31st October

It turns out I was at the Glenelg to skye ferry crossing. I was woken by the sound of a Scottish electricity land rover pulling up at the gate and a friendly voice calling out good morning before driving up the track I'd come down the night before. That was my queue to get up and tackle the day.

My boots and socks were still wet from the boggy hike but I had several spare clean and dry pairs tucked away in my pack. It was a small consolation but I was indeed thankful. Climbing out from the tent it was obvious that it had rained during the night but for now at least it was dry and although chilly the sun was peeking occasionally from behind the clouds.

I didn't feel confident that the Clement weather would hold out though so I had something to eat and quickly packed my kit away. Sure enough the good weather didn't last very long at all I'd just about managed to sort myself out when a light drizzle descended down from above.

Feeling extremely thankful to roto for the wet weather gear I swung my pack over my head and onto my back. With the Isle of skye literally within spitting distance to my right and still feeling disappointed I hadn't added it to the trek I set off away from the car park along the road above the waters edge towards Glenelg. Even though I was hiking on tarmac and had eaten a few kilos of food since leaving kyle it was still pretty hard going,  the pack feeling heavy on my shoulders. I was though having to stop less than the previous days which itself felt good and like I was beginning to make progress once again.

It was still spitting as I passed the stony shores of Glenelg beach, a popular wild camping location for visitors. Halted by a river flowing to the shore I followed the road to a small footbridge.  It had stopped raining, for a brief interlude so after crossing the bridge I decided to take a seat on a step and munch a biscuit or two. Across from the bridge I could see what looked like the ruins of a castle, I think it was the Glenelg barracks. It began to start spitting again as I picked up my bag to continue with the days hike.

The footbridge had taken me across the river to a salt marsh, marsh being the operative word. The ground was soggy and well marshy. The recent heavy rain had made it really quite soft and although my boots were still wet from the day before I didn't want to get them too much wetter. Doing my best to stick to solid ground I weaved along the footpath towards the ruins.

From a distance it appeared to be a large three storey building but as I got closer I realised there were in fact two identical buildings opposite each other surrounded by a thick stone wall. I really wanted to take a closer look but a steel fence preventing access meant that a quick exploration was out of the question.

From the ruins I followed a track into the village and came out opposite the community hall, on the wall of the building was an extremely interesting information board. The mars rover had been sent to an area of the Martian planet known as Glenelg in October 2012. This I did not know. The community had set up an event on that day that captured the imagination of the worlds media and brought a significant amount of attention to the village.

From the centre I headed along the main road to the village shop hoping to find a head torch or failing that another pocket torch just in case I had problems with the one I had.  Its always a good idea to have backup lighting. Thankfully the shop did stock head torches, well they had a head torch to be precise. Maybe my luck was finally changing.

A little further along the road was the Glenelg inn, the local pub and restaurant. I figured that it would be a good idea to top up my backup battery nic had given me so I popped in for a couple of orange juice and lemonades. I walked through the door and upon seeing a table full of pumpkins realised that it was Halloween. Being cut off from the media and people things like seasonal holidays and events tend to get forgotten about. It was quite a shock.

While chatting to Kevin the landlord he expressed concern for the nights weather saying that he expected high winds and heavy downpours during the night. Offering me a pitch beneath some trees in the inns garden I decided that maybe this time I'd take shelter instead of heading off in hope of finding something later. Deciding to  stop for the rest of the day I settled in and quite out of character ordered a pint and a bowl of chips.

As evening fell I began chatting to a couple who'd been staying at the inn, a short break away from their kids. Daryl and his wife had taken a week out to revisit the village and take a few hikes around the hills.

At dinner time I decided to break from my usual reheated rations and ordered a lamb shank from the menu. It literally fell off the bone and tasted amazing. Granted I'd pretty much spent my weekly budget but knowing that over the next week I'd be trekking probably the most isolated area of Scotland and wouldn't see a village shop, pub, cafe or restaurant let alone people I felt the act was justifiable. Being invited to eat with daryl and his wife was lovely too. Having company at the dinner table was again something I'd been missing.

It was gone midnight when daryl and I had decided that it was time for one last dram before setting up camp. Daryls wife had left to go to bed a couple of hours earlier. We sunk the glasses and both headed out into the dark night to pitch the tent and string up the tarp.

Whilst laying in the tent after thanking daryl for a lovely evening it occured to me that there was very little wind and no rain. In fact it was a warm and mild night.