The Highlands, Day 2

A lunch hut.

The rain is coming down when I wake up, but for a wonder it stops by 9am or so, time to head off then.  It's another long day, twenty miles or so, though at least today there should be a pub at the end.  I walk along more roads, then gravel tracks, then a mile or so off piste, which of course turns out to be fairly unpleasant bog.

On the moors.

I am a little curious as to why there is no track across this section of moorland - there seem to be plenty about generally.  Perhaps the explanation comes when I reach a fence, different landowners eh.  Looks like it may be electric, so I gingerly try the back of my hand against the wire.  Nothing happens, so, I straddle the thing on my way to the other side - then feel a serious jolt of electricity course through me.  Given my position on the fence you can imagine which part of my body takes the brunt, ouch.  I manage to clamber over without touching that wire again, and before long am back on a gravel track.

Seems to be all about the grouses up here.  I pass traps designed for creatures foolish enough to prey on the precious birds, and the dug out shelters the wealthy tourists shoot them from.  There are all terrain vehicles with attached trays still covered with feathers, and even a few 'lunch huts' which allow me to escape the wind for a little while.  From the grouse moors it is downhill to Aviemore, where I have a proper campsite  And even an Italian restaurant with an all you can eat buffet, sweet.

Pizza!

Photos to go with this post can be found here.