23rd February day 354

When i woke my legs were still aching from the hike the day before, a quick shower and a full breakfast and i was ready to brave the day. Outside i was pleasantly surprised that the weather wasn't at all bad. In fact it was nothing like the force 9 i was expecting. I  gathered my kit ready to spend a few days in the wild and set off to the Girvan station to have a coffee and to say thanks for their hospitality and goodbye.

Leaving Girvan a little later than I'd planned  i headed down to the beach. The wind although tame that morning was now picking up and progress was hard having to lean in to the head on gusts hoping gravity would assist my efforts.

Looking ahead I couldn't see any signs of shelter but hoped i would at some point see a small woodland or dry cave. My biggest concern at this time was the traffic, much more scary than any free climb or paddle. Getting hit by a lorry or even a car would mean certain disaster. I carried on regardless though following the road along the shore, strong headwinds proving difficult to battle against.

I was heading for Ballantrae, the next reasonably sized village along this part of the coast. Nearing a small village i noticed a mile stone indicating the village was about 7 miles away, a good three hour hike especially in these conditions. The time was now approaching 5pm which meant the earliest i could expect to arrive would be 8pm. Coming in from the south i could see a huge black rain cloud. As i entered the village i looked ahead to see if i could see any trees which i would need to help shelter me from the nights weather, especially if i was expecting force 9 gales or worse still a storm. It didn't look good, in fact it looked pretty baron. The wind was now beginning to pick up and being uncertain about what time the sun would set i began searching for somewhere to shelter a little closer.  I also needed water.

Crossing a bridge with a stream running beneath i noticed a small sheltered space with small trees. It was still early as i had wanted to at least get a couple more miles in but with the black cloud looming i decided to head down into the trees, fill up my water bottles and take a short break to asses my situation. The wind was still building and hearing droplets of rain hitting my waterproofs i decided that maybe it would be worth setting up camp next to the stream just in case i was unfortunate and didn't find anything else further up.

Stringing the tarp up just in time i sat out of the rain and decided I'd made the right choice. I was beginning to feel the cold though so immediately rehydrated a ration and enjoyed the meal while it began to rain heavily outside. Ok so it wasn't the southfield hotel or indeed a couch in a lifeboat station but at least i was out of the rain and sheltered from the wind.