LEJOG day 52: Kilsyth to Drymen
I have walked over 63 miles in the last 72 hours and I really cannot impress upon you all enough how much of a terrible idea that was. I understand why elderly people pull those faces when trying to stand up now. Everything in my legs hurts.
But hey, I have the day off tomorrow!
In all seriousness, this was pretty idiotic of me. The guy whose route I'm following had to neck painkillers en route to finish the day I've just done, and I think in my head I thought a day off in Edinburgh (which he didn't have) would mean I didn't have it so bad, but anyone with half a thought could probably have predicted this wouldn't be the case. I possibly also thought I'd be all fit and good at walking by now, which I am, but that doesn't really stop it from hurting your feet when you spend virtually all day walking on tarmac for three days, and I think may have made it worse because now I walk faster and stop less. To make it up to my feet, I've taken a look at Thursday's route and I think I can make it shorter...by walking on tarmac for a while. I'll see how I feel!
My lovely hostess last night not only collected me from the canal-side, saving me from a walk uphill, she also fed me dinner and dropped me back at the canal via the supermarket this morning. She was wonderful.
I traipsed off the towpath, in the rain, already feeling a bit sorry for myself as the forecast - which I generally try to avoid - was for rain all day in both Kilsyth and Drymen, and so I fully expected be in waterproofs all day. The towpath turned into a dismantled railway almost entirely seamlessly, the rain lightened up, and I treated myself to a pot of tea after a couple of hours, after which it was dry enough to risk taking the waterproof trousers off- and they stayed off for the rest of the day!
I made an executive decision to go for a hot lunch in Strathblane, which was absolutely the right thing to do because it was just after this that my route fell apart. I'd planned to continue along the remains of the railway- with a national cycle route along it running into Strathblane, and the West Highland Way on the same trackbed a mere two miles further along, I figured enough people would join the two to keep the weeds down. I could not have been more wrong- I crossed a road just outside the town and the lovely gravelled path I had been following was replaced on the other side by a muddy track overgrown with nettles (and thistles, because this is Scotland). I tried to rejoin it a little further along to find the path guarded by an agitated and apparently bad-tempered horse and, as I didn't fancy finding out first-hand what he'd do if I stepped over the rope into his space, I was forced instead to climb up one side of the valley and join the West Highland Way much earlier than I'd planned. It was a good thing Libby drove me the couple of miles through Kilsyth this morning, because it was hard enough walking the detour with those taken off- and in the end, the detour itself was about the distance I avoided this morning.
Distance walked: 22.76 miles
Time taken: 7 hours- despite everything
Percentage completed: 73.9%
Miles left to walk: 294
Miles per £1 of boot: 5.94
Days since I was last rained on: 0
Lunch: lasagne at the hotel in Strathblane. Dinner was the hoi sin duck wrap and crisps I've carried from Kilsyth
Last night's B&B: Allanfauld Farm, Kilsyth: seriously wonderful. Homely, welcoming, great food, lovely people
...I can't imagine how this came to be here
But hey, I have the day off tomorrow!
In all seriousness, this was pretty idiotic of me. The guy whose route I'm following had to neck painkillers en route to finish the day I've just done, and I think in my head I thought a day off in Edinburgh (which he didn't have) would mean I didn't have it so bad, but anyone with half a thought could probably have predicted this wouldn't be the case. I possibly also thought I'd be all fit and good at walking by now, which I am, but that doesn't really stop it from hurting your feet when you spend virtually all day walking on tarmac for three days, and I think may have made it worse because now I walk faster and stop less. To make it up to my feet, I've taken a look at Thursday's route and I think I can make it shorter...by walking on tarmac for a while. I'll see how I feel!
My lovely hostess last night not only collected me from the canal-side, saving me from a walk uphill, she also fed me dinner and dropped me back at the canal via the supermarket this morning. She was wonderful.
I traipsed off the towpath, in the rain, already feeling a bit sorry for myself as the forecast - which I generally try to avoid - was for rain all day in both Kilsyth and Drymen, and so I fully expected be in waterproofs all day. The towpath turned into a dismantled railway almost entirely seamlessly, the rain lightened up, and I treated myself to a pot of tea after a couple of hours, after which it was dry enough to risk taking the waterproof trousers off- and they stayed off for the rest of the day!
I made an executive decision to go for a hot lunch in Strathblane, which was absolutely the right thing to do because it was just after this that my route fell apart. I'd planned to continue along the remains of the railway- with a national cycle route along it running into Strathblane, and the West Highland Way on the same trackbed a mere two miles further along, I figured enough people would join the two to keep the weeds down. I could not have been more wrong- I crossed a road just outside the town and the lovely gravelled path I had been following was replaced on the other side by a muddy track overgrown with nettles (and thistles, because this is Scotland). I tried to rejoin it a little further along to find the path guarded by an agitated and apparently bad-tempered horse and, as I didn't fancy finding out first-hand what he'd do if I stepped over the rope into his space, I was forced instead to climb up one side of the valley and join the West Highland Way much earlier than I'd planned. It was a good thing Libby drove me the couple of miles through Kilsyth this morning, because it was hard enough walking the detour with those taken off- and in the end, the detour itself was about the distance I avoided this morning.
Distance walked: 22.76 miles
Time taken: 7 hours- despite everything
Percentage completed: 73.9%
Miles left to walk: 294
Miles per £1 of boot: 5.94
Days since I was last rained on: 0
Lunch: lasagne at the hotel in Strathblane. Dinner was the hoi sin duck wrap and crisps I've carried from Kilsyth
Last night's B&B: Allanfauld Farm, Kilsyth: seriously wonderful. Homely, welcoming, great food, lovely people
Funny how the same heron posed for you two days on the trot.
ReplyDeleteWell you try walking 44 miles along canal towpath in 3 days and see how easy it is to keep them separate in your mind!
ReplyDelete