Llamas in Scotland- who’d a thought?

July 3 - wick to Whaligoe steps. 11 months since my mother died. I had a good breakfast and set out with a lighter pack, leaving the rest of the weight at the hotel in wick where I will return tomorrow. The walk started out great, but then it got really hot- maybe 90, with no shade and little wind. All the burns were dry which was a bit of a blessing when I accidentally fell in a hole- it was wet, but nothing to what it would have been like. After walking through tall grass for most of the day, most of the mud was brushed off. There were several barbed wire fences to cross- luckily I bought another floor mat in wick. For two I had to take my pack off and then walk over- was glad for the lighter pack but still pulled a bicep getting it over the first one. Some of the barbed wire crossings were covered with plastic sleeves for which I was very grateful. The scenery was amazing. There were some wonderful smells of clover and buttercups and some not-wonderful smells from the

Its rookeries in the cliffs. I saw seals, horses, cows, cormorants and lots of seagulls. I even saw llamas. Some of the cows came when you called them coos. In the ocean you could see the oil platforms in the North Sea. There were lots of stacks, goes, and a few old harbors. It took me 8.5 hours to get to Whaligoe- the book said it should only take 6- I choose to think it took me a long time because I took so many pictures, but more realisticly it was because the trail was hard to follow and I fell a few times. When I got to Whaligoe I found out the tea shop was shut and I was again out of water. Davey- the man mentioned by my ride yesterday came to my aid offering me the use of a primo spot to pitch my tent, as well as all the water I needed. He and his wife also invited me to join them for dinner which I politely declined using the excuse that I would have to carry any food I didn’t eat tomorrow. He also came out and put up a sort of blind to give me privacy from people who may come later in the evening to see the Steps. Later Davey came out to feed his cows which he does by hand feeding them bread and biscuits:). By the way, according to Davey there used to be 365 steps(now there are fewer due to vandalism) which were put in 1792. I’ll let you look at Wikipedia if you want more of the history:) also according to Davey the boats on the horizon are installing 83 windmills and will be decommissioning the oil