At the beginning of day 114 I had 4 days for the 28 miles to John O’Groats and the weather forecast was looking unfriendly to say the least. The aim was to get to Thurso by lunchtime when heavy rain was due from the south. I set off from Shebster early, just after 8.30am and it wasn’t raining. However, it was very windy and the turbines at Baillie Wind Farm were whirring away.
Bob came back towards me and we made a brief detour at Westfield to St Trostan’s cemetery, a now disused burial ground of uncertain age. It was said to be the earlier site of St Trostan’s Chapel of which nothing remains although there is an intriguing water stoop in one wall of the graveyard. St Trostan may originally have been St Drostan and may have been from Ireland: such are the stories hidden by history in this vast landscape.
It was raining hard by now and by the time we got back to the car I was wet and cold. In an attempt to dry out and warm up, Bob drove down to the garage on the Thurso road and I had a hot chocolate. We returned to the sheep farm at Bardnaclavan to start again. However, it was even windier and wetter and I could hardly stand up. The road is very exposed and there’s no shelter for some distance. I therefore managed less than a mile before Bob picked me up again, completely drenched.
This time we went to the Co op for a bit of shopping. In Thurso there was no rain and the weather seemed a bit clearer. After getting the shopping we therefore headed back up to the Achscrabster junction to carry on. It was only a couple of miles round to the footway into Thurso if I could make it through the wind.
At Janetstown I sheltered in the bus shelter for a bit. Bob came back towards me from the garage on the edge of town and we battled back with our heads down. Once we got into Thurso there was some shelter from the buildings and I carried on as planned, cutting through the streets in the town to come out by the A9 junction at the bridge over the River Thurso.
I eventually reached the end of today’s walk by the junction in Thurso East at about 1pm and we returned to the hostel to dry out and have lunch. There are now 3 days to go and less than 20 miles to John O’Groats.
From a Scottish Pilgrim’s Prayer
The keeping of God be upon you in every pass,
The shielding of Christ be upon you in every path,
The bathing of the Spirit be upon you in every stream,
In every land and sea by which you go.
God grant a quiet night and a peaceful end
JAL 09.08.2019
Day 114 of the End to End from Shebster to Thurso East.