It was a cold and windy night. The trees protecting me from the storm. The following morning I woke, the inside of the tent slightly damp and a branch lead over the outer fly sheet. As I packed up it began to hail, my fingers were numb with the cold. It was the beginning of a Scottish winter and something I'd have to get used to. Walking towards the post office I decided to stop and get a nice hot full Scottish breakfast and a couple of coffees. Deciding to stop longer to get my batteries charged I ended up staying at the hotel most of the day, editing a video trailer for the documentary I was hoping to produce when I got back to Southampton and writing up the blog for the day before.
The day passed quite quickly and before I knew it the time was 4pm. I had to leave the comfort of the inn with its cozy fire and lovely atmosphere. My socks and boots were still damp and it was cold outside. Due to power outages during the day I hadn't been able to fully charge all my batteries and phone and as I left I couldn't help but look to the heavens wishing for clear sunny skies over the next few days at least. I headed down to the post office to see if my parcel had arrived and to get a few more bits and pieces to take with me.
Standing at the counter at the post office the post mistress turned and began rummaging around for the box that had been delivered that morning. "You look happy" she commented, a smile had obviously broken through my concern. "it's food!" I exclaimed. I opened the box to show her and explained the importance of the parcel to me and how it would provide the independence I needed whilst trekking the wild costal fringes of the UK.
Cramming everything into my new pack was tough. It seemed that the bag simply wasn't as big as the old one. In fact nowhere near as big. Even utilising the day sack Josephine had attached to it I still struggled to fit it all in and on top of that I still had a few extra bits to stuff somewhere. I have no idea how I managed it but I was able to get everything in. All I needed to do now was get back to Kishorn and back to the coast.
As I began the long walk back along the road it began to hail once more. It was getting colder every day and I would have to start getting use to it. I was about half a mile outside the village when a car pulled up. The lady behind the wheel asked where I was going and after I explained she offered me a lift. Kirsty was a local nurse and had heard the radio interview I'd had in Gairloch.
Arriving at Kishorn I got out of the car and thanked kirsty for saving me a 6 mile hike. It would have taken me at least three hours to get back to where I'd left off otherwise which would have probably meant I'd have had to walk in the dark and tackle the coast the following day.
With a few hours of light left I figured I try and get as far as I could and knowing that I'd be walking in a forest for most of the time decided that would be the best place to find shelter. It had stopped hailing now and for a brief while the sun came out. It was still cold and according to the temperature gauge on kirtsys car it was a cold 4°c. My pack now fully loaded was heavy but the padding on the straps was comfortable and certainly more comfortable than the squashed ones on the old pack.
I followed the road from the car to a playing field and crossed over towards the hill and forest ahead. It was quite a steep climb and although the few days before I had no food I'd gotten used to a lighter pack load. Entering the forest I began to realise that finding shelter was going to be hard. The tightly packed pine trees left no clearings large enough to pitch even my little one man coffin. This Is where a bivi bag would have come in useful. I continued on though following the track through the forest keeping an eye out for anywhere I could potentially build camp. The light was beginning to fade quickly now and it was getting colder. Way up into the forest I found a very small space between some very large pine trees. It was slightly sheltered and concerned I wouldn't find anything better I got the tent out, still dripping wet from the morning, and pitched up. Just as I was about to get it out of the cold it began hailing once again. Feeling lucky I dived in and got myself comfortable, boiled some water for a cappuccino and custard with apple joanne had sent with the supplies. Times were going to start getting harder as winter set in and with only a two season sleeping bag I began to wonder how would survive the next 5 months.
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