John O'Groats to Land's End - Day 018 - Drymen to Auchinstarry

Day: 018

Date: Saturday, 18 June 2022

Start:  Drymen

Finish:  Auchinstarry (then bus/train to Edinburgh)

Daily Kilometres:  38

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

Total Kilometres:  534

Weather:  Very changeable with some sun, some cloud, some rain and a brisk cold wind.

Accommodation:  Out-of-season university student accommodation.

Nutrition:

  Breakfast:  Breakfast sandwiches

  Lunch:  Tuna & sweetcorn sandwich/Cheese, mayonnaise & onion sandwich

  Dinner:  Scotch broth, Chicken & bacon pasta bake, Cheesecake

Aches:  Both have head cold symptoms and not feeling great (did I say that, currently, it is estimated that one in thirty Scots has COVID!).  Both have tired feet.

Highlight:  None really.

Lowlight:  None really.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

We left our hotel around 7:00am and picked up some food and drink for breakfast from the village store on our way out of town.  Unless breakfast is supplied as part of our accommodation deal, our preference is to walk for a couple of hours before taking a breakfast break.

The early walking was the most interesting for the day.  Initially, our route followed a very quiet country lane giving excellent views over the surrounding rural countryside, and then it joined a long footpath that seemed to follow a long-buried pipeline through more bucolic scenery.  Around 11:00am we stopped at the village store in Strathblane to buy supplies for the rest of the day and, shortly after, joined a very long rail trail.  Apart from the last few kilometres, which was dug up and closed (ignored by us), the trail was paved.  Although we made good time and the farmland, backed by grassy hills, was attractive, it became a bit of a trudge with both of us keen to get to the end.

From the rail trail, we joined the Clyde & Forth Canal towpath with more flat paved path walking on tired feet.  We were happy to reach Auchinstarry around 4:20pm, in time to catch a bus, then train (feeling very guilty every time we coughed) into Edinburgh where we are booked into university student accommodation for two nights, arriving around 6:00pm.  Originally, Julie (and maybe me) were going to run a race here, The Seven Hills of Edinburgh, tomorrow, but now that is not happening.  Julie didn’t enter in time and, as it turns out, doesn’t feel great anyway with her head cold.  She will still probably go for a run (try stopping her), but I’ll have a day of catch-up and rehab.  We stayed in Edinburgh four years ago and had a good look around then so I feel no pressure to sightsee.