Walk 192

Stathy to Thurso 27miles

A bit misty as I made my way out of Strathy this morning but I was assured that it would burn off before the afternoon session of walking!
          I made my way along the main road and turned left towards Portskerra where I popped in to see Sarah and Bob and their new addition to the family at their home, I had first met Sarah at a BnB in Withernsea on my trek up the east coast of England so it was nice to catch up and eventually meet her husband.
          I walked out of Portskerra and followed the coast to the lovely beach at Melvich, here I had my first "do not use this bridge as it is unsafe" sign of the day but whats life without a little danger?  I picked up the main road again after Melvich and made my way to Reay and past the Nuclear Power Station at Dounreay.

Dounreay NPS

The roads had now become very flat which was a change for the better as the hills were starting to become a little tiring on the legs.  Once past Dounreay I headed for the coast at St Marys Well where I came across my second "do not use this bridge as it is unsafe" sign of the day, once again I ignored it and crossed safely, at this point I could just make out the Orkney Islands in the distance, this was a major milestone in my journey.  I followed the coast past Crosskirk, Ushat Heasd, Brims Ness and onto the quarry at Ness of Litter and out to Holborn Head.  Here are a selection of pictures.

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I turned the corner at Holborn Head and picked up a well trodden track that took me down to the lighthouse at Scrabster, which has been converted into someones home and a lovely tearoom!

Scrabster Lighthouse

At Scrabster I picked up the main road again and that took me around the bay to Thurso and the end of today's fantastic, warm and stunning scenery day of walking.

Accommodation: The Weigh Inn Lodges. £35.00 BnB. A very big Motel on the outskirts of Thurso, not bad for the price though.

Walk 191

Bettyhill to Strathy 19 miles

I headed out of Bettyhill (downhill for a change!) towards Clachan turning left as I entered the village towards Farr. and its magnificent beach.

Farr Beach

Once past Farr I walked overland and via roads to Kirtomy, once past Kirtomy I picked up a track towards the ruin at Poulouriscraig once the track ran out it was wild walking time, which I must say I was really getting into more and more as this holiday went on! On route I came across Loch Tiormachd and I stood for at least 10mins staring at the sheer beauty of the stillness of the water, it was like I was hypnotised, strange really.

Loch Tiormachd

 I made my way to the track marked on my map at Poulouriscraig and followed it into Armadale.

Armadale Beach

I picked up the road in Armadale and this took me eventually around the bay to Fleuchary, here it was wild walking time and I followed the sheep tracks along the coast towards Strathy Lighthouse passing by Boursa Island on the way.

Boursa Island

I headed for the Trig Point at Aultivullin where I was able to see far and wide along the coast and it was just stunning.

Strathy Lighthouse from Trig Point

As I made my way past Totegan to the lighthouse I came across a natural arch cut out of the cliffs.

Totegan Arch

And finally I made it to the lovely lighthouse at Stathy point, there are Private Property sign up at the gate so I guess that someone has the privilege of living here, OK its a bit remote but in weather like today it would be a great place to live.

Strathy Lighthouse

Once I had visited the lighthouse then it was a straightforward road walk into Strathy and my bed for the night, a great days walk again.

Accommodation: Stathy Inn £50.00 BnB.  Some people should not be running a BnB as they give off a very unfriendly vibe the minute you walk through the door, and these people were "that" type !!!!

Walk 190

Tongue to Bettyhill 16miles

After 10 hours sleep I was suitably refreshed for today's relatively short walk to Bettyhill!

Castle Barriach

 I made my way around the Kyle of Tongue arriving eventually at Coldbackie, here I was able to cut across fields towards Skullomie but not before I stood for a few moments enjoying the beautiful bay at Coldbackie.

Coldbackie Bay

After passing through Skullomie the road ends and a distinct track takes over leading you towards Sletell passing by on your way the Rabbit Islands.

Rabbit Islands

Once passed Sletell I weaved in and out various small hamlets including Skerray, Achtoy and Torrisdale this lead me to the fabulous beach at Torrisdale Bay.

Torrisdale Beach

It was then just a case of negotiating the beach at Torrisdale which was difficult at times due to the sinking sands! and at Invernaver I picked up the A836 taking me all the way into Bettyhill, a thoroughly enjoyable days walk.

Accomodation: Bettyhill Hotel, Bettyhill £40.00 BnB.  Very nice hotel.

Walk 189

Durness to Tongue 30miles

A very long walk today along a single road the A838!! I walked out of Durness and stopped at Smoo Cave to take a few pictures, the water was so still this morning.

Smoo Cave

 I travelled a little further along the road passing through Leirinmore and arriving in Sangobeg with its superb bay.

