Wild camping at its best

What a wonderful wild camping spot! Absolutely no wind, and the beautiful sound of water all night. I woke up at 6.30am and unzipped my tent - to find a sheet of ice slide down and break on the ground below! It was a lot colder than I had thought - my down sleeping bag is incredible. 

I was packed up and ready to start walking again by 7.30am. Although the sun was shining, the boggy ground was still icy. This was amazing as it meant that the bog was gone and  easily walkable and hard ground was there instead! I soon managed the absolutely beautiful walk to Ruigh Aiteachain bothy (the start of the intended day 3 walk) and had lunch outside. The weather was great the entire walk and I was so happy about that. 

However, my feet were starting to hurt. I realised that my blisters were getting more and more painful, and I still had another 20kms to go. There was nothing I could do though, so I just carried on. Things were made worse by passing through less remote forest (where normal people walk) - there were lots of side paths and I kept taking the wrong one and getting lost! I did eventually make it to the final stretch though, along a proper concrete road. This was where things got even more difficult, as the hard ground had a huge impact on my feet. I was determined to carry on though, and just decided to shuffle at my own pace. 

However, just over 5km from the end, a lovely retired couple caught up with me and asked me if I wanted a lift to the end of my walk. After a bit of hesitation, I said yes. They were lovely and we had a wonderful talk about walking as they drove me to Kingussie. We soon arrived and I stayed to grab some sugar (note: one packet of sweets is not enough for a long two day trip) and snacks before getting the train home! 

Such a wonderful walk and I am really glad that I did it. I definitely won't be pushing myself that much again for a while though!