29^th Jul 2014

Just as I was getting settled in my slumber and enjoying my rest it was time to get up. The birds were chirping and the dog walkers were, well walking their dogs. I hadn't had an evening meal and only had a few freeze dried meals left so I decided to skip breakfast and see if I could track down some camping gas. I headed up to the town and located the local camping supply shop. Thankfully they had the right cartridges. I only had enough gas for maybe one more boil. I then carried on to the local hospital to have my leg looked at. The nurse was fantastic and after inspecting the injury applied what I can only describe as a giant sanitary towel with a wet dressing beneath. I was told it was a first degree burn and that it would probably scar. I was also told that I would probably have to keep it covered for the rest of the journey to make sure it didn't get worse or infected. Thankfully by paddling in the sea soon after I dropped the pan of boiling water helped reduce the burn and the salt helped prevent infection. A clumsy mistake but at least nothing too serious.

I was soon on my way back down the high street and at the Nairn harbour. I followed the path along until I was able to get down to the beach. The wind was coming from the west and hitting me hard making every step hard. I felt like I was burning precious calories with every step, more so than normal. The beach went from sand and sunken rocks to shingle and stones making the hike that little bit more difficult. The wind was relentless.

I'd walked a good few miles before reaching the end of the beach and faced with my next challenge, a fast flowing tidal estuary. I had no data signal either which meant I couldn't check the tide times. I decided that a crossing in hoolley was too dangerous and that the with the wind against me I probably wouldn't be able to paddle against it. That meant following the estuary to a point I could cross, and that in turn meant a good mile or so walking back essentially the way I'd just come and crossing the salt marshes.

Crossing the marsh was a struggle, small creeks needed to navigated and bearing in mind the previous days journey I was conscious of the possibility of patches of quicksand. Thankfully I didn't come across any.

Walking back up towards the coast was still being hindered by the strong winds, the backpack weighing heavy on my hips and shoulders. Ahead of me though I could see a forest and a car parked up meaning there was a road or track running along the edge.

Arriving near the car I climbed the bank, now feeling a little exhausted. Now on the road I spotted a sign next to a locked gate. It was for a port that had been abandoned. I went round the gate and noticed one of the barriers was up with a hand written note asking that it be lowered when you passed through it. Being that it was obce automated I found it a little humorous. I headed for a small building near the entrance to take a closer look. The port was most definitely derelict, vast waste land where trucks used to park up. I took my bag off and decided to take some time out exploring. I headed back to the gates to get some photos. The owner of the car had now returned after walking her dog so, assuming she was local, I asked about the history behind the find. Diane informed me that it once built rigs and was closed sometime during the late 90's. More recently it had been bought by another company that was to construct wind turbines, although nothing had actually been dobe about it for some time.

I then headed back in, the various old buildings firing my imagination and fulfilling my appetite for exploration. Various species of birds had now taken up residence at the port and there was a flurry of activity whenever I entered a new building. The port was huge stretching on to the coast and up to a pine forrest.

I spent a few hours exploring before deciding to find a place to camp. I decided I'd quite like to find a nice little place to pitch in the forest and followed a narrow road that passed between the two. A wide and deep ditch had been preventing me from entering the forrest until I found a metal improvised bridge. The wind had not let up one bit, and even once I'd managed to get amongst the trees was still blowing hard. I wandered among the trees for a while before finding a reasonably level piece of ground to pitch on. Having to clear the pine cones and fallen branches away before unpacking the tent and settling in.

It was now starting to get dark. My long evenings rapidly shortening each day. Taking shelter behind the tent I rehydrated one of my last meals leaving me with two. It wouldn't be long now before the challenge becomes that much harder. Settling in to my new home I waited for Neil from castle fm to call. While I waited I tried to post an update and reminder on my wall. Though recently I'd been having problems with my data connection. I couldn't understand it I had a good signal and although only a slow gprs data feed I wasn't able to update. I decided I take this opportunity to get to the bottom of it. I eventually discovered that the apps I'd installed to allow me to edit videos required a background data feed to and that all these apps were fighting over the bandwidth. A quick adjustment to the settings and I managed to restore my data connectivity. Happy days. It was soon time to go on air and as per usual it was a pleasant natter and one that I always looked forward to. Afterwards I was able to relax, the wind had now calmed down considerably and I looked forward to a reasonable nights sleep.

