Torridon onwards

It's been a good weekend as my pilgrimage southwards continues.  I've recorded almost 300km of walking since I left Cape Wrath, a significant milestone in its own right but there's still a long way to go!  Alongside the sense of personal accomplishment, physically I feel well and the change of rhythm away from my usual day-to-day responsibilities is well set.

Over the next few days I'll be heading through Kyle of Lochalsh, briefly onto the Isle of Skye, via ferry to Mallaig to catch a train back home for a week or so.  It will be nice to see everyone at home, not least Sandy, and I'm hoping that this different rhythm will continue in some form during the break.

After the wet and windy few days, it was nice to have a quieter day weather-wise yesterday (Saturday) which was a rest day for me, mostly spent relaxing in the youth hostel, a bit of reading, shopping for a few days and looking through my route for the walking to Skye.

(View of Upper Loch Torridon, from near the hostel) 

The hostel was full with a combination of walkers, road cyclists and mountain bikers. Plenty of conversations!  One challenge I had when planning my route was that Hector's narrative focused on the encounters and conversations with others, less on the detail of the route.  I'm beginning to understand why. Amongst those staying in the hostel was a group of friends from Weymouth Baptist Church: Fiona, John, Keith and Ruth, three of whom are cycling the North Coast 500 (John acting as support driver in a van).  We enjoyed a couple of meals together and time in fellowship, but that sense of fellowship was equally shared with fellow walkers and others staying in the hostel (some of the mountain bikers had ridden much of the route I took today through Ben-damph Forest).

(an hour into today's walk, looking back towards Torridon Village)

Mostly away from the roads, I continued southwards today, heading up through forest and then a mountain pass in the direction of Kishorn, a small village on the north shore of the loch of the same name.  I'd discovered that one of the leaders from 62nd Bristol Scout Group (affiliated with one of the churches I serve) was in the area so we arranged to meet.  All going well until the last stretch of my walk to meet up, when it became clear that the map was at best 'indistinct' so I spent about an hour walking the last mile or so, exploring various boggy areas!  Nonetheless good to see Tim, ask him to take a parcel of maps back to Bristol and catch up with him before heading our separate ways - he to an overnight stop in Cumbria, me to a small independent hostel a couple of miles further on.

(note the hat ... the sun made a significant appearance today ... my waterproofs have been in the backpack throughout)

A closing reflection - in addition to laying down day-to-day responsibilities during my sabbatical, one of my colleagues talked about the background hum having chance to fade.  I'm beginning to sense that too, and allowing a sense of God's nourishing calm to be received.