It was a cloudy overcast morning. I'd had trouble getting to sleep the night before, the silence was deafening. There wasn't a sound, no wind, the wildlife was silent, I couldn't even hear the water against the shore. It was dead silent. It was 8:30am when I woke suddenly. A car passed by on the nearby road.
As I sat eating my smooth oats and raspberries I gazed across at the other side of the loch. I'd thought that I'd broken the camels back on the trek and that things were going to get easier. Alas it appeared I was wrong, the far shore looked pretty wild and would surely be a challenge just getting back to the coast.
After breakfast I packed up and hit the road again on my way to Salen where I hoped I would find a shop to get some more coffee or hot chocolate, black tea is ok but it's better taste is a little unpalatable first thing in the morning.
I wasn't convinced by the weather report I'd received on Facebook from Diane the night before that I would be in for clear skies and sun. Maybe it would clear up later, I thought as I headed away from my temporary home back to follow the loch along the road.
I'd only walked a mile or so when I arrived at salen. Passing a small wooden sign declaring "pop up gallery" I pondered what it could possibly be. Was it a gallery of pop up art similar to that of children's books where you pulled a flap and a man appeared from behind a door, maybe it was a collection of pictures, the type that appear 3d but are in fact prints cut and layered to give the effect. Maybe the whole gallery itself popped up. I was still none the wiser several hundred yards along the road but found myself strangely amused anyway.
A little further along the road I came across the village shop which was of some relief as I really didn't know when I would next come across one. I went in with the sole mission of either buying coffee or a tub of hot chocolate. There wasn't a vast selection of coffees to choose from and they didn't stock the 3 in 1 sachets I preferred to carry so I opted for a plastic jar of hot chocolate which although was light and surprisingly low in calories tasted good and always lifted the spirits.
Whilst paying for the hot chocolate I chatted with the young lady who'd taken the shop over and discovered that jacob from Glenuig had told her about my challenge. I was offered a lovely hot mug of coffee and continued chatting away. At that in walked an elderly gentleman, it was his 74th birthday. I didn't quite catch his name and his strong Scottish accent coupled with the fact he had no teeth and mumbled was a little hard for me to understand. He instantly knew about the challenge, he'd read about it in the news paper, and wished me luck telling me how I was in for a treat and that he knew every inch of the forrests and tracks around the loch. He also mentioned something about the old days when you could go out for the night with 10 shillings and have a good time but I wasn't sure entirely what he was talking about.
Once I'd finished with my coffee I said goodbye and set off through the village, apparently the next village at the end of the loch was a place called Strontian some 11 miles away. A distance I'd hoped to easily make before sunset. Walking passed the salen hotel i saw a ucalyptus tree, which wasn't something I'd expected to see in the Highlands especially considering eucalyptus trees are native to Australia and you really couldn't get much further from there if you tried. Attached to the tree and sat on one of the branches were two fluffy koalas. I had to stop to take a couple of photos. As I did Jonathan, the hotel owner, popped his head out of the front door "you look like you could do with a coffee" he called across. Not one to turn down a caffeine boost I agreed and followed him inside.
In the lounge area on the bar stood an old 1930s tin rnli collection box, well boat. It was ancient and the oldest I had seen so far on my journey. It was looking tattered and quite antique. Jonathan explained, as he handed me the mug of coffee, that he'd inherited when he took the hotel on and that a tradition had started long before he'd moved to the village that if anyone dropped any coins on the floor they'd have to go in the boat. On one occasion a regular had a pocket full of coins and when he'd gone to pay for a drink he'd accidentally emptied his pocket onto the floor, there was almost a hundred pounds in coins, a good day for the lifeboat. The gentleman honoured the tradition without a quiver.
