Today (Sunday 23rd May) is the big day as I set off on my first Coast to Coast challenge. We got up early and had breakfast to get to the bus stop in time for the Inverness to Fort William bus to Fortwilliam for the start. Karen is due to meet me at Spean Bridge at the end of the first stage. We waited ages, and then asked Tourist Information where the bus was. "Oh yes, the bus. Well, they are confused about the timetable and don't know whether it is winter or summer yet, so they may be late." We ask if Rufus will be allowed on when it does decide to turn up. "Oh no, sorry, no dogs and no bikes!". Bummer! Well there's that plan down the toilet! We had planned for me to get a bus one way and only pray on Karen for the pick up. Now she is the taxi service to and fro. Sorry love.
We got to the start, and here I am looking innocent of the travails ahead:
The start was from MacDonald's! I guess this was paying homage to the finest in Scottish cuisine, and an offer of a final get out of jail card free for those who may not be so sure a 100 mile hike is the best thing they could do with their spare time. The initial 3 miles was pretty grim as you walk through an endless sprawling council estate, but eventually, you come up onto the Caledonian Canal for the first time:
The next landmark of interest was Neptune's Staircase. A series of 7 locks. Rufus was so funny, as he kept running across each and every lock to see a "friend" on the other side. He just thinks people were put on the earth to say hello to him!
Of course Rufus simply had to go in for a swim despite the danger of being hit by an ocean liner on route from the Irish Sea to North sea.
I told Karen to set off to meet me when I was 3 miles from the end of the days 14 mile trek, so she would be there as I arrived. However, as is my habit, I decided to add another mile because I just had to go and see the cute little lighhouse on the edge of Loch Lochy. This meant, with sore feet, I had added 30 minutes to my journey, and would be late. The little lighhouse was cute though!
This meant I had to go a bit further than I had psychologically planned for, so the final 2 mile trudge to the Commando Memorial to be met by Karen was a slog. I came across another fellow traveller in need of a lift, so we took him to Spean Bridge. Home now for a nice beer and dinner, ready for day 2.
No comments:
Post a Comment