is now fed by a lake.

There were a lot of people about today. A few anglers, a lot of cyclists amd some walkers. I met a couple walking the Scottish National Trail (Kirk Yetholm in the Borders to near Cape Wrath) and we leapfrogged each other for the rest of the day. I also met a couple doing the John Muir Way (from Helensburgh to Dunbar, his birthplace- he left for the US when he was 10 or 11), I forgot to mention them yesterday.

One unusual thing did happen today. I passed a cafe that was a) open and b) appeared at exactly the right time for elevenses. Admittedly it was on the other side of the canal but there was a bridge. Refreshed and reinvigorated by a coffee and a fruit scone I carried on, bemoaning my sore feet and the remaining miles to Kirkie.

Those last few miles felt endless, and once again the canal views were limited by trees. Still, the weather was fine and I sat down for lunch on a bench-definitely not enough of those today- to eat half of my pork pie, some cherries and an apple.

After lunch I rang Elaine and we arranged to meet. I am now in Bearsden, with my feet up, cold glass of beer in hand and the delights of two rest days (and a washing machine) to look forward to.