Sat at the bar sipping on the coffee I spotted a news paper and decided to take a look and catch up on recent events. One story in particular caught my eye, black Friday. Black Friday is an American tradition where stores slash the prices on goods they can't usually get rid of, old stock. In recent years British stores have adopted this tradition which turns normal well behaved customers into savage beasts. Reading the article I found myself looking forward to the day of reckoning, armageddon. I was appalled at the pictures depicting peoples inability to restrain themselves and act in a civilised manner. I then remembered a fact I'd seen displayed on an animated information screen back at the Nadurra visitors centre. "Where is the nearest shopping mall? " it said "130 miles" came the answer a couple of seconds later with a smiley face graphic appearing shortly after. I could understand why the locals loved the isolation away from the rat race, the bad behaviour and general lack of compassion for fellow human beings.
Before I left the hotel to continue on with the days hike I asked if I'd be able to use the bathroom to have a quick shave, my beard had begun to irritate me and I'd had enough of the itchy chin fluff, beards are not my thing. Jonathan was more than happy to let me use the facilities and even handed me a clean towel. Feeling more like myself and I must say looking at least ten years younger I set off from the hotel to try and clear the ten or so miles to Strontian before nightfall.
The hike from salen to Strontian takes you through the oldest oak woods in Europe, the road followed the loch and wound its way between the trees up and down hill after hill. It was a pleasant walk but hard going at the same time. I'd walked for several hours straight but could see no sign of the village. The weather hadn't cleared up either in fact it began to drizzle for a while. The light was soon beginning to fade aided by the cloud cover and I knew that dusk would come sooner than I'd wanted.
Coming across a small river I stopped to fill up my empty water bottles, I tended to leave them empty during the day to save weight, 1 ltr is about 1 kg in weight. I was really beginning to feel knackered now and for some reason it felt like day had dragged on a bit since leaving the hotel. It was about 3:30pm when I decided it was time to start looking for a place to camp, any later and I figured I'd probably have trouble finding a suitable spot especially using the rubbish head torch with its pitiful beam of dimmed light.
The road had gradually gotten higher and higher above the loch with steep slopes either side. It was going to be tough just finding somewhere level let alone suitable for erecting a temporary shelter. I was beginning to feel a little frustrated and my pace had begun to slow, it felt like the ten miles from salen to Strontian was the longest ten miles I had ever walked, which just goes to show how much difference a good nights sleep can make.
Stopping briefly to adjust my pack and stretch my aching joints I stepped off the road to allow a car to pass on the narrow single lane road. Instead of passing though it pulled up alongside me and stopped, the drivers window wound down. The driver leant over to offer me a lift. Naturally I declined. "You training for something" he said "we don't usually see anyone training on this side of the peninsula, I'm in the service too". Seeing me dressed in camouflage I am assuming the gentleman had thought I was military, I explained that I was hiking the coast and had been going non stop for nine months raising funds for the two charities but I didn't go into the story about how I'd met roto and that he'd given me the gear to help me manage through the winter months. As the serviceman pulled away he wished me luck and congratulated me on my endeavours, with that a bat swooped down and circled me twice. I'd seen alot of wildlife since the trek had begun and hadn't expected to see any bats. I stood and watched it for a while as it kept swooping towards me and circling around before it headed off down the road and disappeared.
It was now 4:30pm and it was getting dark, too dark to find somewhere to camp. The trees were blending into the darkness and I was beginning to think I'd be sleeping in just the bivibag somewhere alongside the road.
Finding an old bridge just off to the side of the road I decided to take a closer look. My back, shoulders and legs were aching and I was feeling decidedly hungry and the lack of sleep taking its toll. Once again I hadn't stopped for a lunch break relying on the sugar rush from boiled sweets to keep me going.
At first it looked like I would have to forgo pitching the tent or tarp but on the far side I found a small clump of trees which with a little imagination I was able to string up some rope and build a bivi using the tarp sheet. It was too dark to look for wood so I had to go without the luxury of a nice warm fire and the light it would have emitted. Immediately I boiled the water I'd collected and made myself a hot chocolate and rehydrated a chicken tikka curry.
As I lay in my sleeping bag, feeling exhausted trying to keep warm I could hear the patter of rain gently tapping on the tarp sheet.
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