2^nd Aug 2014

It was going to be another blustery day, the wind was howling through the trees and even though I was partially sheltered their was a bit of a bite in the air. I gathered my stuff together and packed it away in my pack not knowing what I would be faced with that day. I crossed over the improvised metal bridge and back to the track I'd come from the night before. As I walked along the sun started to try and break through the clouds above. To my left beyond the ditch and in a small field was a sign. It was too far away to read but I'd seen similar before. It had an air of MOD about it, british military. The top half containing a map of the area which I assumed was indicating an area used for weapons training and army activity. I couldn't read the sign or make out the map though so I had to make sure I was on my guard, watching out for red flags and sentries as well as listening out for gun fire.

With this in mind I continued along the track and back to the coast. Arriving at the beach and aware of the potential dangers of accidentally getting shot I ventured down to the sandy shore, a line if white stones between me and a high grassy bank and beyond that what I assumed was the firing range. The wind had picked up its pace and making my way along the beach was tough going. Slowly but surely the tide was coming in pushing me up onto the stones. Leaning into the wind and holding my pack against my back with my hands I continued walking, every so often stopping to look for signs of military action and listening out for machine gun fire.

I'd been told some days earlier that I would eventually come across an area used by the military for war games and wondered how long it would be before a tank rolled over the bank and landing craft breached the shoreline. Ahead of me I could see a sentry box and cctv camera. The box was empty and it appeared that the camera was inactive, pointing down to the ground. This had to be a good sign so I continued on my way, the wind still determined to make the hike that much harder. A few miles along the beach I came across another sentry box and camera, again the box was empty and the camera inoperative. Now the coastline changed, no longer was there a beach to walk along, instead giant boulders piled against the grassy bank. I made my over a few and decided it would be safer to make my way up to the grass and follow the bank along. I did this for about half a mile before I spotted my next challenge. Somebody had inconsiderably built a fort right on the shore obstructing my passage. I needed a plan so I sat down against the wall of the fort, took out my stove and made a coffee.

I'd arrived at fort George, a rather large and historic stone fort still used by the military to this day. The tide was in and peering round the corner I could see the water coming right in close to the walls. Behind me I noticed a sign similar to the one I'd seen earlier that morning. I went over to inspect. Sure enough there was a map showing the boundaries of the property. It indicated a narrow passage around the fort which I assumed would be accessible once the tide receeded. I grabbed my gear and set off in front of the fortified walls and hoped that the tide was far enough out that at the very least I would be able to walk close to the wall and make it round to the other side.

Sure enough as I got closer I could spot a very narrow passage of stones. Hugging the wall I shimmied round to the other side where the stony beach opened up, a grassy embankment providing me a simpler route to circumnavigate the fort. Towards me a man with a camera appeared. He was obviously a bird watcher, focusing his camera on a seagull riding the thermals coming off the forts walls. I headed over figuring that there would be an easy route back to land and back to the trek. As I passed the twitcher he asked if I was in training. I'm guessing that because my trousers were kaki in colour people assume that I'm from the army. The reason I wear that particular colour is because it tends to hide the dirt and stains you tend to get whilst Clambering over rocks and up mud banks. I explained about the treck and the challenges I'd faced so far but I got the impression he didn't believe me, a weird inane "I don't believe you" grin running from cheek to cheek across his face. I couldn't be bothered to convince him so I carried on my way, wishing him luck with his photos. To be honest he kinda freaked me out.

Before leaving the fort I took a look across to the other side of the river, a spit on the other side so close I could easily paddle over but unfortunately the water was too choppy and tge current appeared to be extremely strong so I decided against unpacking hoolley and instead decided to head along this shoreline towards Inverness to cross over at the Kessock bridge. It was a shame as the journey to and from Inverness would take a couple of days to navigate. I left the fort through the car park and along the road looking for a way to get closer to the waters edge. Signs lined the bank saying the edge was dangerous and that it was inadvisable to proceed. Normally I would usually ignore such signs but in this case I let common sense prevail and took the advice on board. I followed the road, which ran parallel to the shore towards the next village. I wasn't far from the shore and figured that after what I'd had to contend with that morning a little break from adventure had been earned. There was also a small prize waiting for me along the roadside. Raspberries and to my surprise blackberries. I'd been keeping an eye on the blackberry bushes for some months now watching them flower and start to produce their fruits. It was now approaching the time where the berries would be ripe so finding a handful to chomp on was indeed a lovely consolation for not struggling along the stony embankment less than a hundred meters away. After having a delicious break and enjoying my small but juicy harvest I continued along the road, then I spotted another little gem. Beech nuts laying on the floor, the shells browned and peeling back. This meant that they were ready to harvest as well. I gathered what I could find and began munching them too. Being able to identify wild edible plants is an essential skill anyone thinking of attempting an expedition should learn as it can mean the difference between life and death and the fact I only had two meals left meant that I would be able to save them for a time when I could find nothing else to eat.

Eventually I arrived at Ardersier which meant I'd be able to get back to the coast and back to the adventure. I passed through a gate and through a field down to yet another stony shore. The wind hadn't let up but at least thankfully it wasn't raining. Making my way over the large stones was hard going and the weight of the pack digging into my hips making every step uncomfortable.

It was starting to get late now and I'd misjudged how far Inverness actually was and how long it would take me especially fighting the power of the wind every step of the way. Ahead of me I could see a patch of grass which looked reasonably level, a small woodland behind. I decided to pitch next to the stony beach on the grass and take a look round the woods seeking some kind of edible food. Thankfully I found a cherry tree, my spirits lifted but only briefly. There were only two ripe cherries hanging from the tree. I picked them and enjoyed the sweet taste whilst continuing with my foraging. Unfortunately I didn't find anything else other than clover and nettles, but I did find a discarded garden chair. A little luxury I wasn't used too. I headed back to camp and took out obe of my rations to rehydrate. Chicken tikka with rice. I was now down to just one meal and a few breakfast bars.

The following morning the wind had died down. it was still cloudy though which meant that the wind could return or even rain. After packing up camp I carried on along the stony beach to a salt marsh. Remembering the recent adventure with quicksand and scanning the terrain I figured the possibility of the silt being soft was high so instead of heading directly across the marsh I kept to the edge and hiked round. It wasn't long before I was faced with my first challenge of the day, a wide creek too wide to jump and to deep to wade through without the risk of getting stuck. A series of kelp covered boulders which spanned the width though did seem like a viable route across. Carefully I placed each foot obe in front of the other, balancing the weight of my pack as I did. It was tough going and a few slips here and there made me take deep breaths and pauses looking for stable boulders to use as a bridge. On the other side a soft muddy bank, I took a leap of faith, instantly sinking but rapidly scrambling to the top I took a deep sigh of relief. Filming the crossing for the enjoyment of my followers didn't make the crossing aby easier so I hoped they appreciated the extra effort made in the name of entertainment.

I continued round the marsh following shore, passing a boat wrecked up on the bank. Now away from the marsh i had to walk over a mixture of stones, sand and kelp laying strewn over small rocks and boulders. I heades round the headland to a small community of houses where I took a small break, sheltering from the wind which had now started to pick up.

Unable to continue along the shore, houses had blocked my path i had to follow the road out of the hamlet which thankfully took me along the shore. Again the road was lined with blackberry bushes so as I walked I kept an eye out for ripe berries. I only found a few but that was enough to give me a little boost.

It was a mile or so hiking along this section of road which lead to some kind of treatment or processing plant. From there I was able to take shelter from the wind and made my way round to the beach on the other side and start the final leg to Inverness.

It then started to rain. I grabbed my wet weather gear and put it on. I was severely lacking in power and needed to find somewhere to plug in, the poor weather making my solar charger inoperable. I exited the beach and found myself near an industrial estate. I headed into town to get charge on phone and backup battery. Using the last few quid in my pocket I ordered a Mc milkshake and made it last several hours.

It was getting dark now, the sun setting earlier and earlier each night. I wanted to at least be on the other side of the river that night so with a reasonable charge I set off for Kessock bridge. A little disoriented in the centre of Inverness I followed some signs to the river ness knowing that once I found the river I would eventually find the coast and ultimately the bridge. Its not often I had water to my left but this was a navigational exception.

By the time I'd found and crossed the bridge it was getting really late and arriving at the rnli boathouse next to the shore beneath the bridge I figured I would call it a day. I found a small piece of grass nearby just large enough to pitch up on and climbed into my sleeping bag. Granted I was a little hungry but I was too tired to care and I didn't have enough water to rehydrate my last ration pack anyway.

That night was a restless one to say the least. The floor was hard and stones kept digging into my hips, chest and back. I was starting to wonder when I'd last had a good night's sleep. In the morning I got up and found a squashed flapjack in my pack so boiled the last of my water for a coffee and had breakfast. It startes spitting with rain so I moved my kit under the bridge and packed up. As I was just finishing I saw a man pull up to the boathouse and open the door. I headed over assuming it was a crew member.

It turns out stan was the mechanic for the station. He invited me in for a coffee, natter and to fill my water supplies. While chatting about the challenge stan offered me the use of the stations showers and asked if anything needed repairing which reminded me that I'd been a bit concerned about a potential puncture in hoolley. I unpacked hoolley and we headed down to the workshop. While stan worked on repairing the pack raft he asked if there was anything else needed fixing. I had to chuckle, pretty much every piece of kit I had with me needed some kind of repair. I went back up stairs and grabbed the tent, hydration bladder, sleeping mat and pack rain cover. The hydration bladder had been leaking now for some months, a thorn had pierced my pack and put a tiny hole in the container near the filling cap, stan, being resourceful set to work looking for materials to plug the leak. He then set to work on the matress. Patching each puncture as we found them. While stan was working on the other bits a got to work on the tent and the backpack rain cover. A few sparks from various fires had made small holes in the outer fly and groundsheet. Using duct tape I applied patches. We were at it almost all day but eventually felt sure we'd done the best we could. Afterall it had to be some improvement on what I'd been using till now .

Before I left the station stan asked if there was anything he could send me away with, he grabbed some biscuits and a couple of cans of soup. He then disappeared and returned with a long length of corded rope which would be useful for making a pulley system or tieing ligs together to make a shelter. I packed it all away, filled up with water and set off along the river to get at least a few miles in before camping up for the night.

The tide was now in and a suitable path along side the river was hard to see. About a mile from the station I found myself cutoff by a rocky formation. I could either head back and use the road or carry on by traversing the rocks. I didn't want to head back feeling defeated so I traversed the rocks. It was a really hard climb especially with the load on my back. One false footing or hand placement meant I'd fall into the river below, boulders and rocks submerged beneath the water. Carefully I made my way round balancing my pack as I did. Once round the obstruction I carried on, walking over kelp covered boulders and stony bays till I reached a small enclosure which looked a bit like a builders yard. I decided to sit down and heat up one of the tins of soup and take a break. I hadn't eaten much that day other than a few buscuits and it was taking its toll. As I was just clearing up a couple of mountain bikers which had come from the other way stopped for a little chat. Lovely guys and before they headed off again threw me an energy drink sachet which I figured could come in handy in the future. I then carried on following the trail they'd made through the ferns towards a small hamlet if maybe a dozen houses. 
On the other side of the hamlet I had to head through a field to get back to the shore. The shore was very stony with a few boulders. Covering the stones and boulders was a vast field if kelp. I figured that if the worse came to the worse at least I would be able to boil that up and add it to the rice I was carrying. Eventually though it became to treacherous to walk in the shore, the kelp to slippery to walk over for fear if slipping and causing yet another injury. A twisted ankle ir worse still a break. I climbed up onto the grassy bank to hike along bank. This was more dangerous than the kelp covered stones, obscured potholes and channels. After falling into a couple of them and thinking this was like playing minesweeper I headed back to the stones and kelp.

The sun was now starting to go down so I decided to start looking for somewhere to hold up for the night. Ahead of me I could see a single oak tree on a small piece of level grass covered ground. It seemed like a goid quiet place to stop.

I set up camp and with an element of excitement I blew up the matress hoping to finally get a good nights sleep.

2^nd Aug 2014

The next morning I woke around 9:30, a fairly reasonable rest I'll admit, unfortunately though the matress had deflated meaning that the patches stan had applied had either not held or we'd missed a puncture. Oh well at least ut stayed up long enough for me to fall asleep. I made a coffee and had the second can of soup before setting to work catching up with the blogs. I was a few days behind due to filming and photographing. It took all morning to write up my adventures but eventually finished. It was cloudy and a little damp by the time I was ready to start packing up. I was also out of water once more so needed to get to the next town to try and find drinking water. I also needed ideally to clock up a fair few miles.

I left my site beneath the tree had set off east, the wind having made a complete 180° turn on me and once again beating me down. Playing minesweeper and unable to get down to the stony, kelp riddled shore because the tide was in , so I followed some deer tracks. After about half a mile I reached a headland hoping that the way to the next town would be simple. It was a large bay and needed to be walked round but in order to get to the bay I needed to either traverse a rock face or wait till the tide receeded. I had a scout round to check the possibility of climbing round the rocks but decided that it would be safer to wait it out. Thankfully there was a small cave to shelter under while I waited. The cave was I suppose more like a huge rocky lean to and Somebody had also cut logs and left them there in the dry. To be honest it would have been a perfect little site to camp at and although I was tempted to stay the night the fact I needed water prevented it. I did however look around while I was there to see if I could find a fresh water source, but the search was fruitless. I found dry tinder amongst the crevasses in the rock face nearby and built a small fire to keep me warm while I waited. As I sat there watching the fire I wondered what I would find around the corner.

Low tide was to be at 9:30 pm but I only needed the tide to be low enough for me to get round the rock face. Slowly but surely the tide lowered and after a couple of hours I was able to more safely carry on with the trek. I grabbed my pack and began to clamber over the slippery rocks and around into the next bay which in turn lead me onto the following bay. Never knowing what you will come across obviously gives you a sense of uncertainty but thats the price of adventure and in return your veins fill with adrenaline. Is it possible to have too much adrenalin? It didn't matter I was on a trip of a lifetime so long as it didn't cost me my life. As I crossed the final bay I noticed a largish cave and couldn't resist taking a look even though it had now begun to rain and a heavy mist had emerged from ahead. The mist being so thick I could no longer see the town I was heading for.

At the mouth of the cave I put my pack down and grabbed my torches. I shone my pocket torch down the dark tunnel to see how far it went. Suffice to say I couldn't see the back which meant this was going to be a great little mini adventure. I started going in to the void, crouching down as the tunnel narrowed and the ceiling lowered. I continued on finding myself in a small cave that I could now stand up in. I wondered how much further I would be able to get. Once again I shone my torch into the darkness. The cave reached back another 10 feet so I leaned in for a closer look hoping to find another tunnel to explore, unfortunately though that was a far as it went. I knew that my followers would like to see what I'd explored so I decided to shoot some short video clips and headed back to the pack. Exiting the cave I noticed the weather had gotten considerably worse so I grabbed my pack and set off once more along the bay. It was stony and slippery with kelp hindering my progress. As the bay opened up I glanced across to assess the risks of making a crossing in hoolley. The wind was extremely strong and the visibility worsening. I decided against a quick paddle as it could have eventually ended badly and instead continued along the bay. One of the worse things about the trek is sometimes it looks easy to hike to a location be it a town or landmark but in some cases unexpected land formations can slow your pace. In this case the bay had become a Loch and the distance I needed to walk considerably more than I had expected. It was a little frustrating as I knew it would only have taken about 20 mins in the pack raft but now it would take several hours at least. It was also getting late now and the sun was soon to be setting. I carried on though regardless until I hit another salt marsh. I started to across the marsh until the silt beneath my feet became too soft to safely walk on. I turned and headed towards the bank. Along the way I collected samphire to nibble on as I'd not eaten since the morning. I was now hoping that the bank would take me all the way round the loch but again I was to be disappointed. A boggy marsh backed up to the Loch and I had no choice but to climb a fence and head inland towards a small forest. The consolation for this though was wild raspberries, I wouldn't say the perfect compliment to samphire but a delicious dessert none the less.

After collecting and eating the berries I made my way through the heavy and thick growing weeds up to a small track. It was still raining and the rain water had begun to collect in puddles. It wasn't the best source of water I could hope for but at least I'd be able to filter it, boil it and ultimately drink it. I took my water bottle out of my pack and filled it up. It wasn't the nicest looking water, in fact my pee looked considerably clearer but it was at the very least free from salt and certainly preferable than drinking my own urine. Feeling a little happier that I would at least be able to hydrate my last meal and have a coffee I set off following the track through the woods and alongside the loch.

Eventually though the track ended and I found myself ib front of a fence. Climbing the fence I startled a young deer that had been lying in the long grass ahead of me. That was the second deer I'd seen, the first was during the morning as I was packing up camp. I now found myself in a field of long grass and had to wade through in order to keep going. The wet grass was hard work to say the least, tangling up my feet and legs. In the distance I could see a derelict cottage just up on a hill. I decided I would head for it to get out of the rain and dry off at least a little. It would also be a place I would be able to boil the water I had collected and have something to eat while I decided what to do next.

I climbed up the hill and entered the property. It was an old farmhouse which still had half a roof which under th circumstances was a huge bonus. I took off my pack and set about making a filter by using a sock, some sand and small pebbles I found around the building. It wasn't ideal but the best I could manage with the resources to hand. When making an improvised filter you should really put charcoal at the bottom then the sand abd finally the small stones or pebbles. Still it filtered the crunchy stuff out of the water although it still looked murky. I then boiled the water for ten minutes to make sure the nasty bacteria you couldn't see was neutralised and killed off. Satisfied I'd done all I could to make the water safe I rehydrated my last ration, chilli con carne and made a coffee. While enjoying my evening meal I decided that the old farm house would make a reasonable improvised shelter for the and the fact it was now getting dark meant that it would be hard work trying to find another suitable place to rest for the night.

I laid my ground sheet out on the wooden floor and inflated my matress. I then took a plastic bag from my back and improvised a rain catcher hoping that if it rained hard that night I would have fresh water the following morning.