I’ve had to deal with a lot of different smells on this trip. Most of them are not great. I think the worst, so far, was back on North Uist where my left hand a wrist smelt like sheep poo for most of a day. It didn’t matter what I did, washing multiple times, I could just not get rid of the smell.

I’m not sure how the smell had got on me in the first place, although I assume it was when I’d been setting up a camp, which I suppose was making it hard to identify exactly what was smelling. I looked at everything, obviously my skin, but also all my various layers of clothing – this trip has involved lots of layers, dressing and undressing is a long affair.

Eventually I gave up trying to find it. And I think the smell has gone. Or I’ve just got used to it. But I think it’s gone. Whatever it was has just run out of smell. Do you think that’s a thing – running out of smell? How does smell even work? Do objects gradually get smaller as they give off their smell? So eventually disappear?

I think I’m spending too much time with my own thoughts.

Anyway, back to the point. There have been two nice smells today. The first was when a lorry carrying tree trunks drove past me while I was walking into Drumnadrochit. It smelt really strongly of citronella. I think that’s what it smelt of anyway. I think you can get citronella sprays to control dogs. The thing is though, I thought citronella was a plant, and not a tree, so maybe there is something similar in the tree world.

The second smell, and this one got me feeling quite festive, which is good for me as I normally dread Christmas, was the smell of pine needles.

I was a few miles out of Drumnadrochit and had just met a really nice lady called Alison – more on her later. After walking on I met another man, who I think must have been a forest manager or something, as he was cutting back the trees and bushes that lined the path. Some of the cuttings were from Pine trees and they were giving off a lovely scent.

It made me feel quite comforted. I do sometimes let my mind do bad things to me on these walks, and anything that triggers a soothing thought, something familiar, or just memories of happy times, is always most welcome.

I know I’ve slightly contradicted myself there as I said I wasn’t a massive fan of Christmas, but it’s more complicated than that. I do enjoy some of it. I enjoy that Jenny absolutely loves it. I just sometimes feel a bit of pressure for some reason.

Although it’s got a lot better since Jenny has been around. Now I just have to make sure she’s fed and she does the rest. Except buying her own gift – I still have to do that.

If I think of Christmas now I try to picture us watching a movie together, having a glass of wine while I cook the dinner, and Jenny getting excited about all her work fuddles and what Christmas jumper she’s going to wear.

Good to get going

I think it was the right decision to sit yesterday out. It’s one of the great benefits of wild camping. As I don’t have any reservations along the way I can pick and choose how fast or slow I want to go. And it really was a great spot to spend an extra day.

My uncle called me during my day off to ask if I’d spotted Nessy. I had to confess I’d not really been looking. I made some lame excuse about being too high up so I’d not be able to see it. But I’ve heard it’s quite large so I’m not sure that excuse held up. I then did give a cursory glance but nothing doing. I also had requests from Jenny to spot the Northern Light. Now, I had a legitimate excuse on this one, as the cloud cover was very thick, so I knew I wouldn’t be spotting anything in the sky.

The drawback, for me anyway, of having the day off was that I spent far too much time considering the days ahead. Wondering how many miles I’d do each day. Where I might camp. Where I’d get supplies. And the big one. What would the weather be like.

All these thoughts did start to stress me out. It was like I was trying to rush to the end. I was almost stopping myself from enjoying the challenge. Thinking far too much about the end, and not the journey. So it was really a great relief when I got up nice and early, packed everything up, and got on my way.

I immediately felt better and was just happy to be taking a walk. All those other things in my head didn’t seem important anymore.

Mr efficient

The first few miles of the day flew by. The weather was so far good and the path was great.

Eventually it tips you out onto the road into Drumnadrochit. I remember this road going on for ever last time I was here, but today it didn’t feel so bad and I was soon in the town, using the public toilets, and picking up supplies in the Coop.

I walked straight past all the cafes, no time to them today, and then straight back up onto the hills. It was still only just after 9 and I had 5 miles under my belt and had everything I needed. Good times. Although I did feel sorry for the parents I saw trying to get their kids to school on time – I definitely don’t miss those days.

As I left the town it started to rain, which was a little annoying, but I was determined to not have my spirits dampened.

A conversation!

