The human body is incredible. It’s just absolutely mind boggling what it’s capable of.

The last couple of weeks my diet has mainly consisted of, noodles, supermarket sandwiches, crisps, nutty bar type things, and chocolate. Oh, and that toastie I had yesterday and bacon cob this morning – which is really just a hot sandwich. And somehow, it just keeps on going.

I admit, I am feeling constantly hungry, and any sheep around me are right to be nervous, but I just find it incredible. I’m definitely not an athlete. I’ve seen a few people running up hills I’m slowly walking up. Which makes the body even more impressive. It can be totally neglected and still carry on. I’ve now nearly walked 400,000 steps and my body has barely complained despite me just chucking any old fuel in – I’ve been eating rubbish food. And there’s nothing special about me.

I just don’t know how it does it. If I was a car and the wrong fuel was added, I’d conk out, and not after a few days, it’d be pretty instant.

So, as they apparently say in yoga, which I don’t do, I thank my body for allowing me to do this. I’m really very lucky. And I’m sorry for feeding you rubbish. Although the chocolate is very nice – getting a little bored of the noodles. I really do crave some nice fruit. Oh, and the cheap supermarket noddles aren’t as good as Supernoodles. Although I suppose that is given away by the name.

Now, I have had opportunities to get myself a decent meal. I suppose the nearest I got was the toastie. But wanted to leave that luxury until I finish the adventure. My brain always works like this. I do it for all sorts of things. I sort of want the walk to be completed, to be victorious, and then I’ll allow myself to have all those foods and drinks that I’ve been craving. It’s like it’ll make that day even more special. Even more of a celebration.

So, with that in mind, even though I’ll get to Tyndrum tomorrow, where I think there is the opportunity for fish and chips, I’ll just be getting a couple of packs of Supernoodles, some chocolate, and some pre made sandwiches to get me to the end. I figure I’ve waited this long to treat myself, another couple of days won’t hurt me.

When I get to Milngavine, Aldi will be my first port of call and I’ll be going wild.

Tents are more efficient

It was absolutely the right decision to take advantage of the micro lodges at the Glencoe Ski Resort. I really didn’t have any option as I was down to my final bits of power in my battery banks so I would have run out the next day.

It’s funny because I met a few people today, and even though it’s obvious I’m camping, I still had to confess that last night I used a lodge, and then go on to justify it. I then try to make it clear I’ve camped the rest of the time. It’s so funny because it doesn’t even matter. Camp, not camp. It’s no different either way – so I need to stop doing that.

Anyway, I’m glad I booked in there. The staff were really nice to me, I used the cafe, I had a shower, and, of course the most important thing, I charged all of my batteries. It was also a bargain rate because the ski lifts are currently closed for maintenance so they’re offering a discount. It was such a good experience that I would definitely use them again, even if to just use the cafe if I happened to be passing.

The downside though was that it knocked my routine. I’m actually quite impressed by how ‘ship shape’ everything is in my tent now. When I set up I know exactly what I’m doing. Where I put things, the order I do things. The whole process. It’s the same when I come to pack up in the morning. Put me in a cabin though – it all goes to pot. I forget to charge certain items, I mess up putting my contact lens in, I miss items that should be packed low down in my backpack so have to unpack again. It really was rubbish. I could actually feel my anxiety levels rising, and I was starting to worry, but then the moment I started walking, despite being very late, those feelings just disappeared, like they’d never been there.

Luckily, the late start didn’t matter, as today ended up working out nicely as it is a short leg. Guess I got away with it this time. And the lodge and ski center were fantastic.

I do have two eyes

I feel I owe you an explanation. I often talk of my contact lenses but then only say I put in a lens. The good news is that I still have two functioning eyes. And really, my vision is ok. I can’t drive now without glasses (or contact lenses) but for just walking around I’m fine. Everything is just a little blurry. But it’s not very bad. It’s not like I’ll walk into anything. I might just have to get a bit nearer to a sign before I know what way to go. When I do wear a lens though, everything is crystal clear – which is ideal when I’ve got these incredible views to look at.

So, this is what happened. I didn’t like wearing glasses when I rode my motorbike. It didn’t feel comfortable wearing them in a crash helmet. Now, Jenny knows quite a bit about contact lenses because she has very bad eyesight. It’s part of the reason she finds me attractive. She can’t see at all without glasses or lenses. So, she suggested to me that I could get some, and it’d solve my glasses problem.

Now, this was a great idea. I initially hated putting them in and out, but a bit of perseverance and I was ok. I can even do it without a mirror now. But I had a big problem, an age related problem. When I put both lenses in I could see distant objects amazingly. I was like the bionic man. But I couldn’t see my phone, or anything close up. I hated it.

And then, by luck, I realised if I just put in a lens for my right eye, and nothing in for my left, I could see distant objects, and also close objects. It was amazing. It’s like your brain knows which eye to use for each task. It doesn’t work if I put a lens in my left eye though and leave the right one without. Then I can’t see anything.

So, that’s one I just wear one lens, and another reason why the human body is amazing.

Shall we talk about the walk?

It was another brilliant day. Perfect in fact. I didn’t see many people, but had two conversations, which was quite a lot compared with the rest of my trip.

I’m still really enjoying walking it backwards. I think, if this was a different time of year, it wouldn’t be possible. I was speaking to a very nice couple as I entered the Bridge of Orchy. They were walking a section of the West Highland way and said they’d seen pictures of queues of people of various sections. Now, I wouldn’t like to be in that queue, but could you imagine trying to walk against it, I think it would be awful.

So, I’m glad I’m walking it backwards, and glad I’m doing it in November. I enjoy meeting the occasional person, I love the conversation, but I don’t think it’d work if there were any more. This is just about right. I think this only applies to the West Highland Way though – as it’s so popular – I think the Great Glen Way and Hebridean Way would be fairly quiet at any time of year (you don’t see anyone in November!).

A big stag

So my first conversation was the couple I saw as I descended into the Bridge of Orchy. They had massive back packs but were well prepared for ever eventuality. The man of the couple warned me that it was going to get a lot colder on Tuesday or Wednesday, he said -6 potentially, so I should be wary. I was grateful for that information. They were heading to Fort William and I hope they are successful. A lovely couple.

The second encounter was slightly stranger. I was just leaving the Bridge of Orchy and a youngish man chatted to me. He’d just climbed one of the Munros that over looked the village and was next to where I planned to camp. We chatted for a bit about how he wanted to climb them all when another man, slightly up the lane, started shouting, ‘come look at this one’, or something like that.

After a short period where myself and the guy I was chatting looked at each other a bit perplexed, we walked up to the man and saw he was looking at a stag just standing on his garden. Just staring at us. I think he was waiting for food.

The shouting guy then wandered off, I think to the pub, I said goodbye to the climbing guy, and I headed off in search of my camp for the night.

Big shop tomorrow

My camp for the night is about a mile past the Bridge of Orchy. It’s just next to a fast running stream which is quite noisy, but I think will help me sleep. It’s very cold so I’m definitely going to keep my down jacket on when I sleep.

I’m not far from Tyndrum now which will be my last opportunity to get food. It’s only about 3 days walking to the end though so, if things go well, and not including tonight, I’ll just have 2 more nights of camping.

The UK has got some active weather warnings for tomorrow, including snow, but based on the forecast I’ve got it looks like it’s just going to get very cold here. All subject to change of course. But I don’t mind if it’s cold. It just means, the moment I get in my tent, I wrap up warm in my bed, which I quite like. It’s exciting beating the elements.

I’ve always liked that. I like being as close as possible to the weather, but be protected from it. That why I love being in a tent when it rains.