Tonight we are in a super quaint little village, the first place of this kind on the walk. More about that in a minute.
The subject of food, portion size specifically, has come up a few times in the comments. Here’s the deal. I’m all about gluttony when I’ve been on a bike all day and the food reasonably priced. A typical dinner for us so far in Scotland is between £15 and £20 per plate, then double that for conversion to CAD, and we are talking pretty expensive eats. That makes heroic meals decidedly less fun.
The hack around this is that most of the places we are staying include breakfast, and sometimes a self serve buffet. So I exact revenge (and calorie load) thusly:
Today was the shortest walk of the trip, but not the easiest. For one thing, the weather was more like I expected the highlands to be. Overcast, with an ambient temperature around 6, and pretty windy, resulting in a feels like temperature hovering just above freezing. Broke out the gloves for the first time.
The other thing was we did the Devil’s Staircase about an hour into the day. This is an 850 ft climb over a not very far distance to the highest point on the route. Our guidebook down played the challenge of it, so we weren’t too worried. I wouldn’t say it was extreme, and it probably doesn’t live up to its name (which is actually about a few soldiers who died climbing down to town for whiskey), but I also wouldn’t gloss over it. We were walking for 30 minutes leaning 45 degrees into the hill to get up. All I could think about is the person I know at home that pushed their bike up it!
The work was worth it though. At the top we had gorgeous views of two valleys. The terrain today was much like yesterday’s, very likely the two most stunning days of the trip.
We had a few kilometers of flattish walking before dropping back down (steeply) to the elevation we started at. So much s p a c e.
As we entered town, an older woman started walking with us and gave us an overview of the place. It had been the site of an aluminum (or a-loo-min-ee-um as pronounced here) processing plant, but it has closed. Pretty sure the main industry now is walkers. The waitress at the pub we were in described November through February (the non-walking season) as ‘bliss’. Super cute little place that can’t be home to more than a few hundred permanent residents.
Hotel tonight has strong grandma vibes, frankly more the kind of place I’d expect than many of the places we’ve stayed.
Tomorrow is it, the final 15 miles.
All I can say is WOW, I wish I was there although I know there is no way in hell I could have done the walk for a day, much less 7 days in a row. Breakfast looks yummy. I could do without the beans, I’ve never been a bean fan……. Chad, you’re smiling in the photo……you know you’re on the home stretch!! Enjoy your final day of hiking before you proceed to your first love, biking. Hugs, Ma
It’s easier to smile when I don’t have to concentrate on taking the picture 🤣
Samosa, beans and egg?
I have to stop reading these looking at your pictures just before supper!
That’s a tattie scone and that’s also Karen’s plate. Mine is on the right and it’s tough to make out the layers of food on it 🙂
Another good day! You guys are getting a little bit of everything on this walk. Nice breakfast!.. I myself would need a nap after that and then maybe a coffee to get going. Great photos!
So many more selfies in this trip, love it!
Who the heck carried their bike up that 😈 staircase?!
His name is Chris Rennie and I met him at the Dismount Goodlot camping event. He did a month in Scotland with his partner I think. He says my 90 km per day here is ambitious 😬