Sangobeg Bay

I wound my way along Loch Eriboll eventually arriving in Laid and here I stopped at their Tea Rooms for morning tea with a slice of cake, I got chatting to a couple of men in the cafe and it turned out they were on a LEJOG walk which they started 16 years ago! it was fascinating to hear their story and even on this holiday they wasn't going to make it all the way to JOG!!
            I continued down and up the orther side of Loch Eriboll eventually arriving at Ard Neackie and the Lime Kilns built into a small hill in an island.

Ard Neackie

Just after Ard Neackie the road heads inland towards Hop and then a 2 mile hill from hell that seemed to go on forever!!! the road did flatten out eventually and I decided to get off the main road and use the "old road" which in places still runs parallel but its in a poor state.

The Kyle of Tongue

Finally the view I had been waiting for but I still had 4 long miles to go before I got to the BnB!!!

Accommodation: Varich View BnB, Tongue. Fantastic BnB run by Stuart and Belinda.  Stuart is very knowledgeable about the area and was a great help to me for the next days walk to Bettyhill

Walk 188

Kinlochbervie to Durness 26miles

A long day planned today but due to the MOD I was unable to walk up to Cape Wrath without the army taking pot shots at me!!!
           I made my way to Rhiconich at the junction with the A838 and started my walk towards Durness, the sun was already out and I had to apply a lot of suntan lotion as even though its mid September the sun still has a lot of strength left in it.

Kyle of Durness

The road wound its way through the glens and inevitably went up and came down yet another hill until I reached the mouth of the Kyle of Durness just before Sarsgrum.  A mile or so along the road and I took a left towards Keodale which is where you catch the ferry/minibus to Cape Wrath, I was surprised to see people waiting and then I saw the minibus! it turns out that you can still catch the minibus during MOD training but you cant walk across the ranges.  So I followed the track from Keodale and this was a superb walk taking me around the headland to Balnakeil Bay and its fantastic beaches.

Balnakeil Bay

Eventually I came to the village of Balnakeil, here I hopped onto the beach and it was my favourite type of walking and that was route one across 2 miles of beach towards Faraid Head.

Balnakeil BayBeach

The beach eventually ran out and I started to make my way across grass to the tip of Faraid Head, here I could see all the way to Dunnet Head the views were superb. I sat down for a while to contemplate my journey up the West coast of the UK as at this point I would be heading East and then South to my end point of Scarborough.  Once I had finished contemplating my journey I started on my way to Durness and the views were stunning as I made my way through the sand dunes at Flirum and on to Aodann Mor.

Fariad Head

I finally arrived in Durness at 5pm tired but very happy with today's walk, Durness is the UKs most northwesterly village!.

Accommodation: The Lazy Crofter Bunkhouse. Basically a youth hostel...enough said!!! £17.50

Walk 187

Upper Badcall to Kinlochbervie 22miles

The day was a little overcast but with no sign of rain.  I scrounged a lift off my new American friends ( as it was a one way road and I already walked it yesterday I'm allowed this luxury) to the end of the road and said my farewells making my way along the busyish A road towards Scourie.

Scourie

 

I had decided to do a a little off road walking today in order to get to the small hamlet of Tarbet, so a quick change of socks to my brand new Waterproof Sealskinz socks, which were having their first ever outing today!  I had bought these socks in order to cut down on blisters after getting wet feet from plodging about in Scottish bogs.  The 3 mile walk to Tarbet was just fantastic, wild walking at its best.  There was a fairly good track for the first 2 miles and then it was "make it up as you go along" time, I do find myself always gravitating to the highest point in front of me, which always gets me great views but is rarely the best route!

Loch Laxford

Tarbet is a small hamlet just off the Isle of Handa, there isn't much to the place other than a toilet and a pub but you can catch a ferry in summer to Handa so I guess it gets quite busy at that time of year.
            I made my way out of Tarbet up a very steep hill which then dropped down towards Fanagmore with a great view over Loch Laxford, turning right at the crossroads in this picture I continued up and down through Foindle eventually meeting up with A894.  The A894 wound its way around Laxford bay and then onto Rhiconich where I turned left towards Kinlochbervie.

The old Road at Rhiconich

Once I was off the main road I followed a single track to Kinlochbervie along the banks of Loch Inchard walking through Insegra and Badcall along the way.

Accommodation: 23 Inchard Place, Kinlochbervie. Nice BnB on a housing estate! Quite a weird set up really as you have a room in someones house that you all share with everyone!! Bizzare. £34.00 BnB

Walk 186

Drumbeg to Upper Badcall (Nr Scourie) 22miles

I started the day with a picture from the viewpoint opposite the BnB, this is a great spot just to linger for a while and take in the breathtaking views.

Loch Dhrombaig

I stopped in Drumbeg for supplies and was interested to hear people passionatly discussing the up coming Independence Referendum, I had passed quite a few houses in the last few days flying the "Yes" vote flag there definatley was a lot of love for Independence in the Highlands.
                 A few miles down the road from Drumbeg is the village of Nedd tucked away amongst the forest, the road by now was climbing and falling at a fast rate and I had to stop for a breather at some of the big hills!

