9 April - Inverness Youth Hostel to Rosehall

Day 2:      9 April 2011

Inverness Youth Hostel to Rosehall (Achness Hotel)

(11 miles          4 hours walking)

I woke up deliberately and unnecessarily early at 5 a.m. and spent an hour showering and drying my hair with the hairdryer I had brought with me. The American woman was not impressed but got the point, I hope.

This is me about to leave Inverness Youth Hostel on my great adventure.

    

I had my breakfast at Morrison’s this morning and got my first omen about the trip: I was seated at table number 13. I believe I mentioned this in my blog and took a photo of the table number.

I did some shopping in Inverness (which is a lovely town by the way) and bought some meths and a Gelert water bottle in an excellent shop called “Tiso’s”. My water system was two-fold; I had a 'Source' 1l bottle and drinking tube, to which I added an orange-flavour multivitamin tablet for daily use. I also had my 1l Gelert water bottle which I kept clean and used to collect fresh water in (and carry spare water for cooking).

I also went into the Blacks at Inverness and found the staff there were as useless as they are at the Blacks in Salisbury. This is the conversation I had with a member of staff:

Me: “Do you have any meths” (Blank Look) "It is a kind of fuel"

Staff member: “Oh. Look we have fuel” (showing me an empty bottle labelled

’Fuel ’ that I have already looked at    

Me: “It is empty, look” (I shake the bottle to show her)

Staff Member: “Oh. I’ll ask the manager then”

What is it with Blacks?!! I have vowed never to return to another Blacks store.

After breakfast at 08.42 I got the train from Inverness to Inverchin and arrived at Inverchin in the middle of a misty afternoon at 12.00 noon. I had to request the train to stop and I was the only person to get off at Inverchin. There was a really “Conan Doyle” feel about the place, but after about half an hour the sun burnt through the clouds, and by 1 p.m. I was wearing shorts and a T-shirt.

My walk to Inverchin was uneventful. The navigation was easy and the weather was excellent. This was the first of many days when I saw no people (walking) but some pretty scenery.  I felt as if I was away from home and in Scotland. It was a real blessing that the weather was warm and sunny, and I felt very positive about overcoming the challenges ahead of me. Today's journey took me along small country lanes, so there were no problems with bogs, tics or stiles. My feet and body felt fit and healthy and I was quite excited about the walk ahead. The countryside was gentle and the road was tarmacced.




I am a sucker for old crofts and houses and loved this one.

The staff at the Achness Hotel were very friendly, and the meal I ate that night (chicken, cheese and bacon and chips) would have kept an army on the move for a week. But I comforted myself with the knowledge that I would be camping for the next few nights and would probably burn off the calories. I went to bed at 8.45 p.m. absolutely knackered! There were no rustlings or mutterings to keep me awake and no train to catch the next day. I was going by foot from now.

I have not included any route notes for this section as this is not an official part of the CWT.

“I took the road less travelled, and that has made all the difference”
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Robert Frost The road Not Taken Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference

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