Walk day 4: to Tyndrum

I don’t know if it snowed overnight or if the mountain tops were hidden from us before today, but as we started out in the rain this morning we were surrounded by the snow capped peaks of Ben Mor and a few of its siblings. Almost looked like the alps or something.

For the first half of the day we were moving mostly uphill, but reasonably so. We began along some paths next to Falloch river and its various waterfalls, then through some sheep pastures which led to some conifer farms. The latter had recently been harvested near the trail so it was a bit of a muddy mess in some spots. After that the walk was somewhat undulating though a forested conservation area which was great.

It was the coolest day for us so far in the trip, a high of 7 c and not much sun, so I spent most of the day in sleeves (didn’t bring full length pants). The rain that was falling in the morning ended quickly and only came back in the last hour of the walk. We got a little wet, but not soaked.

Tyndrum is the largest center we’ve been in so far, with multiple restaurant options and 2 small grocery shops. Seems to be a bit of an outpost on the way up north or something. Our hotel tonight could just as easily be somewhere in the midwestern US, but it’s clean and has a king size bed so no complaints here.

I’m not above admitting that my legs and feet are a bit wrecked at the moment. Walking and biking are barely related. The good news is we had the foresight to bring walking poles. Karen’s research into this trip suggested that these were a must, and I am very surprised by how much stress and strain they relieve from your legs. Still, walking for the better part of the day several days in a row has an impact, and we’re feeling it. There is some hobbling around the hotel room this evening.

Which makes tomorrow’s 30 km a little daunting. It’s the longest day of the trip for us, 20% more distance than any other. It also has no restaurants or stores along the way so we will need to carry everything we need. However, it sounds like it might be the beautiful day of the trip, which will certainly help ease the pain. I hope.