Munros 2024 : 2

I depart late from the campsite, wasting time trying to solve the mystery of the missing cheese - this is my lunch for a couple of days, but of course the solution turns out to be that I simply forgot to buy it, oops.  Not ideal, this is a long day, with 15km of road, just to start, through bleak surroundings, bog and forest, and little sign of humanity, barring traffic on the road, including numerous cyclists on their way to John o'Groats.  The weather is horrid, constant driving wind, against me of course, and yes rain.  It's a long climb up Ben Klibreck, at least it warms me up, not much fun though, and my camera doesn't like the weather either, need to dig my phone out for a photo at the top.  I finally emerge from the cloud on the other side of the summit, and there's fantastic view, the empty land stretching out below me.  Back down then, to a loch, and camp by a river at 8pm, no problem with still two hours of daylight remaining.  More oops though, seems I left two tent pegs in Lairg...

Another day, and much like yesterday, there's cloud at ground level, a strong wind blowing it into my face, and a long road leading north through bleak and uninhabited terrain.  Eventually the cloud rises and it is actually sort of dry, though still.  I pass a track heading west, I will be going this way tomorrow, but first I have to get up Ben Hope, the most northerly Munro, then retrace my steps.  In fact, I reach my planned camp spot around midday, it is by the remains of a 'broch', a two thousand year old stone tower that must have been an impressive piece of engineering.  I may as well put the tent up and leave it here, and lacking cheese for lunch I cook up a spare pack of noodles.  From here the road runs north along a dramatic narrow valley, then I turn right to take a steep track up the mountain, the first 200m alongside a series of awesome waterfalls.  But from then on the ascent of this isolated mountain, from which no doubt there are views out to sea on a clear day, is a grim, relentlessly wet slog to see trig point in cloud.  Everything I have with me is wet now, I hope this gets better...

Another long day this one is 42km, I am not really in the mood to walk along a road in wet shoes and socks, but it is what it is.  At least I am going south now, the wind may be blowing from the arctic but it is behind me, and even more or less dry.  That turn off leads to a well made track, courtesy of the water company I think, unsurprisingly it goes past past many lochs, this is easy going through bleak but beautiful country.  Then more road, oh wow the sun is out, then the electric company track is basically a road, my feet actually drying and I am getting to the end of the lobg distance, it wasn't so bad.  I can see a Munro, Ben More Assynt, and that could be nearby Conival behind it, well they can wait 'til tomorrow.  To end the day I walk alongside a massive concrete pipe, an aqueduct feeding a hydro power generator of course, and camp near it.

Munros 2024 : 1

 What, more walking?  Well, this should be rather different to Spain, I am in the Highlands of Scotland, spending a month climbing more Munros, should be good exercise and given it's June, maybe there'll even be nice weather!  I start with a flight to Inverness, then a train to Dingwall, where I camp next to Ross County's football stadium.  The walking starts with a climb of course, on roads at first, then a track, which after a while abruptly disappears.  For a couple of km I struggle through some really nasty bog, at one point my right leg sinks in up to the hip.  It is a great relief to find a path again, and it leads up Ben Wyvis, the first Munro of the trip, with a fine view, out to the sea one way, and more mountains the other.  I take a stony path down, down, then follow a river for a km to my planned camp spot, but oops, seems this is the heart of the Wyvis estate.  Well, I am OK to walk a bit more, to camp up on a saddle.

There are two days with no Munros now, well, the first is still very scenic, I walk past lochs, up into proper wilderness, with descents to more estates, Kildermorie, then Glencalvie, I'm not sure if I'm technically allowed to walk past the palatial buildings but nobody stops me.  My route follows the very pretty River Carron, rushing through its rocky course, sometimes on the banks are great boulders of quartz.  I camp beside the river, near one of many fishing spots.   It's nice, but the next morning I am beset by midges, well it makes for a fast start, indeed this should be a fast day, all road, and I am 6km ahead of my plan.  More lovely surroundings, I follow the river down to the sea, a substantial inlet of course, on one side Ardgay, then Bonar Bridge on the other.  From here I follow another river the Shin, upstream for a fair distance, past the scenic Falls of Shin, where salmon will be leaping in a month or two's time, and on to Lairg.  This was meant to be my camp tonight, at a little past 2pm I have made great time to it, but sadly the campsite here is no longer taking tents, so I am booked into a place fully 6km further.  I was vaguely thinking of buying something to cook there, but an evening in a campsite in the middle of nowhere doesn't really appeal, so, I walk there and then back to Lairg.  Worth it for a nice pint or three of Black Isle Blonde, and a highland hotdog - yes, it has haggis on it.

