Waking on the banks of the river my first concern was whether or not the river had overflowed during the night. The levels were high but not enough to burst. It was a gorgeous sunny morning so after packing up i continued to follow the river to the sea.
Reaching the coast again i had very little choice but to turn left and hike over a few fields before the landscape radically changed. Leaving the fields behind and traversing the steep slopes i continued to follow the coast. The further i went the steeper and rockier the slopes. Reaching a small gorge i stopped to take in the view ahead. It didn't look good. It looked pretty wild in fact. The land raised high above the sea plummeted down. I'd have no choice but to go over instead of in front.
Gradually i climbed higher and higher looking down at the coast from the top of the hills. As with anything that goes up eventually it must come down. At some point during the hike I'd unwittingly joined the Ayrshire coastal path and i was now at a junction. I could either turn inland and continue to follow the path or i could carry on following the coast. Of course i carried on.
Slowly the hill began descending towards the shore. The slope getting steeper with every step. It was getting to the point where the curve of the land ahead was disappearing out of sight which either meant it was getting extremely steep or I'd eventually end up looking over a cliff.
I carried on carefully placing each step and taking it slow. It was steep but thankfully no cliffs or it would have meant a steep climb back up or a dangerous traverse along to find the path. Reaching the bottom all i had to do was cross a river. Sweet the fun never ends.
Using boulders and shingle banks i hopped over the river, no big deal. On the other side i was free to continue. Again i picked up the coastal path but that was short lived as i soon broke away to tackle the mother of all cliffs, or was it her sister. It didn't matter i only had one choice, to go up and over. After climbing a fair way up i stopped to maje a quick risk assessment, it was risky. Satisfied I'd ticked a box i continued. Every so often i stopped to reasses the risks. It appeared they were multiplying the higher up i went and following a sheep trail i seemed to be getting closer to the edge. Now being a rock climber I'm not prone to vertigo but i will admit as climbed higher my heart began thumping harder and several thoughts crossed my mind. The first being "its a bloody long way down", the second being "i hope i don't slip" and the third "i hope this ledge doesn't decide it wants to be closer to the sea". Calculating the ledge had probably been happy to be where it was for longer than I'd been around i kept going till i eventually found myself on a relatively flat field.
It was no longer the gorgeous sunny day I'd woken to in fact it had begun to rain. It was also cold the the ground had become somewhat slippery. Looking ahead at the wild coastline which was only marginally less ridiculous than what I'd just crossed and the risk assessment chart in my head now reaching new levels of stupidity i decided to pull away from the route I'd plotted in favour of a nearby track a short way from, well, certain death.
I followed the track for a short way but when i decided it was going the wrong way i decided to leave it and head over the has been heathers across the hills. The weather was rapidly deteriorating as the clouds lowered and my visibility quickly dropped to less than a couple of hundred yards. Keeping where i thought the coast could possibly be to my right i headed on into the white out.
As the horizon slowly approached me or i it i began to feel a little disoriented. Unable to see any kind of land mark to orient myself on i tried to keep going in a straight line. Gradually as i descended from the hills my visibility improved and off in distance i could just make out a coastal road. Continuing to descend i realised i was near a woodland. Finding a large rhododendron tree i sought shelter from the rain, to take a breather ant attempt to work out my position on the satellite images i had stored on my phone.
I was quite pleased with my progress for the day and had actually arrived at the woods I'd planned to stop at. It was still only 3:30pm though and i figured there was still plenty of time to get a few more miles in before calling it quits. Grabbing my pack and putting my gloves on i headed out of the woods towards a beach not too far away. It was going to be an easy hike from here to Stranraer. All i would have to do is follow the coastal road.
Exiting the woods i came upon a large building. Doors were hanging off and windows had been shattered. It was a definite chance for urban exploration. Dropping my pack in a large loading bay i set about walking the corridors systematically investigating the rooms as i went. Finding dry pallets left behind it occurred to me that the building would be a great place to stop for the night. It was dry and relatively clean inside and with plenty of firewood a temporary occupant would be able to stay warm. Unfortunately though it was still too early to stop.
As i walked away from the complex i hoped I'd made the right decision and that i wouldn't regret leaving the comfort of the packing room. The hike ahead was indeed easy all i had to do was follow the road and avoid getting hit by passing traffic. It was still drizzling but nothing i hadto worry about. It didn't take long before i passed the stena port ryan. Ahead i could see a car park with picnic area and across the road a rather comfy looking woods. The temperature was dropping now as the evening drew in. Stopping at the picnic area for a break i discovered i hada signal on my phone in fact i had high speed Internet.
Taking advantage of this rare facility i uploaded my days photos and checked for messages. As i did a text message came in from an unknown number offering me a bed for the night. Frances was a member of the Stranraer RNLI and had been told about my challenge that morning. How she got my number god only knows. It was truly a random act of kindness and under the terms of the clause i was unable to refuse so i returned the text to thank her for the offer.
About half an hour later frances arrived to take me to her home and introduce me to her sons and husband. Its always lovely to meet new folk and feeling warmly welcomed.
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