Loch Nedd

This was really hard tiring walking up and down these hills, but finally the B869 met up with the much bigger A894 which was at least a little flatter for a while!  This took me into Unnapool where I stopped for Tea and Cake with a view over Loch Glencoul, the tearoom also doubled up as a Doll Museum which was fasinating such a great collection, but sadly due to the owners retirement the museum was closing at the end of the seaon and a lot of the collection had already been sold.

Kylesku Bridge

Just along the road from Unapool was Kylesku with its great road bridge this climbed slowly to Kylestrome and then up to the viewpoint overlooking both villages.

Kylestome Viwpoint

The road continued through Duartmore Forest and on to Lower Badcall where I decided to turn left and try to follow a track marked on the map to Upper Badcall, however after 2 fruitless attempts to locate the track I gave up and continued up the road turning left at Loch An Daimh Mor towards my final destination at Upper Badcall.

Accommodation: Stonechats, Upeer Badcall. Nr Scourie £45.00 BnB. A lovely quiet BnB with No TV, No Internet and No Phone Signal! Its run by Ron who is a real character!!!

Walk 185

Stoer to Drumbeg 19miles

I start the day by quickly taking another picture of the beach at Stoer, I felt the light was much better today and the tide was out thus revealing  much more of the beach.

Stoer Beach

The road out of Stoer takes me to a smaller track that leads up through Totag, Balchladich, Rubha Stoer and finally ending at the fantastic Stoer Lighthouse.

Stoer Lighthouse

After the lighthouse there is no path/track marked on the map however it has obviously been used by a lot of walkers as there is a clearly defined path following the coast towards Geodh Nan Uan, there are even steps cut out and clearly maintained at a deep valley I come across, so how this is not marked on the map is a bit of a mystery to me!  I continue along the coast passing by Cirean Geardail before arriving at he magnificent stack of The Old Man of Stoer.

The Old Man of Stoer

This was fast becoming one of my top 10 of coast walking so far as the wildness of the walk and views were just outstanding.  Once I had reached the Point of Stoer I started to head south towards Culkein, the path was a little less defined but the sheep tracks soon picked up the slack and I made my way downhill towards the pretty bay of Culkein.

Culkein

Once I reached Culkein I picked up the track towards Clashmore and finally completing the loop passing through Totag for the second time today, and on through Clashnessie and its fantastic beach.

Clashnessie Beach

After Clashnessie I followed the road as it  wound its way past many Lochs before arriving in Drumbeg and my accommodation for today.  Overall a fantastic days walk with so many highlights, I definitely will come back one day do the walk up to Stoer Point again.

Accommodation: Croft 338, Drumbeg.  Well placed  opposite the viewing platform in Drumbeg, a family home with 2 letting rooms. £35.00 BnB

Walk 184

Badnagyte to Stoer 19miles

I boarded the bus in Ullapool to take me to my start point at the Badnagyte road junction ( I had walked past this point back in June on my way to Polbain), the journey takes around 40mins and I am the only one who gets on at Ullapool and subsequently the only person on the bus for the whole journey, so its no surprise with the lack of customers that this is the only bus of the day!

Rubha a Bhrocaire

I alight the bus and start to walk uphill along a single track road this takes me to Inverpolly and thankfully( as today's walk is all road) there is not much traffic to trouble me.  After Inverpolly the road winds in and out of various Lochs and forests, the weather is showery (but at the time unbeknown to me this would be the only day it rains for my whole 10days away!) I get wet, dry, wet, dry all day long.

Loch Choin

The road goes up and down hills all day long and I eventually arrive in Inverkirkaig a very small settlement on the banks of Loch Kirkaig, its raining as I walk through which is a shame as it has a nice bay but not a good day for taking a picture.
                I walk through Badnaban and Strathan before arriving at the outskirts of Lochinver, here I spot an information board which informs me that there is a forest walk taking me if I wish into Lochinver, I consult the map and see it takes me around the bay and in via the pier so I decide to take this route, 5 mins later and I'm lost in the forest!! fortunately a dog walker points me in the right direction and I'm soon walking along the pretty bay of Lochinver.  I stop for supplies and lunch in Lochinver which I am informed has a world famous Pie Shop, I give it a miss as I still had a way to go before arriving at my BnB.

Stoer Beach

The road out of Lochinver winds in and out of many Lochs and glens before arriving firstly at Clachtoll and then finally at Stoer and my accommodation for the night, which is tucked nicely on top of a hill with fantastic views across the Atlantic Ocean.

Accommodation: Stac Fada, Stoer. A family home BnB, lovely owners with great knowledge of the local area which was invaluable on the following days walk £45.00 BnB