Day 86 – Thursday, August 25, 2011, Helmsdale to Dunbeath – 16 miles

I knew today was going to be a boring day of roadwalking along the busy A9. My expectations were fully met. For some reason the traffic today was far heavier than yesterday – perhaps the heavy traffic is in the morning, and I missed it by walking on the beach yesterday. There was no beach today – the sea came right up to the vertical cliffs, so the A9 was the only option.

The scenery from the road was still pretty – when I had a chance to look at it. Most of the time I was busy watching the vehicles headed in my direction. I tried to entertain myself by playing a license plate game, but the vehicles whizzed by so fast that I couldn’t read the plates. Finally, I decided to just pay attention to the road signs – it’s amazing how helpful they can be even for walkers.

The first sign I noticed reminded me that I had drunk more than my usual coffee this morning. The A9 is a long road in a remote area, and the pee post was welcome.  Another pee post appeared about a mile later. This was too soon, but OK, I gave what I had. When the third sign appeared, I was flabbergasted, until I realized that the blue color indicated convenience, not command.

Some signs weren’t very helpful, like the one telling me to give way. What else would you do when two tons of metal are hurtling towards you?

This sign was especially motivating. There’s nothing like the promise of a bottle at the end of the day to keep a walker moving. Funny, though, I would have expected another pee post afterwards, but there were none.







© 2011 Ken Klug

Day 85 – Golspie to Helmsdale – 17 miles

Once again I was pleasantly surprised to find that the day of roadwalking I had expected turned out to be half a day on a coastal footpath and beach and only half a day on the A9 road. Further, the A9 was not as busy as I had anticipated, so all in all it turned out to be a good day.

Dunrobin Castle

The coastal path out of Golspie was a nicely trimmed grass path. I didn’t see any sheep droppings, so the trimming must have been done mechanically. I could hear some traffic and an occasional train to the west, but they were mostly shielded by trees. To my east, of course, was the sea. The path passed beneath Dunrobin Castle, the home of the Earl of Sutherland, and reputed to be the largest castle in Northern Scotland, or maybe all of Scotland. Or maybe it’s the largest occupied castle. I’m sure it’s got something to distinguish it from all the other castles in Scotland. The castle is open for tours, but with 17 miles to cover today, I didn’t have the time or energy to spare for a tour.

Amanda and Wendy

Amanda and Wendy were sitting on a rock as I went by. Never one to miss an opportunity for a geography lesson, I asked them to point out some landmarks so I could orient myself. In the near distance was Dornoch on the other side of Loch Fleet, and beyond that, barely visible during the day but whose lights are visible at night, was Tain, across the Dornoch Firth. We couldn’t see Brora to the north, because an intervening point jutted out into the sea. John O’Groats was just ahead, still obscured by the curvature of the earth. Secure in the knowledge that I was heading in the right direction, I continued on.

Andy, Cheryl, Maia and Malachi

When the footpath ended, I moved down to the beach, where the wet sand was firm enough for easy walking. The receding tide had left exposed rocks, and seals balanced themselves on the rocks as they often do. Along came a family of seal hunters, armed with a camera and two children eager to see some seals. We had a nice chat, and they headed on to stalk their game.

Beachfront garden in Brora

Beyond Brora, the footpath climbed into the grassy sand dunes and ran along the perimeter of a golf course until the beach ended at a rocky shore. Rather than try to navigate through a long rocky beach, I stepped over a fence, crossed the railroad tracks, and stepped over another fence onto the A9 road. My intention was to walk the A9 until it rejoined the sandy beach shown on my map, but there was so little traffic and I moved so fast, that I passed the obvious point to return to the beach. As the beach receded farther and farther from the road, I just stayed on the road all the way to Helmsdale.




© 2011 Ken Klug

Day 84 – Dornoch to Golspie – 11 miles

I can’t compliment the staff of the Dornoch Castle Hotel too highly. From the time I checked in with my upgrade until the time I checked out the entire staff treated me as an honored guest, despite the fact that I carried a backpack rather than a golf bag. It was a lovely place to stay, but I still have to travel north.

Low tide at Loch Fleet

Today’s walk started out on a minor road through farm fields and pastures, and then along the shore of Loch Fleet, a tidal estuary. Scores of shore birds scoured the low-tide shallows searching for breakfast. I saw three blue herons and lots of those funny little birds with the curved beaks who were probing the sand shallows.

Eventually, though, I had to join the busy A9 road to cross the estuary. There was very little verge to walk on, so generally I walked on the road’s fog line. I was walking against the traffic of course, and every time a vehicle came my way I stepped off the road and onto what little verge there was until the vehicle passed. After a short time a policeman on a motorcycle drove by from behind me with blue lights flashing, and at least ¼ mile ahead of me stopped all the traffic coming in my direction. Wow!! This was great. King Arthur must have notified the police to escort me.

