Log No 58. Wed 5th Jun 2013 - Bettyhill to Tongue, 18 miles (995 miles walked)

Yesterday was rest & recuperation, I stayed put and read a novel.

Today's walk was less ambitious, it was similar coastline but only 18 miles.

It was a cloudy and slightly damp start at 08.00 as I set off from Bettyhill and walked round the headland.

The detour to get across the River Naver could not be avoided and I had to go back into Bettyhill and use the main road to get to the road bridge.

I turned off the main road just over the bridge and went through Invernaver walking on the sandy river bank and dunes to get to the beach proper of Torrisdale Bay.

Two rivers come into this bay, the second is the Borgie and thankfully this one didn't require such a long detour and I could use a footbridge to cross.

I was able to stay close to the coastline following trusty sheep tracks and after going round Aird Torrisdale and Skerray Bay I stopped at Lamigo Bay to finish off my lunch.

It was 12.20 and the sun had come out to maintain the type of weather I have come to expect this week.

I had told Sandra I should be finished by 3 o' clock and it looked like I would be on time.

I cut over the hill to get to the next small bay then got back to following the coastline again.

This final stretch had no more bays but the small geos meant I stayed inland a little bit.

I also came across a rare sight here, a boot print, someone else had been on the same track as me within the last day or two. This is the nearest I have come to seeing anyone on the coastline for a long while.

The view I had when I crested the last hill was quite unexpected and you can see why people chose to live in out of the way locations. Most of these places also had a new house or two being constructed.

Unlike Orkney all the houses in these areas just seemed to have a number. It looked odd to see a nameplate on the front gate of a house with no close neighbour that said 92 or 116.

I stayed on the road out of Skullomie then a footpath to get onto the main road at Coldbackie.

I left the main road shortly to get back to the shore using a minor road.

The tide was out and revealed what seemed like hundreds of metal cages set on the sand, all neatly laid out in rows and columns. I presume it is some type of farm.

There were 2 picnic areas on the road over the Kyle of Tongue and I could see the campervan on the second one. I got there at 10 past three.

We drove on to the campsite at Talmine, there was no phone signal here.