I take a day off, after only three days of walking, so lazy.  Well, yesterday was a bit of a slog in the end so nice to relax, wash stuff and yes, go to Lairg again.  Not a big place, but nice views of Little Loch Shin, and the dam holding back Loch Shin, which surely should be Big Loch Shin.  On the little loch is a small island with a charming Wee Hoose - allegedly a successor to a full size house and distillery, located on a rather larger pre-hydro power island a century or two ago.  As is often the way in Scotland there's a woodland walk with carved wooden animals, and I even find a second bar, the Nip Inn in the Highland Hotel.  Then back to where I ate last night, the very comfortable snug in The Pier, and tagliatelle.

El Camino del Norte : Sobrado dos Monxes to Santiago de Compostela

It really is not too far to go now.  Not wanting to go hungry again, I wait for shops to open in Sobrado, and buy some bread for lunch - I already had some chorizo, it has been sitting in my pack for a couple of days in fact - I wasn't hungry enough yesterday to eat it with no bread!  There is walking to do of course, the way keeps on southwest, through woods and fields, I am feeling a bit tired for some reason and don't pay much attention.  At least today I get to eat lunch on time, and shortly after that the Camino del Norte joins the Camino Francés, at Arzúa, lots to see here as I recall but I have no time to waste.  Well, that said I do find time for a beer a little further on at the Casa del Horreo, in my defence I need a stamp, being into the last 100km on which supposedly you need two per day.  Onwards, to Salceda, there is really not much here, and indeed most of it seems to be shut, well, my albergue is open, and I manage to get a bacon and cheese bocadillo from the bar next door.

The last day, this is probably a good thing as I need a rest.  And, only 26km to Santiago, this will be easy, haha.  I follow a familiar route, through O Pedrouzo where I started the last day a year ago, past the airport, to reach my albergue for 1pm.  Because, as it turns out, it is fully 10km from Santiago - well, it was the nearest I could get, I didn't realize it was so far out though.  It would be nice to at least check in now but of course it is not open yet, OK then, I schlep on to Santiago, and the reason for the lack of accommodation become clear as a music festival is happening on the Monte do Gozo on the way into town. I make my way to the centre, and it takes 30 minutes to get my certificate, pretty fast really as there's a big queue - nearly two thousand pilgrims have arrived already today.  I get a photo by the cathedral, then of course walk 10km more back to the albergue, which is now open and very nice.  And of course there is a bar, well, time for a celebratory cigar which I have been carrying from Bilbao, and tonight I get a burger, and even treat myself to a dessert, appropriately enough it is Santiago cake.

Well this was very cool.  Despite finishing in Santiago once again, this route felt quite different to the Camino Francés, wilder and hillier, although certainly there was a lot of road walking, particularly in the first two weeks.  Sure, there was a bit of rain but I really don't mind, not least a warmish bed every night helps.  Well, almost every night, that one of sleeping rough wasn't great - clearly this is not a route on which you can just assume there will be an albergue.  And, whereas last year many of my days were too short, i think I may have erred the other way a bit this time, not least there were a bunch of places like Avilés which I could have spent more time in.  Well, maybe some other time, or indeed there are still many other ways to get to Santiago, and incorporating the Libaniego route seems an idea too.  Now I know to avoid French trains, what can go wrong?  No issues with Spanish police this time anyway.  For now though, I should probably go somewhere else.  I wonder where?

El Camino del Norte : Ribadeo to Sobrado dos Monxes

So far the Camino del Norte has largely hugged the coast, but of course Santiago itself is inland, so the route heads southwest from Ribadeo.  It's another short day, I take it easy through forest, on various gravel tracks and minor roads.  There are plenty of clouds today, but still no rain in Galicia.  I am sharing the way with many pilgrims now, and there are not many places to stop, it's not exactly wilderness but civilization is limited to small villages, I don't see so much as a cafe until after lunch.  Today's stop is Vilanova de Lourenzá, it is pretty small but has an impressive church and tower, and a rather classy albergue.  I eat so much food, a menu with spaghetti then grilled pork and chips, and bars give me chorizo, cheese, empanada...

