Our tent shook all night long, and not in a metaphorical sense. The wind and rain hammered the tent, which we now know to be very waterproof.
Tired, we arose to a cold, damp, cloudy day. I packed my kit inside the tent; Heley attempted to take down the tent while I was doing so.
Tent pegs usually hold a tent to the ground. A blustery morning left me sat in a tent which had decided that it was better suited to being a kite. It’s quite an experience sitting in a tent which wants to take you on a journey off the side of a hill.
I was sitting in the tent waiting for Heley to bring me the first aid kit; I already have blisters in need of nursing. I was, of course, unable to move in case of lift off. Heley had not heard the call for the first aid kit and had decided that I was taking too long and so had wandered off. Her impasse was eventually solved and off we grumpily trudged.
The weather was cold and windy but otherwise fine. The scenery was every bit as beautiful as we expected, but today was turning into grind.
Two days pushing ahead of schedule at pace was punishing us. The third at a dawdle felt slow. We still managed to overtake fourteen other walkers, including our new friends, the two old men, but some of our journey became heads down and grind the miles out. I can only say that Heley’s dawdling is faster than I’d like to travel when fully fit. Only mountain cyclists overtook us.
We’re still a couple of miles ahead of schedule. Sixty miles into the journey and with a sixth of the ascent already completed.
We were lucky enough to have a “wow” moment right at the end of the day, which lifted our spirits, if not our aches and pains.
A beautiful wild spot (I’ll try to get a photo this time), food and tent sorted by 6.30 pm, so off we went to warm up in a bar in Inveroran.
It may have been a long day, but I’m feeling a litle more confident about tomorrow.
According to our two old guys, the cloud and wind will make way for glorious sunshine tomorrow… Heley will love it, but I’m going to burn!