JOGLE 5 Day 3 Fri 11 May 12

Start 0900. Finish 1715. 20 miles. Watten to Dunbeath.  Today the weather is threatening to rain all day with very strong winds.  Well the weather carried out its threat but fortunately the wind was behind us and our Paramo gear with Nixwax technology kept us dry.  Keeping dry is an interesting point as it is all about ventilation and humidity control and juggling between keeping the rain out but allowing sufficient ventilation for perspiration to evaporate without making our base layers any wetter than they already are.  The roads where very straight and went for miles across moorland and forestry land. One of the highlights of the day (this is really sad) is that I landed up herding an escaped sheep up the road for several miles.  The stupid thing wouldn’t let me pass and kept running ahead.  Eventually a break in the fence enabled it to get back into afield with its mates – well we think the other sheep were its mates – who knows?  Probably there's an irate farmer in Scotland looking for Dolly! Even in the middle of this desolate wasteland and the appalling weather life goes on and we came across a massive Wind Farm construction taking place. The project was huge and was an interesting distraction from the straight road. It is  a shame that the work force see the ditches on the side of the road as a place to deposit their rubbish none  of which was bio-degradable.  The most popular drink in the ditches was Iron Bru, perhaps a tax should be levied on companies whose product is found littering the countryside. The second highlight of the day is the Campster Cairns.  A very interesting historical site that is well looked after, you can even crawl inside one of the cairns and admire the Stone Age plastic roof that keeps the rain out!  A nice spot for lunch if it wasn’t raining! Eventually the rain eases off and we arrive at the coastal road after a long, long, long straight walk, to the dreaded A9! I welcome this fact as this marks a mile stone (a very long one at that of what we have achieved so far).  Interestingly on the way we passed quite a few plots of land for sale and an idea of building a house on one sprang  to mind until you see the efforts of other would be landowners and realise that it is not quite all what it seems and the fact that you are miles from anywhere!!  (Hello - utilities?)There is a cottage being modernised on the corner of this road junction and some very handy railway sleepers to rest on and have our lunch. The lunch plan was going well until we were hit by a very sudden and nasty squall, it was so cold and wet that in seconds our body temperatures dropped very rapidly and we barely had time to get our Paramo back on and everything packed away before the sharp, spiky rain hit us.  My hands were so cold I could hardly use them.  We turned to the right (didn’t bother with a salute this time) and headed south along the coast road,  our companion (but not friend) for the next several days. Within several hundred yards we came across our second bus stop which turned out to be a godsend as we could get out of the rain, have a bit of a re-group and dry off whilst we waited for the squall to pass.  The rest of the walk was fairly uneventful other than dodging traffic moving at superfast speeds, a by-product of living in a place where distances are long and there is no traffic.  Inverpark B&B turned out to be the best of all the B&Bs Ian and I have stayed at.  Apart from everything in the room was pink the place was superb,  superhot fast showers in a massive wet room,  good washing and drying facilities, a marvellous breakfast and superb hosts, did I mention the free pen as well?  The evening meal was interesting. The restaurant located in a porta-cabin of sorts was very nice inside with good service.  I had a Donald Burger which is apparently named after the local butcher who makes them.  The burger was very nice too.  Now please remember this important little detail about Donald and his hand made burgers as it may have had a historical significance. In the morning we met our very first JOGLE walker. This chap had only just started and was carrying everything on his back including the kitchen sink and wondered why he was going so slow.  We soon educated him on how unnecessary it was to carry lots of kit and our hosts very kindly boxed up his equipment and posted it home for him. His rucksack was half the original weight by the time he set off for the day. Did he ever make it? We don’t know, we never saw him again.