Excluding towns where I interact with shop or hotel staff, this has been a very solitary trip. When I did the SWCP, even though I was on my own a lot of the time, I don’t think a day went past when I didn’t talk to a fellow walker. Sometimes they were doing the same as me, except not backwards, sometimes just out of a walk.

On this trip I think I’ve had about 5 conversations. No one, so far, is walking the trail, but I suspect I might see some hikers on the West Highland Way (especially as I’m going North to South).

I like walking alone. I don’t think I’d want to walk with anyone else. I do like the time on my own. But I think I have missed the interactions. I’m not sure if I’m lonely – I don’t think it’s that. I just like those little chats – where you get to find out something about someone. Maybe even learn something new. Sometimes, rarely, even make a new friend.

So, it was a relief when I bumped into Alison. Of course, I did my usual thing afterwards or worrying about what I’d said, had I been rude, did I say anything stupid. It’s most annoying and infuriating. But that will pass.

It was really nice to talk to someone and it was really interesting to hear a little about her life. About what it’s like living in Scotland. About her plans for the future.

She said something quite interesting which made me think. I told her how lucky I thought she was to live here. And she said it is amazing, but can be difficult. She said, and I’m paraphrasing, we often want something different, assuming it will be better than what we now have. We assume a move, or a change, will make us happier. It’s easy to look at someone and think they have it all, without realising they have their own issues, which you can’t see.

I’ve probably got that all wrong but it’s what I thought she said. I think she said it a lot better.

Alison then offered to let me go to her house as I’d told her that I was running a bit low on batteries (another drawback of not moving for a day and extending your trip). It was so kind of her and I wanted to say yes, but I really didn’t have time. I wish I’d been able to take her up on her offer. I felt like I still had a bit more chatting left in me!

Since I’ve started doing these walks people have been so kind to me. Offering me places to stay, giving me lifts, checking I was ok. And I’ve got better at saying yes. I have definitely seen the best in people. And in a world where some of the nastiest people seem to rise to the top, the kindest I see, gives me hope.

I wanted to low road

I planned on today being as easy as possible. The sections of the Great Glen Way nearer Inverness have the bigger climbs and descents and it tends to be flatter between Fort Augustus and Fort William. However, even in the hillier sections there is sometimes an option between a high and low route.

There is some information on signs before each section explaining the pros and cons of each. I always feel I’m being ‘sold’ the high route – like being upsold when trying to buy a tumble drier – and I normally fall for it, but today I was determined to take the low route.

I think the path managers (is that a thing) heard about this as when I arrived at my first choice, there was no choice. The low route was closed. So it was the high route again. It really wasn’t so bad. There aren’t that many views of Loch Ness from up there – but it’s nice enough. The landscape did remind me of some of the Outer Hebrides, and I imagined the path could have been as bad, but luckily this one has a good foundation so, despite the climb, it was a nice easy walk.

Late autumn

After reluctantly walking the high route, and being quietly please I had, I made my way down into Invermorist.

I suddenly noticed that the paths were lined with leaves. In places there was quite a thick carpet of them. The trees were still hanging on to quite a lot as well so I made for quite a pretty scene. I did worry a little about how slippery it might be – I was reminded of trains being cancelled due to leaves on the line – but I did manage to stay on my feet.

I wondered if this was late for the leaves to be falling. We’re half way through November now. But I am aware that I’m not an expert, more of a casual observer, so maybe this isn’t normal. I loved all the colours.

After Invermorist the path climbs again but not by too much, and shortly after there again is a high or low choice. I didn’t remember this choice last time, I think I went low, but I didn’t have time for another climb so stayed on the low path. It was close to sunset now so I really needed to find a pitch for the night.

I was never really in any danger of not finding anything but I made a real meal of finding somewhere. I think because I’d been spoiled by my last spot I’d got fussy. I eventually gave myself a good talking to and settled on a spot not far from the path. It’s not perfect – I’m on a bit of a slope – but I’ve had worse. It’ll do for tonight. I’m right next to a waterfall which is very noisy, but maybe it’s the sort of noise that helps you sleep.

I did sneak a little peak at the weather for the days ahead. I think, although all subject to change, that I may get to see the sun over the weekend. Going to be very cold though. Especially at night.

sodit