Durness, Western Highlands

Rain and wind early morning, then sun. Another beautiful day in Bettyhill, saying goodbye. Down and up, views and wind from south, I'm going west, some steep climbs and fast descents, nice Saturday for riding, and there are bunches of riders doing a 60mile challenge ride on the road. Meet Simon, retired manager of tea and coffee plantations in East Africa, visiting his brother who just bought house near Bettyhill, out for a loop ride. We chat while riding, then stop for tea and cake in Tongue. He heads back, I cross loch on causeway and climb back up, on plateau pass by stacked peat blocks.

Then down and south around a deep bay, midges suddenly start attacking. Keep moving, pass Rupert, also biking toward Durness, too buggy to chat. Stop at cafe for tea and scone late lunch, Rupert comes in for a big meal, camping, touring, planning on wintering up here, writer, direct marketing his book about living in Tibet. We chat about divorces, his and mine, Buddhism, traveling by bike. Drizzle then shower so no hurry to get back to midges. Rain stops, ride last 8 miles to Durness. I go to hostel and register, then ride into village to store, checking food options, limited. Rupert already shopped, see him heading to campground. Back to hostel, clean up, eat snack then walk to Smoo cave, before going to hotel bar for dinner. Extremely noisy Saturday night crowd.

Partial rainbow on way to Durness.

Smoo Cave interior