Category: Uncategorized
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Day 118: Keiss to John o’ Groats
We did it! After almost four months, we completed our aim of walking from end to end! The walk today was mainly along cliff tops, quite overgrown at first with plenty of geos to navigate and sometimes the path was scarily narrow with steep drops, but the scenery was stunning. For the second part of…
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Day 117: Wick to Keiss
Our penultimate day! We set off from Wick, looking first for a post office to get my form stamped, but once again the post office was closed. (Fortunately we have electronic proof of our journey and those stamps are superfluous!). The trail was easier today and well signed, and the sun was shining! Once we…
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Day 116: Whaligoe to Wick
The weather improved today, as did the trail and my enjoyment of it! The path was clear and well marked, with fewer barbed wire fences to cross. There were however numerous Geos (creeks or gullies) to walk round, which almost doubled the distance which we would have taken if following the A99. There was a…
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Day 115: Lybster to Whaligoe
Today was a grey day. It had rained heavily overnight, and so from the start we were walking through very wet vegetation. After about an hour my boots were squelching and my trousers were soaked (why didn’t I think of putting on waterproof trousers?). Despite the stunning scenery, I found it a very tiring walk:…
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Day 114: Dunbeath to Lybster
We left our shepherd’s hut and crossed fields to rejoin the trail, in sunshine once more. The trail was again on the seaward side of the fence, and as it was windy and the paths were narrow, we eventually succumbed and crossed into the field to continue our walk. Soon the signs ended and we…
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Day 113: Berriedale to Dunbeath
Today’s landscape was similar to yesterday, as we struggled on overgrown paths. However there were fewer ravines to cross and much of the walk was on the seaward side of perimeter fences and drystone walls. The right hand side of the path was mainly edged by steep sloped bracken, but occasionally by steep drops to…
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Day 112: Helmsdale to Berriedale
The John o’Groats Trail is a relatively new long distance path and, unlike the SW Coastal Path, is not maintained or as well signposted. Today’s walk involved hills once again, climbing up and then descending into ravines and crossing burns. Often the paths were overgrown and we struggled to fight our way through bracken. We…
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Day 111: Rest Day
Our last rest day, before our final week walking! It was good to relax in Helmsdale, a village with plenty of history. We visited the Heritage Centre and learned about the Highland Clearances where crofters were forcibly removed from land they had farmed for generations so that landlords could use the land for sheep farming.…
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Day 110: Brora to Helmsdale
It was raining when we left Brora, and we started our route on yet another golf links. (David prevented me from walking on the beautifully manicured grass, instead we walked on wet grass paths between the golf course and the beach). By the time we decided to descend onto the wide sandy beach, the sun…
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Day 109: Golspie to Brora
Today was the shortest walk of our journey so far, but exciting nonetheless: we saw an enormous colony of grey seals, basking on the rocks or bobbing up and down in the sea, and were also privileged to see a dolphin playing further from the shore! We set out from Golspie, across a small bridge…
WALKING WITH GRAMPY 