A very significant day this was, as 42 represents a marathon! One of my walking rules had been to walk at least a marathon every day.
Early morning, I took the mini to Invergordon, where I had stopped yesterday. Lorinda and Alex would later on in the morning get a taxi to collect the car. Technically not part of the John O’Groats Trail, I left Invergordon in a different direction from that I had entered the town the previous day and rejoined the trail at Badechonacher.
The trail today took me through beautiful forests, Newmore and Scottsburn Woods, after which I walked through the town of Tain and crossed the Dornoch Firth Bridge. Yes, you probably guessed correctly, I then walked through the town that is known by Dornoch. The route turned to the coast where I walked besides the sea on the one side and the very busy Royal Dornoch Golf Course on the other side. Naturally I kept wondering how many people actually get hit by a ball? Eventually I concluded that it would be fairly unlikely - as most of the players have difficulty in getting the ball into the hole, it would be equally unlikely that they would manage to hit a person! My golf friends, please refrain from being offended as this was a joke…..!
After following the beach for a while, I reached my destination for the day, which had been a randomly selected location as it was the desired distance from the day’s start point. This location was besides Loch Fleet below the ruins of Skelbo Castle. A stunning setting it was and we even saw a few harbour seals in the distance. Although I had beaten them to the destination, Lorinda and Alex soon arrived to pick me up. For the next two nights, we would be staying in Helmsdale.
Route: Invergordon to Skelbo view point on Loch Fleet
John O’Groats Trail
Distance: 43.9 km
Steps: 62074
Cal: 2723 act kcal
