30th March

It seems that, after 2 days from hell, the food poisoning is wearing off and Carol and I are (almost) back to our usual easy going, vibrant selves.

I had some interesting e-mail banter with John Sheets – a participant on the 2010 Iceland trip. Seems that I persuaded John to buy an XXL Rab Latok Alpine shell jacket after he read that I was taking one to Scotland. Come on Rab, that must be worth something! If Johns’ shell turns out to be too big for him we can swap because mine has no wiggle room. The people he is buying from will let him take it to Iceland for a few weeks and return it if it does not work out for him, which is a very cool deal. How come I didn’t get a deal like that? John is a more strapping lad than I am so I doubt the swap will actually take place. I must admit to feeling the pressure though. What if the jacket leaks like a rusty oil tanker and it’s all my fault!

Been checking out some hiking routes from walkhighlands.co.uk. Wow, what a great website. All the routes are marked for degree of difficulty. Of course, they have no idea how weak and pathetic I have become so their easy hikes are my “next to impossible” ones. Maps and descriptions of the routes can be printed out which is a big plus. They also have great links to other information sites as well as the John Muir Trust (of which I have proudly become a life member). I am looking forward to walking some JMT land in order to get my moneys worth. Ha.

I have not yet worked out which hikes I will do or in what order. That will depend to a great extent on the weather. Obviously high on the list will be Sandwood Bay, a spectacular stretch of remote sand. The only access, I am thrilled to say, is by walking 4.5 miles in and 4.5 miles out and I have no doubt that the outward will seem a lot longer than the inward. Given that I am a natural dawdler and prone to stopping frequently for piccies, I estimate that it will a verrry long day. Also high on the list will be the 8 mile Canisp hike if for no other reason than I well remember doing this in knee deep snow about 35 years ago. I also remember with awe the huge feldspar crystals that weather out of the granite on this particular mountain. I am sure that in between these two hikes I will need some sort of physical therapy or maybe just a few tiny hikes (hikelets?) to give me time to recover.