JOG + 1 - The journey back home

The view from south of JOG showing the island of Stroma and in the distance the Old Man of Hoy. John O'Groats - on the last lap!

Warth Hill about 2 miles from JOG which was the last hill to climb on the walk. It doesn't compare with many of the hills that I encountered over the 950 miles but it was difficult because of the strong gusting winds as I reached the top of the hill.

Walker and main support driver enjoy reaching the end of the long road.

No caption needed!

Just to prove that the sun did shine on the last day. Overall the weather during the 9 weeks was fantastic and was much better than could have been expected.

I am holding a miniature of Clan Lindsay whisky and an engraved Clan Lindsay glass. The two were soon put together and I enjoyed a celebratory dram (or two!).

As promised I have included more photos of yesterday's wonderful events. I was in an end of term mood all day. I had to remind myself on a couple of occasions that it was still important to concentrate on the traffic, as my mind kept recounting incidents from the previous 9 weeks. The final day was a fulfilment of years of planning as well as all of the efforts of the previous 9 weeks and 950 miles and this made the final few miles very special. I started to get emotional over the last couple of miles as the scale of the achievement hit home - I started to sing "You will never walk alone" which was what the Welsh Male Voice Choir had sung when I visited the care home in Wrexham (it seems ages ago!). But the real emotion came from the realisation that I had received absolutely magnificent support from so many of you, without which I would not have been able to fulfil my crazy ambition, and that "I didn't walk alone". Thanks again to everyone who has helped in so many ways - whether walking, support driving, providing accommodation, donations to BHF and encouragement and emotional support.

Yesterday afternoon and evening were wonderful as we received so many messages of congratulation by phone, text, the blog and email as well as donations on justgiving. It was lovely to be able to share the good news with so many of you.

The atmosphere at JOG was full of camaraderie as as well as the lone walker there were a succession of cyclists finishing their personal challenges. We all swapped experiences of our journeys and celebrated together. In fact the last few days has been like this as from Helmsdale onwards nearly all endtoenders use the A9/A99 to reach JOG so that I have met many walkers and cyclists, and there is a splendid sense of fellowship in sharing a common goal with them. A major topic of conversation at JOG was Alan the "barefoot walker" - no one could belief what he was attempting to do. We passed him on the road this morning after he had walked about 20 miles and both of his feet were bandaged - not a good sign with over 900 miles and some much rougher tracks to be faced. If you want to follow his progress his website is www.thenaturalmindproject.org

Reaching JOG itself is a little confusing as I discovered that there is no start/finish line (as there is at LE) so I did not know when the target had been reached! This therefore spoiled my expectation of crossing the line and celebrating. However a wee dram soon removed this small problem as I queued to have the photo session at the "sign".

One aspect that I hadn't expected was that when I came over Warth Hill 2 miles from JOG I could see the Orkneys ahead of me. I hadn't realised that they were so close to the mainland. It may be silly but the fact that I had almost walked to the Orkneys made my achievement seem even more impressive. In any event the sight of the islands with the sun on them was lovely, and I could make out the waves lapping on the shores.

After the Lindsay whisky at JOG we had a bottle of bubbly back at the hotel. I also managed some Old Poultney single malt (which is distilled in Wick) after our meal. After so many weeks I didn't have to worry about how I would feel the next morning!

The adventure is now just about over - we will be back home on Thursday after picking up our repaired car tomorrow from the garage in Perth, where we are stopping tonight. But I am sure that I will always remember the fantastic experiences that I have had over the last few weeks.

As mentioned yesterday I will do a blog over the weekend including the final stats for the walk and giving my overall summary of KBW. The one stat that you can change is by making a donation to the BHF either via justgiving or by sending me a cheque made payable to the British Heart Foundation. I know that many of you have already made generous donations but I also know that many people have waited to see if I finish the walk- If you are in the latter group, please do not forget to make your donation.

"I'm glad I did it, partly because it was worth it, but mostly because I shall never have to do it again" - Mark Twain

Cheers

Keith, Endtoender