Another day, and it is easy again, although the last such I fear, after today things get more strenuous.  It is still not raining, it seems Galicia has better weather, and it's also nice to see skinny Galician horreos, although around here they are crazily high, Asturian style.  Nice walking too, more forest tracks and minor roads, to Mondoñedo, which must have been an important place once, judging by the big cathedral.  Then a lovely walk contouring along the side of a valley, a climb up to 500m, and then down to Abadín where I check in to another nice albergue.  It occurs to me that I should book something in Santiago, and wow there are hardly any beds to be had, I end up near the airport,  well not a bad thing given that I need to go there anyway.  As for tonight, yes it is yet another pilgrim menu, this one has 

cauliflower cheese with ham, merluza a la plancha, and a bottle of wine, yay.

Time to stop taking it easy and do some serious walking, for a couple of days anyway, 40km each day in fact.  Well, the weather is good, and it's flat, time to power on.  I can see this has been a popular route for a long time, as I walk over ancient bridges and paving, then a nice path through woods.  I make it to Vilalba by midday, time for lunch then, a nice place this, and it feels like proper Galicia, just as with many towns last year the route runs along a medieval street with decaying houses.  Back into the country, there are green fields, with interesting boundaries formed of thin, flat, standing stones.  Tonight I am stopping at Baamonde, the last place I don't have a reservation, but I've heard heard the albergue is big, and yes it has 70 beds, plenty of room for me.  No menu tonight, oh no, I will have to eat pizza again...

The second long day then, I make an early start at least, on a misty morning that turns into a nice day.  I walk on forest tracks, out  into proper wilderness, moorland and rocky outcrops, very pleasant it is, the only problem being that I go a long way with no food, I am not carrying lunch, and the occasional tiny villages have nothing in the way of shops or cafes, even when there's an albergue.  I climb up to 700m, and finally find a bar at 3pm, for a late lunch of empanada de atún.  It's really not too far now to today's stop at Sobrado dos Monxes, where there is a monastery of course, but not much else.  I do get another menu, macaroni to start, I pick out the pasta and leave the lamb, honestly it was way too much anyway, then the main is a really nice bit of fish.

El Camino del Norte : Soto de Luiña to Ribadeo

I make a late start from Soto de Luiña, it is 9am before I am on the trail, and it's a long day, too.  There are two options, a coastal route or a longer inland alternative involving a large hill, I choose the latter of course.  Up I climb, to find a lovely ridge walk, although a section or two seem very seldom used, most pilgrims follow the coast no doubt.  Up to a 720m summit, worth it for a great view, though of course it is raining, then a long walk down, lots of mud, the path is more like a stream, I don't know about England, this could be Scotland - indeed there's gorse, peat, even thistles!  Back to the sea again, to Luarca, a lovely place nestled in a steep sided gorge, and I find a pilgrim menu!  Scorpion fish mousse, escalope, flan de queso, and some Germans give me most of their wine...

There is of course a steep climb out of Luarca, and this proves to be a pattern, up, a flat bit, then down to a river or estuary.  The never far away motorway crosses these on gargantuan viaducts, then often dives into a tunnel, whereas I have to climb.  I get lunch at a large town on one estuary, Navia, then carry on, there's some rain of course, but it's not too bad today, not that muddy.  And, an easy day, I get to A Caridá before 4pm, and check into a basic albergue, probably the cheapest of the trip at €8.  I decide against getting another pilgrim menu, given the option of artisan pizza with chorizo and local Cabrales blue cheese, this turns out to be a good choice as it is awesome.

Another easy day, 26km, I am so lazy.  OK, there's some more up and down, but then back to the sea, a lovely bit of walking along a cliff, then some boardwalk past a beach, with great views all the way.  However, another really big estuary is coming up, and this time the route heads back to that motorway, and then crosses alongside it on a narrow strip of paving, some 600m in length, and a long way above the water, this is the Ponte dos Santos apparently.  I can't honestly say I enjoy the experience much, still I suppose having crossed the Bridge of the Gods in America, I might as well do the bridge of the saints in Spain.  On the other side is Galicia, and the substantial town of Ribadeo, and not far to an albergue, named A Ponte of course.  Whisper it, it has not rained all day.  I am not feeling hungry after yesterday's huge pizza, so once again pinxos suffice.

I take a day off in Ribadeo, the last I will have time for before Santiago.  It's not that big a place, but there are some things to see, although the most impressive building in town, the Edificio dos Irmans Moreno, is being renovated.  Still, there are the usual chapels, a marina, and the near the scary bridge is the 'cargadero', a pier that back in the day allowed a small train to deliver iron ore to waiting cargo ships.  There's a fort too, though of course it is locked up.  Well, I have another albergue to get to, some movement west has to be good, though it seems I overdid it, the place is a km out of town in retail park, ah well.  It seems empty when I arrive, well it is not on the trail I guess.  Back into town then, for more excellent pizza, so much meat!