It had been lovely spending the two evenings with frances and her family, a hot bath and a comfy bed. It was going to be a long hike and although frances mum had taken me to drop my kit off at the lighthouse before leaving me at a place called the scar which had been where I'd finished the day before I knew it was going to be a tough call whether I'd make it to Portpatrick that evening or not.
Without my bag to slow me down i set off north along the coast towards the lighthouse. Although I was now out of the highlands and very much in the lowlands the terrain was still to be a tough challenge. With the tide out i made my way along the shores hoping to make my way around the headland all the way. Looking across the loch i watched as the ferries came and went and gazed at the hills I'd hiked the days before. From where i was everything looked much higher than it had felt.
As the cliffs began to rise on my left i hoped I'd find a cave or two to explore. Sure enough as i was approaching ladys bay my way forward was blocked but the opening to a cave caught my attention. It wasn't very large but as i entered i found myself in quite a reasonable sized space with tunnels leading off. Out of all the caves I'd experienced during the trip so far this was to be one of the best. Although i didn't have time to explore the whole thing i spent a fair amount of my time wandering around. Most of the tunnels lead to other large caves and s couple ended up back on the coast. In the main cave light poured in through a hole in the ceiling I'll be honest it felt quite homely.
During the exploration of the cave i was able to determine that no matter what I would have no other choice but to head back the way i had come. In the back of my mind i already knew this and as I'd been walking and scrambling in front of the cliffs i was also making a mental note of possible alternative routes up the cliff faces. The last exit route wasn't too far back at all and in comparison to a few I'd considered was a fairly easy climb making use of what looked like a man made slope that zigzagged its way to the top.
Once I'd climbed up and over, the caves deep underground beneath me i headed down to the bay below. The landscape was changing once again. Becoming quite crinkly the lowlands were living up to there name. Nothing ahead of me looked particularly challenging. In fact it was reminding me very much of home. The ground underfoot was very uneven and plenty of divets made the going tough though. Rocks petruded from the soil and my first impressions proved a little optimistic.
It took me much longer than I'd expected to reach coreswell lighthouse but arriving around 1pm i popped in to say hello and to let the receptionist know i had arrived to pick up my bag before continuing. By the look on her face i think she had been expecting me a bit sooner but with a cheery smile she offered me a coffee and some shortbread biscuits before i left to attempt to get to Portpatrick.
Now fully loaded with my gear i left the lighthouse and headed towards the west coast. Being completely unsheltered from the winds blowing in off the sea i knew the afternoon would be a bit of a struggle. Huge, and I mean mahoosive waves rolled in crashing against the rocks along the shore sending spray a fair height.
Ahead the lowlands were not exactly low in fact they were pretty damned high. The sticky out ear, as one of frances children had described it had two very contrasting coastlines. On the east side it was relatively flat and easy going but the west side was looking more and more like the inhospitable bleak landscape of some of the highlands coast I'd previously hiked.
I'd walked about two miles, although it somehow felt further, when i spotted some old wartime bunkers in a field just up from the shores. These bunkers were massive and could easily be turned into semi subterranean hones. I explored three of them each with small side openings and a large main entrance facing away from the coast. I would imagine that they were probably home to tanks or possibly extremely heavy artillery. In more recent years though and judging by the floors these bunkers would have provided shelter for cattle.
Often i find that i can get somewhat distracted whilst trekking and on this day I'd been distracted twice. This meant that the likelihood of me reaching Portpatrick before nightfall was increasingly less likely.
Heading off away from the bunkers i continued to follow the coast around as far as i could but as the terrain became more rugged i was forced up into the hills. Coming across a fence, with an all too familiar sign "danger of death" with the picture if a man laying on the floor being stabbed by a large arrow zigzagging downwards which by all accounts is to signify the fence gas been electrified, i decided I'd hop over and carry on across the field. I have come across many "electrified" fences on my journey but had yet to come across one that was actually connected to a bettery or power source of any description. This one however was. As i lent towards the fence grabbing it with both hands i felt an enormous thump in my chest and immediately jumped back. Unless i wanted to sing soprano in the church choir there was no way i was going to straddle this particular fence. Instead i opted for the slightly less terminal route of staying cliff side taking my chances with the wind and the 40 metre fall into the rocks below.
After hiking a few more miles up and down and around gorges and slopes i began to feel a little tired. It was nearly 5:30 pm and i knew i only had an hour or so of light left and a fair few miles left to hike before reaching Portpatrick. With no trees around to tie the tarp to i began looking for somewhere to shelter for the night.
Coming across a dry stone wall which proved to be an excellent wind break and seeing no other signs of shelter of any kibd ahead i decided to call it a day. Stringing guy ropes over the wall which i pegged down i set up the tarp and crawled in. What made this particular camp even more perfect was the fresh water stream running just a few feet away. Being in such a desolate location with very little shelter I was pleasantly surprised at how cozy my accommodation was and after climbing into my sleeping bag soon settled in.
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