LEJOG day 69: Dunbeath to Wick

One of the things my brother forgot to mention while I was planning this walk was how flat and boring the penultimate 20 miles of Scotland are. I assume that the final 20 are going to be rather similar. It's a real shame that after three months of footpaths and scenery, I'm finishing with two days of roads and really quite spectacularly dull farmland.

The road itself continues to be far less busy than I worried it might be, the HGVs are few and far between and mostly very good at giving me a wide berth - much appreciated as the turbulence otherwise feels like being hit - and the pavements extend a generous distance outside the towns: I walked for about two miles on the pavement into Wick, for example. I ended things with the A9 And am now involved with the A99, although there haven't been many signs to indicate the change and you'd be hard pressed to tell the difference, except the A99 may be somewhat straighter and more boring. 

There are plans for a John O'Groats trail, and although the website obstinately refuses to outline the route, I did find a description of a route from Freswick to John O'Groats via Duncansby Head elsewhere. It runs along the cliffs and I was really tempted- my nearly-21-miles today had me arriving a little after 4 so I figure I had time to be a little indirect. The only issue is the website includes an indicator of the "bog factor", which for this walk is 4/5. 5/5 means "it's a swamp. Snorkel required". Much though I dislike the idea of ending my 3 month walk with 20 miles along an A-road, the thought of ending it with 10 miles of bog-hopping is even worse, so the A99 it is. 

I have managed to pick up 3 new blisters today, which is problematic as I only have two plasters left from the third pack of Compeed. I suspect I'll be buying a fourth on my way out of Wick in the morning and there's a serious chance I'll be doing some roadside blister dressing shortly after. 

The reason this post is so late is that I've been out having dinner with Steve- who's been hanging out in Wick bored out of his skull since Sunday- and Jill, a Belgian LEJOGger I first met with Sarah on the Pennine Way and have been bumping into again since Helmsdale. We had a great time comparing horror stories. 

Distance walked: 20.58 miles
Time taken: 6h08
Percentage complete: 98.1%
Miles left to walk: 21 (depending on my route!)
Days since I was last rained on: 2
Lunch: ham and cheese sandwich, 3 Colin caterpillars. If it ain't broke...
Last night's B&B: Inver Park House, Dunbeath: lovely room, complete with a bath which I wallowed in until my blisters itched, nice hostess, out in the Styx


You can get this effect by smearing fingerprints all over your lens. You're welcome
A dismantled railway I didn't walk on- what has happened?
Most of today's scenery was variations on this
Or this...
No points for guessing who's who

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