The old Military road North.

I had a terrific nights rest. All that rambling about climbing over rocks and twisted tree roots had taken its toll. After a nice cold beer, a dinner of steak pie and apple crumble I hit the sack at 9pm and slept through until my alarm at 7am.

My Garmin says I had a poor sleep. I disagree.

It was a much cooler morning. The dew was heavy. I spared a thought for the campers as their tents and gear must be thoroughly damp after that night.

We set out just after 9am in the chill morning air and a blue sky above. I felt good. The body appeared to be in good shape. No aches and pains. Blisters all healed. After yesterday this promised to be a good day.

The first part of the way took us up Glen Falloch alongside the Falloch River. There were waterfalls aplenty and lots of nice calm pools of water where the trout were eyeing me walking past. Pity I did not have my fly fishing rod with me! Whenever we stopped the midges started biting again. Debbie went into full combat mode again with head net and full spray. The scenery has changed to high peaks covered in heather and sheep. A gentle wind blew along the valley carrying the scent of damp vegetation.

The bracken here was not so high and gave way to moorland pasture where sheep grazed. There was wildlife all around us if you took the time to stop and look. We were passed by many walkers in a rush to get miles under their feet. We stopped and looked at a stunningly beautiful butterfly called a peacock stood on the head of what I think was a Scabious flower. I was reaching for my camera. Debbie told me to stop and just look at it in case my movement scared it away. She was right for we were passed my some other walkers and the butterfly flew away. I dont have a picture but here is what they look like.

We stopped on a grassy knoll at the side of the path for a drink and a protein bar. A young man with a big pack came by and was limping so we asked him if he was ok. He said he was fine. Just struggling a little. So we told him to rest with us a while. He was an Italian man called Matteo from Trieste. We talked and he moved on thanking us for saying hello.

The way then followed along on the old military road that was constructed by General Wade then Major Caulfield back in 1742. These were roads built to move the British Army quickly to the Highlands to control the Jacobites. The roads still exist to this day. Most abandoned to walkers and sheep as the new roads run close by on modern surfaces.

We then dropped down into Crianlarich where we stopped at a local Cafe to have a cup of tea as we were too early to arrive at our B+B. We had made it to the halfway point of the way. Whilst drinking my tea, two young lads came by. We saw them pass us earlier in the day. The taller one was clearly having a problem with one of his feet. I asked him if he was ok. He said he had a bad blister on his left heel. I offered to take a look but he was a bit embarrassed so I told him to sit and I gave him one of my big blister plasters from my 1st aid kit and told him to use it. I also showed him how to tie his boot properly to stop it rubbing. He had them much too loose. He went on his way and thanked me. “How do you know all this” he said. “I walked the Camino and learned the hard way” I said.

At this juncture I noticed that my old faithful walking stick that had seen me right along the 900 Kms Camino and the West Highland Way to this point was ill. The stick is in 3 parts that screw together so it is easily taken apart to transport. The lower ferrule had come loose. The bottom section was about to fall off. The situation was dire. No way to fix it here I thought. We passed a Police station under construction. One of the workers headed to a van saying he was an electrician. I thought aha. Electrical tape will do it. So I asked him whether I could buy a roll of electrical tape and showed him my dilemma. He said he had something better and gave me a roll of duct tape. He helped me fix it. He would not take anything for it. He said he had been kind to me so I should be kind to someone else. I told him about the guy I helped with a blister plaster. He said this was payment for that. Be kind people.

Tomorrow is a long 13 mile walk to Bridge of Orchy. The weather looks nasty from 16:00 onwards so we will need to start early and get a move on.