Day 99 - Helmsdale to Berriedale

Today was an "in-and-out-of-van" day. It began accompanying The Walker along the shore from Helmsdale for about a mile before going back to the van and driving to the designated lay-by with refreshments. After that I drove to the next meeting place (the Clearances Memorial layby), walked to said memorial and finally drove  to pick him up.These type of days are very bitty and I never really feel that I have done much, especially as I spend a lot of the time wondering if I am in the correct place and looking out for The Walker, especially if he is a bit later than anticipated.

'Silver Darlings' Herring sculpture, Helmsdale Harbour

The weather was good for walking - sunny intervals and fairly breezy. At the Memorial it was easy to see why the villagers had to tether their animals (and children!)  to the mountain, it was easy to be blown away! I met a lovely couple in the car park; they had seen The Walker earlier and as he hobbled off on the last leg of today's walk they asked if he was a Lejogger. Mr and Mrs Colin McRae then very kindly donated towards the BHF as Mrs MacRae's mother has recently had a triple by-pass ( at 82) and is brilliant now.

From Bernie:
Today's walk  10.3 miles     :     Cumulative  1241.2 miles

Well, I've walked in some pretty stupid places but today probably takes the biscuit!

As the manager has noted we set off from Helmsdale along a track above the beach, a ploy designed to cut out a chunk of A9 walking; I'd checked in a local walking book & there is a designated circular walk using a route up from the pebbles, through Navidale Farm & back to the town. We reached the stream which splashes down through dense undergrowth, blocking any approach to the farm, & the manager turned back to pick up the van. I continued my rock-hopping quest along the shore, certain that, at some point, I would find somewhere to scramble up the low sandy bank to reach the track above, quite clearly shown on the OS map.

Shoreline north-east of Helmsdale

Needless to say, I ran out of beach before finding any escape route & the low sandy bank had now become an overgrown cliff! If I'd had any sense I'd have turned around, returned to Helmsdale & used the A9 - but no! Instead I climbed a waterfall into a jungle of head-high bracken, nettles, gorse & brambles.... after all, there is a marked track at the top! Foolish! This is a Scottish track & doesn't exist!
About half-way up it did occur to me that if I slipped I could end up breaking something quite important & that would be a slightly ignominious end to LeJog.... & so close to the finish! It took me about an hour & a half to hack my way to the main road & I've spent the rest of the evening removing sheep ticks!

Route of my ascent!

Highlight of the Day: another Clearances story!
The ogre this time was Sir John Sinclair of Ulbster who 'cleared' the nearby glens of Ousdale & Berriedale, giving the crofters a precipitous stretch of sea-facing moorland on which to live. They built their new homes from loose stone they uncovered as they tried to cultivate this barren land. At one point 80 people lived at Badbea but the number gradually declined as families emigrated; the last straw came towards the end of the 19th century when the laird discontinued herring fishing in favour of salmon & took away any possibility of employment for the villagers.
This huge monument is not a modern apology: it was erected in 1911, shortly after the last villagers left, by David Sutherland - he was the son of one of the first emigrants to New Zealand & he used the stones of his father's house.

Beyond Badbea I was surprised when an approaching car slowed down, tooted & the 2 young lads inside gave me a thumbs-up sign - something of a change from the rude gestures that are more usual when road-walking! Shortly afterwards 2 young women did much the same but they waved frantically as they passed. Descending Berridale Braes a cyclist yelled "Go for it!" as he sped past & it suddenly occurred to me, who else but a LeJogger would be walking along this stretch of the A9? Made me feel quite good!

River mouth at Berriedale

Finished the day at Berriedale; in the news a few years ago when a huge storm caused a landslip which carried away one of the hairpins on the notoriously steep road & closed the A9 for some considerable time.

Berridale Braes - the new retaining wall can be seen on the far side of the valley

Beer of the Day: struggling again! Had a bottle of 'Isle of Arran' Blonde which I've always liked. While it could easily be mistaken for a lager, it is a healthy 5% & has a quite distinctive flavour, not unlike Lowenbrau, an all-time favourite!

5 days to go!
Things we're looking forward to doing when we get home (manager): not having to work out how a different shower works every day!