When I finally reached the line of cars which had been stopped ahead of me, I asked one of the drivers if he knew why he had been stopped. With as much humility as I could muster, I was going to explain my role if he didn’t know.

But he did know. Approaching behind me were three extra-long lorries transporting windmill blades – they were so long that they needed both sides of the road when taking curves. Although I was a little deflated that the traffic stop wasn’t in my honor, I took advantage of it and crossed almost the entire bridge before traffic started moving again.

Balblair Wood

After the bridge I would have still faced 4 miles of A9 road-walking before reaching Golspie were it not for brilliant wayfinding by Jack Frost.  His route turned the dreary road walk into a lovely walk through the Balblair Wood and then along a little used golf course lane.

Upon arrival in Golspie, I stopped for a cappuccino and my eyes fell upon a headline posting at the news agent across the street.

I didn’t know they were following my blog. Maybe I need to go under cover. I better buy that bicycle and a helmet, and get one of those funny shirts with words written all over it. With a new disguise, I can get to JOG before they know it.




Puzzle of the day:  Identify this car:

© 2011 Ken Klug

Day 83 – Tain to Dornoch – 10 miles

Dornoch Firth Bridge in distance

Dornoch is only a stone’s throw from Tain, but on the other side of the Dornoch Firth. Getting across the firth requires a long walk west to the bridge, then a short walk north across the bridge, and finally another long walk east to Dornoch. Thus, I covered 10 miles to gain perhaps a mile north.

The walk out of Tain started along the busy A9 road, but there was a wide grass verge to walk on – at times 30 feet wide. Because the road parallels the Dornoch Firth, I had nice views. The verge disappeared at the Dornoch Firth Bridge, and I was relegated to walking on a sidewalk adjacent to high-speed traffic.

Peter

Just after crossing the bridge, I met Peter, who is cycling from John O’Groats to Land’s End. He left JOG yesterday. It will still take me a week to get there. I really need to think about exchanging my boots for pedals.



Fantasy garden on
road to Dornoch

 A short way beyond the bridge, I found a gate and a footpath which allowed me to leave the busy A9 roadway and cut over to a minor road leading to Dornoch. I decided to stop in Dornoch today so I wouldn’t arrive in JOG a day too early. I’m not sure what I would do with the extra time were I to arrive at JOG a day early. Dornoch is a lovely village in a nice setting, so it seemed to make sense to stay here with my extra day. Besides, I had a little experiment I wanted to do.

The Dornoch Castle Hotel is an elite property – or at least that’s what the hotel rates would suggest. A single room in the hotel is £121 (approximately $200). But they have several “very basic” chalets outside of the main hotel building that are £51 (approximately $85). When I was in Tyndrum I reserved a chalet, and today I intended to try negotiating a complementary upgrade to a room in the hotel. After all, I had walked all the way to Dornoch from Land’s End, and if anybody deserved an upgrade, I did. I wanted to see if the people in the village where Madonna recently got married treat us commoners as well as they treat celebrities. I stayed awake most of last night practicing my upgrade request.

Upon checking into the hotel, I had no sooner begun my upgrade pitch when the desk clerk volunteered that she could give me a free upgrade to a hotel room. Somewhat taken aback by how the clerk shortcut my prepared remarks, I almost refused the upgrade. Fortunately, my background as a highly-trained lawyer kicked in, and I kept my mouth shut. Maybe I’ve regained that lost puppy look – but more likely, King Arthur put in a good word for me.

© 2011 Ken Klug

Day 82 – Alness to Tain – 13 miles

It didn't even register

After a good night’s sleep and a full Scottish breakfast, I was ready to walk to Tain. I thought I started out very well, but I was disappointed when the speed sensor didn’t even register. Maybe the breakfast wasn’t as carb-loaded as I thought.

The road out of Alness climbs a small hill, and then continues on through farmlands. I had good views of the Cromarty Firth to my right, and of the colorful farmlands to my left. As I passed a driveway, I was intercepted by a local resident. Although the road on which I was walking is part of the national cycleway, he hadn’t seen many walkers, so I was an oddity he wanted to meet. That was a nice switch, because I’m usually the one initiating the dialogue.

Sean and Rosa

Sean owns a small farm and a couple of horses. He mentioned that his son is temporarily working in California, and believe it or not at the very time Sean and I were speaking, his son was preparing to hike to the top of Yosemite’s Half Dome. Climbing Half Dome is a great experience, and I hope he enjoys it.

JDB, Jack and Maurice

As I continued on, I met a cyclist from Holland who was just returning from John O’Groats. He hadn’t cycled there from Land’s End, but he’s been cycling all around England and Scotland, and was now headed south. While we were talking, two other cyclists came by heading north. They left Land’s End 13 days ago, and hope to reach JOG tomorrow. I left Land’s End 82 days ago and hope to reach JOG next Sunday. Maybe I should re-think this walking thing.

