Day 5 – what a difference a day makes….

8.68 miles, 200 ft of elevation, 37,401 steps

Well rested, dried out and would you believe it the sun is shining. We had a luxury night in a hotel next to Neptune’s staircase(a series of locks taking boats up on to the Caledonian canal from sea level). Quite picturesque when having a cup of tea in the sunshine. Completely forgetable when freezing cold and miserable.

We walked back up the Caledonian canal almost to what should have been our starting point to the day and on the way had a good look at Fort Tor. We weren’t expecting Bodiam but even our low expectations were above the farm yard we eventually worked out was on the original site.

Eventually we got back in to Fort William for Grace to have one last pie (5 for the trip), a quick sort out of kit and then escorted her on to the Sleeper train to Euston. An emotional goodbye from me and Schooner, left me to sort out his ticks, meet up with Jonathan (who arrived 5 minutes after Graces departure) and then on to the next adventure. 6 days in the West Highland way, camping everyday and with a man whose choice of clothing is jeans and a t-shirt. “John, you have more than one pair of pants and socks? No wonder your pack is heavy…..”. What could go wrong?

I have loved every minute of the last week and spending this amount of time with Gracey and seeing her push herself well beyond her comfort zone has been a real privilege. Thank you for joining me , it makes me so proud to be doing this ….xxx

Just an aside, and if there is at all a silver lining to the weather up here (£2.88 a pint – even with my poor maths that’s three for the price of two). At least that will keep you going on those cold wet days.