A view along the River Cononish.
The hills are now definitely becoming mountains as I walk north.
A self portrait of the happy walker celebrating reaching 700 miles.
A "sheep creep" which allows passage under a railway line. A bit of a tight squeeze especially if carrying a large back pack.No positive news about the car. It reached the Jag garage in Perth this morning but they were unable to look at it today. We therefore do not yet know what the problems are.
Initially Jean and I were pretty fed up with the car problem - mainly because of the uncertainty of it all. We have however been able to take a more philosophical view, and we know that something will turn up - we just do not know what! We managed today as I walked from the B&B at Crianlarich to the hotel in Bridge of Orchy (about 14 miles) whilst Jean (and the luggage) was very kindly given a lift to Bridge of Orchy by the proprietors of the Craigbank Guest House - thanks very much Charles and Karen.
Tomorrow I plan to walk to Kingshouse a distance of 14 miles part of which crosses Rannoch Moor. The hotel offer a transport service so that I can get a lift back to Bridge of Orchy after the walk. Jean will be OK as she has Wimbledon and the World Cup to watch on TV. I may be speaking too soon but this is the first hotel for several days where the TV, internet and our phones all work and I can upload photos to the blog.
Wednesday will be more of a problem if we still do not have the car. We will however worry about that if it happens. I would like to thank Neil for his kind offer of his Dolomite - but I suspect that I will have reached JOG before he is able to get the car through an MOT!
I have joined up with Andrew Gardener (yesterday) and John Muirhead (today) for several miles. This has made the walking easier as talking to others takes ones mind off the process of walking. Both were also raising money for charity - I wonder how much people raise by walking the WHW each year. I have arranged to walk with john again tomorrow.
My ankle seems to be better and the reduced schedule has improved my shins. Everything else is in full working order. I felt tired for the first couple of miles today but I think that this was probably due to the nervous energy that I wasted yesterday, and the rigours of part of the clamber along Loch Lomond on Saturday. However after a few miles the going unusually for Scotland became flatter and it felt much easier walking.
I promised an update of the walk stats:-
4,973 pounds raised so far
718 miles walked
227 miles still to go
24 beds slept in
96 bird species seen
7 wild mammal species seen
19 walkers have accompanied me (plus 2 dogs)
12 support drivers
1 pick up truck
6 men in kilts
41 days walked
7 full rest days
17 miles average each walking day
2000+ miles in our car (exact number not known as we do not have car at present)
2 types of single malt drunk
19 counties walked in
"The Americans never walk. In winter too cold and in summer too hot." - J B Yeats
Cheers
Keith