Olga

The cyclists continued on and disappeared over the respective horizons, and I was once again left to plod along, step by step, inch by inch, towards my destination in Tain. But I wasn’t alone for long. A cyclist who had swept past me earlier in the morning as she headed south came by again, heading north. This time she stopped to talk. While it took me all morning and part of the afternoon to hoof it from Alness to Tain, she rode from Tain to Alness and back – without even looking tired. I’m really going to have to re-think this walking thing. Maybe I’ll buy a bicycle tomorrow and pedal to JOG. I wonder if cyclists can trigger the speed sensors.








© 2011 Ken Klug

Day 81 – Dingwall to Alness – 9 miles

Cromarty Firth

I had expected another day of dreary road walking, but was pleasantly surprised. The minor road out of Dingwall climbed to a ridge that paralleled the Cromarty Firth, so most of the morning I had nice views of the firth. Overhead, a buzzard serenaded me with its characteristic screech for almost 45 minutes. Both the bird and its call remind me of the golden eagles I’ve seen over Yosemite’s Illilouette Canyon. With its noble appearance and call, the bird deserves a better name than a buzzard.

Flowers in Evanton

After the village of Evanton, the view of the firth temporarily disappeared, but a footpath that paralleled the road wound through a nice wooded area for approximately two miles. Although the footpath was never more than 50 feet from the road, the road had virtually no traffic, so the sights and sounds of the woods made for a pleasant walk.

Beyond the wooded area, the road and footpath passed through farm country. Wheatfields, which had been dark green in June, have turned golden brown, and ripple in even the slightest breeze.

As I approached Alness, huge oil platforms came into view. Alness is an oil town. It used to be regarded as a “tough” town, but has revitalized itself into a very pleasant place to live. It’s not a tourist town by any means, but now has a beautiful town commercial center. The pub which once counted more fights than beers, now caters to families with children. At lunch I sat next to two elderly ladies who had come in for a bowl of soup. Alness is a real success story. I’m glad I stopped here.

Highland steer

© 2011 Ken Klug

Day 80 – Wester Kirkhill to Dingwall – 12 miles

Today I had to head west a few miles to get around the Beauly Firth, but once I did that, I headed straight north. The entire day was spent along roads.

Rare Scottish Sunshine

Road walking is hard on the feet, but with a sidewalk alongside the road for most of the day, and a route that was never in doubt, it was a relaxing, mindless activity. I wouldn’t want to do it every day, of course. But, of course, I will be doing it every day until I reach John O’Groats. Maybe I’ll be lucky and find a few footpaths to follow. Jack Frost found a few, and provided the details – I’ll just need to be sure I'm not daydreaming when I get to them.

A small network of roads gave me several route choices. Naturally, the longer route (longer by 5 miles) provided better scenery. Remembering what happened to my feet the last time I had a long day of road walking, I opted for the less scenic shorter route. That took me through the villages of Beauly, Muir of Ord, and Conon Bridge.

Beauly is the smallest of the three. It has an attractive town center, bustling with people. Virtually all of the people were elderly – white haired elderly. There wasn’t a bus in sight, so I concluded that most of the people were residents rather than a tour group. The butcher shop and the bakery seemed to be the busiest stores. I didn’t notice whether the candlestick maker had many customers.

The next town north was Muir of Ord, which had a completely different feel. Several of the buildings were boarded up, suggesting a town in decline. I saw no elderly people, but rather six or eight young mothers pushing children in strollers. It was about noon, and I was passing the library, so there may have been a library function for children. There were also a number of young men about – either walking down the street or accompanying mothers pushing strollers. Were they on their day off, or are all of their days off?

River Conon

I didn’t pass a commercial center in Conon Bridge. I was walking on the main road through town, and saw very few people outside of their cars. The homes were nicely maintained, though, which suggests there is some bit of affluence there. Perhaps it’s a commuter town.

Garden near Conon Bridge

So, there you have my very unscientific observation of the demographics of three villages, done at different times during the same day, and reported from my frequently faulty memory. If you are planning to buy property in any of them, you should perform your own due diligence.

High Street, Dingwall

I liked Dingwall when I arrived. High Street is a bustling commercial center during the day. I went back in the evening for dinner, and everything was closed. High Street was deserted. The hotel I went to for dinner was also deserted, except for me. Now that I’m away from the trails, I won’t be meeting other walkers, but I would expect either other tourists or locals. Perhaps that will happen as I get farther from the city – right now, Inverness is still only a short distance away.

I’ll be interested to see what develops over the next 10 days. Believe it or not, that’s all I’ve got left.


© 2011 Ken Klug