Day 15: Strath Duilleach – Falls of Glomach – Morvich – Shiel Bridge

11.7 miles – pale grey skies, light, desultory rain

The path leading to the Falls of Glomach is slow because if you were to put one foot wrong you would plummet. So instead I took it steady and came through unscathed. The falls themselves are a disappointment because despite being (at a guess) 500 feet tall, there’s nowhere to stand where you can see them all or get a good photo.

The process of resetting my expectations was slow; the last three days had been permeated with frustration and aching thigh, hips, waste, chest, arm, and shoulders. This may sound odd, but only now did I realise that this was more than a psychological issue (I always start out by assuming physical problems are) but the result of a rucksack which was just far, FAR too heavy.

Walkers I had passed had spoken with enthusiasm of Kintail Crafts near Shiel Bridge. The name is misleading: it sells groceries too (one of only three shops on the entire 200 miles of the cape Wrath trail which does). The lady who runs it could not hav e been more helpful. I unloaded about 2.5 Kg of excess weight from my rucksack, I put it in an envelope, she gave me parcel tape, weighed the package, checked the cost of posting it on her kitchen scales, sold me stamps, and promised to give it to the postman the next day, which she did. Her kindness made all the difference: I have been able to cope with my rucksack ever since.