Sep 9: Over the hills and far away
SuperTrip2_2026 Blog Post
2026_2 BLOG
9/12/20262 min read
Inevitably, I snuck out around 9:30 last night in search of critters. I came upon a badger, with its distinctive black and white snout and silver fur, who froze and stared at me in pretty much exactly the same way as I froze and stared at him. After a moment, we both got comfortable and it went back to greedily slurping down the raw egg our landlady had left in a bowl on a box for it to forage. It was the sort of thing I find very exciting! I even got Carey out of bed to see it. He went inside in short order, but I stayed and watched the badger for a good while, till something spooked it and it fled back into the trees, moving fast for such a heavy-set animal.
We had a long dry day today, climbing up for impressive views of Loch Ness, all sparkly with the wind across its surface and the low sun fighting the cloud. Then we climbed some more and broke through the rusty, rustling conifer forest band on the steeply sloping hillside to walk flat miles across a high, heather moor, mulberry and purple with badger-grey brush. Finally, we headed down through lush farmland, demarcated with low stone-walls and high deer-fences, into Dromnadrochit, a good-sized town where we spent the night. We swiftly found the local pub and recovered in the bar over a pint of Black Isles blonde, before trudging off in search of our B&B, which was in the newer part of town.
It was a lovely evening to be out and about - fine and sunny, even warm. We saw butterflies for the first (only) time today - a red admiral warming itself on the path, a peacock feeding on rosebay willow herb among the sheep on the sunny descent into town.
The ground remained waterlogged underfoot, even though the day was fair. The sun brought forth an amazing display of toadstools, in an array of colours and shapes: acid yellow, glistening pearly white, the red of gnome-homes in fairytales.
In fact, the day was quite idyllic, until we got to around 5km from the end of the trail. Here, the trail was not only wiped out, but churned up into mounds and depths of stinky black mud by construction and forestry work. Going “round” was not an option. The ground was boggy and the disruption extensive. We got across after a few false attempts, but Carey had to literally pull me out at one point as I was sucked down over my ankles by the goo. Fortunately, he was on more solid ground and able to successfully assist. I wouldn’t have made it out easily alone!
Those of you who have noted that my new walking boots are pale pink, don’t worry. 1) it was a financial, not a fashion choice. I presume the impractical colour was the reason they were in the sale; 2) even after drying off overnight, they aren’t pale pink anymore!
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Inspired by our 2024 Camino Francais, Karen has a periodic podcast called "I sent you a bloody boat", personal thoughts on faith by a person who believes in thinking. Also, known as "The Reluctant Christian". You can listen to it on Spotify and on Apple Podcasts at: