Day Eight

Today can only be described as a practical day. It was almost exclusively road walking with nothing much to distinguish one mile from the next. But the object was to get from a to b which I did, without much fuss. 

I set off while the hill was still cloaked in mist and clambered down into the silent valley. The clouds clung to the tops but as they cleared the views were picture postcard perfect. 

I stopped a few times to eat and collect water - the latter proving tricky despite the many streams I passed. Eventually I asked at a house.  They get their water from the river anyway. 

I dondered along but nothing much caught my eye. Eventually I found a little woodland clearing with a stream running through it so stopped a while to relax properly. Until then I’d been pausing in house gate ways - the only other option being passing places and no one wants to negotiate extra obstacles on a single track road. 

I have been on the look out for the promised bad weather and the breeze seemed to be picking up as I set off again. I chatted to a couple of men from Kilmarnock, and they had trouble with my accent.  They’d decided to try to drive to a small loch one of them remembered visiting 40 years ago. I told them about a few and I’m hoping they’d noticed the massive loch Tay we were standing above.  A map would probably have helped but they didn’t use one last time so weren’t for bothering this time. 

I got to my planned campsite and ignoring the old no camping sign, pitched up*.  I feared the worst when someone came to the tent and shouted hello but it turned out they were just checking I was prepared for the bad weather.  They offered water but for once I’m stocked up. 

Tomorrow is due to be a thundery deluge.  I’m taking a pragmatic point of view -the land needs it and it’s an opportunity to wash before I arrive at my hotel for a bit of a decompress.  Then the last leg of the journey in a couple of days time. 

*camping here in the way that I am is perfectly legal.