Day 4 - 22nd September

A good day - a great run, I didn't get too wet, my packed clothes stayed dry, and I was able to watch Eagles beat Leigh 20-10 and get into the Grand Final at a pub in Fort Augustus.

Distance covered 173.2 miles in 5 hr 51 min, including a break for lunch in Lairg and two fuel stops. Total distance covered now 737.6 miles.

I got to Fort Augustus by going along the coast from Dunnet almost to Tongue and then followed the A836 down to Lairg. That bit is an old Thomas Telford single track road with passing places running along the edge of the Flow Country, the first bit runs along the shore of Loch Loyal for about 5 miles. There was no-one about, and a green-roofed boat house was the only building in sight, except for a glimpse of the main house through a clump of trees. The scenery is wild and watery, with wide open views through which you can swoop with your bike, encountering only a few other vehicles - though you do need to remember that the odd one can be an HGV. I passed a couple of 4x4 pickups with an empty trailer with ramps running down to the ground. The puzzle was revealed when I saw a full trailer - it held a small off-roader with eight big ballon tyres for trekking across the wet stuff, perhaps for luxury deer stalking.

Lairg is a small village but is the cross-roads for most of the Highlands. It sits beside Loch Shin, which looks very pretty when the sun shines.

Loch Shin from Lairg Pier

I'll try and add some pictures and a bit of video tomorrow.