John O'Groats to Land's End - Day 003 - Lybster to Helmsdale

Day: 003

Date: Friday, 03 June 2022

Start:  Lybster

Finish:  Helmsdale

Daily Kilometres:  38

GPX Track:  Click here for Julie’s Strava & Photos

Total Kilometres:  112

Weather:  Cool to mild, sunny all day and barely a breeze

Accommodation:  AirBnB

Nutrition:

  Breakfast:  Cup cakes

  Lunch:  Egg mayonnaise roll/Cheese roll

  Dinner:  Bangers & mash/Spaghetti Bolognaise, Magnum ice creams.

Aches:  Dave - exhausted and everything hurts.  Julie - cruisin’ (though she did complain that the town grocery was 400m away from where we are staying).

Highlight:  For me, it was reaching Helmsdale.  I’m seriously underprepared for the distances we have been hiking and by noon today my legs and feet had had enough.  Despite the beautiful scenery and weather, the afternoon was a death march for me.  It was so nice to finally stop at our accommodation and, while I felt sorry for myself and struggled through a shower, Julie bought and microwaved dinner and did a load of washing.  I am a lucky boy!

Lowlight:  Road-walking on a reasonably busy road isn’t much fun.  The road verges were narrow and we had to be constantly aware of oncoming traffic.  And, as usual, there are the drivers who refuse to move over and give you a few metres space, even though there is no oncoming traffic for them.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

We got away from our accommodation around 8:30am after Julie had paid a visit to the town store, which opened at 8:00am, to find what she could for snacks for the day.  We were soon walking along the main highway to John O’Groats on a truly magnificent day, though there was a hint of haze.

For much of the day we could see the glass-smooth North Sea down to our left, almost blending into the sky, as we passed through rolling bucolic countryside with sheep and cattle lazily grazing and, in the distance, higher mountains cloaked in yellow-flowered gorse and brown heath.  It was perfect, even if we were walking along a road.  We were passed by a few groups of southbound cyclists, some almost certainly bound for Lands End.  It’s a popular bike trip.

Down at the distant cliff edge, we could occasionally make out the route of the John O’Groats Trail (JGT).  It looked challenging and I, for one, was glad we had chosen the road walk today to save time.  Near Dunbeath, the JGT climbed on to the mountain where we were and we followed it for a few kilometres through a picturesque village and then the grounds of a large estate.

After lunch, I really began to struggle and just plodded along with Julie a few paces behind keeping an eye on me.  After Berriedale, the road climbed into the hills, passing some vast clear-felled forest areas and then conifer forests, which was a nice scenery change.

Eventually, we began the long gradual descent into Helmsdale and our accommodation, which we reached at 6:00pm, substantially earlier than the previous two nights.  Back on the JGT tomorrow, though my body is already dreading it.