Day 8 - Blair Atholl to Kirkmichael

It was a sociable night last night in the Atholl Arms, chatting to people we already knew & meeting new faces. Amongst those present was Alan who we first met at Wolverhampton station & who has been having an eventful challenge. A few days ago he slipped, fell & did a nasty mischief to his head/ear. Glen Coe MRT went to his rescue and a local Medical Centre glued his ear back on, then incredibly he got himself back to the point where the accident had happened and continued his walk. He wins my award for continuing in the face of adversity.

As for today, we knew that the weather had changed as soon as we woke. There was not the clear-night chill in the air & sure enough a short while later a gentle patter of rain was to be heard.

Waterproofs on, off we set hoping that it would just be a passing shower. That rain did pass but as we ascended it was replaced with a strong headwind which made the going much tougher than the terrain suggested it should be.

Then, about an hour and a half in, the rain started again & this time it didn't stop. From what I saw the surroundings were very nice indeed, but from my little world of Underhood it wasn't possible to enjoy them to the full.

Terrain was varied, ranging from a few km of heather-bashing & yomping to a lovely forest path to a not-so-nice couple of miles down a quiet A road.

Amongst all this, lunch turned into a quandary as we needed to eat but I was cold by then & knew that stopping would risk me getting so cold that I would struggle to get warm again.

3 miles from our destination we did find a spot sheltered from wind and rain and as we ate I started fantasising about finding a B&B for the night.

Had a good pitch presented itself before we reached the village we would have used it, but as it didn't we succumbed to our first luxury of the trip. So this afternoon not only do I get the rest that I failed to achieve amongst yesterday's chores, but due to the time of breakfast service we get a lie-in tomorrow too.