Day 21 - Culloden to Lairg
Another wet day in the Scottish Highlands! The heavens poured down upon me as I cycled from Culloden to Inverness, this was beyond double waterproof weather, I wished I had a third!!!
It was also interesting route planning from Komoot and Google maps who placed me on the dual carriageway A9 northbound! Forunately I found a scrubby pathway alongside and just hoped that there would not be any glass or debris to render me with a puncture!
Finally the Kessock Bridge and a traverse across the Moray Firth; it almost looked like Hong Kong or West Coast Canada with wisps of cloud clinging to the tree clad banks of the hills as they fell down to the estuary edge, quite beauitful!
One of my favourite sections to cycle in the UK is the northern edge of the Moray Firth, from Kessock Bridge towards Muir of Ord, I have cycled it many times before, always in May,and it is beautiful; soft hills with old oaks, crumbling stone walls, gorse and bluebells, accompanied by a plethora of wading birds, stunning!
And then I was cycling in new territory, up from Muir to Dingwall, and then up an icnredibly steep hill towards Evanton and beyond, on the northern shores of the Cromarty Firth ,north of Inverness.
It was still raining so I took respite in a farm shop, at Mount Gerard , a most welcome treat!
Then the wending my way Northwards, by this point my mum had caught up with following her trip to Cawdor Castle; so we played tag along the road heading up into the clouds and fog, which adorned the hills between here and the Dornoch Firth. I was becoming rather tired by this point but was quite determined to cycle to Lairg today, and so onwards I forged, with a couple of speedy tea stops in Mum's mobile Teavan!
I then enjoyed a delightful cycle up the Dornoch valley, along a cycle route, which included a comedic episode when having followed a 50cm wide grass footpath, I then happened upon two flights of super steep steps to carry my bike down!! Beautiful route though! And then up past Shin Falls, which were stunning, and certainly the sort of place a wild salmon wouldlike to leap to!
My morale was certainly waning a little, so I played some sound recordings from my choir, The Funky Little Choir, and sang along to " A Change is gonna come", recorded at the first resumption of choir, post COVID, wow it was an emotional rendition, then and today!!
And then I arrived at Lairg, hurrah! Onwards tomorrow!!
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