Highland Drove Walk - Day 4

Bernera to Glen Shiel - 14.5 miles

It felt like a very lazy morning but in reality, we were hiding from the mutant midges that have taken permanent residence outside our tents. I have already amassed a fair number of bites, at all areas of my body, and the numbers just kept rising. The morning looked very sunny, clear and promising so we set off at a leisurely pace and enjoyed the stunning scenery, the Highland cows and the beautiful ruins.

Once we got to the village of Glenelg however all bets were off. A sign to a cafe and a shower was just too good to pass up. The shower was pure bliss, the breakfast pure goodness and the hot drinks pure pleasure AHHH moment. This little detour however put us back almost 2 hours, but still worth it. The views of the bay were absolutely amazing and we enjoyed the good weather and the pretty views for quite a while.

Heading into the Highlands was exciting and we even found a Broach, built 400BC, so we had our lovely lunch at an establishment built circa 2,422 years ago.

Leaving the tarmac and stepping onto a dirt track was great but that's exactly when the heavens opened up. You know what? This made it more Scottish and authentic so we simply went with the flow, so to speak. The path was easy and the views were simply breathtaking; once we got to our turnoff however everything changed. The path was first muddy, then boggy, then flooded and finally non-existent. Getting the sunshine one minute and the downpour the next made us appreciate our quality gear. They are worth every penny. The marshland seemed never ending but also superb to look at. For a while, it didn't seem like we would get to set up camp but we made do with some high grass, flat(ish) ground and a lot of prayer. Setup and moving in took less than 4 minutes, sorting everything out may have taken 20 more but hot dinner was consumed within 12 seconds.

After a few more downpours the sky cleared, the sun came out and, Alleluia for this, the midges never made an appearance. A long stretch but a memorable day for all the good reasons.