27 May 2013: 36km. Started 07:45. Arrived 17:45.
It was windy overnight. I woke to a dull but dry day. However I was very fortunate as I had only just got my tent down and packed before it started pouring with rain. I was pleased that I had decided to get up early. The rain and wind continued all morning but the rain stopped around midday.
I thought that it was a Bank Holiday and many people would be sleeping until late. However everybody seemed to be up and about – specifically driving on the A9. I realised later that it was an English but not a Scottish Bank Holiday. The road was a bit more narrow than the previous day so I was jumping on and off the verge all the time with traffic coming past.
There were sharp bends at Latheron, but also a pavement. I stopped in a bus shelter for a break – fortunately the bus didn’t arrive while I was there. I made good going to Lybster and was pleased to get there just after 10:30am. Unfortunately I was tempted by a sign to a café – it turned out to be at a hotel which was at the furthest point in Lybster from the main road. Moreover it was closed until 15:00! I partially retrieved the situation by finding a newsagent where I was able to buy a bacon and cheese pastry and instant coffee to take away. I sat on a cold wet bench eating and drinking.
My diversion at least meant that I saw a Pictish stone with cross on it outside the church.
Getting nearer! 
Pictish stone cross at Lybster
Next I made my second “mistake” of the day and realised that I could follow a path via a golf course back to the A99 and come out near the turning up the minor road which would take me to Watten. Sadly the path on the map was blocked by barbed wire fences on the ground. However I used a water trough as a step and reached the other side.
I arrived back on the main road at noon – the diversion had taken me 90 minutes and I had just ended up a couple of kilometres down the road.
The minor road was very long and very straight. However at least there wasn’t much traffic. Initially I passed crofts. Each time a car came past, it took a very long time to disappear over the horizon and it was demoralising to think how far ahead I could see and how long it would take me to walk to where I could already see. The landscape changed to forests and then moors.
At about 14:30 I was pleased to arrive at the Cairns of Camster. These are very significant Neolithic chambered burial cairns dating back 5,000 years. I crawled into one of them. They are just big piles of stone from the outside with no overlying turf. I learnt that, from the cairns, there are no views either of mountains or of sea.
After my unexpected break to explore the cairns, I was back on the long straight road (I exaggerate as I see on the map that it does bend a little bit) – past an enormous wind farm and then past crofts.
The wind remained strong and cold so despite it not raining I kept my waterproofs on as wind protection. Eventually I arrived at the end of the road and was delighted to reach the comfortable B+B complete with a bath.
I had enough energy to stagger down to the Brown Trout. The lager was very good value, as was the food. I was very hungry and had a pudding as well as my main course before strolling back to the B+B.
Where's Kathryn? 