About 90 percent of today’s hill climbs were in the first 20 miles of the ride. Leaving Dingwall we rode up where the route gave us a spectacular elevated view over Cromarty Firth which is frequented on their migration routes by minke whales, humpback whales and basking sharks although we weren’t lucky enough to see any today .
A local lady who we spoke to said after leaving Dingwall today, our ride would be barren and remote, but in a good way. She was right! It was so remote we didn’t even see any sheep! The only interruptions from the quiet, were the occasional cars.
Quite unexpectedly we came across this…..
We took a detour at the end of the Dornoch Firth to avoid flights of steps up and down to access a viaduct. Didn’t fancy taking heavily ladened Daisy over this obstacle!
One of the joys of this adventure is not always knowing what is round the next corner. Today, nearing the end of our ride we saw signs for “The Falls of Shin” We hadn’t realised that this is a waterfall where salmon can be seen leaping upstream to spawn. (Apparently one of the best places in Scotland to see this)
Our B&B for the next 2 nights in Lairg, has a lovely view of the River Shin, only 50 mts away.
As we write this just after 10pm the sun has not yet set and we realise we have a full 1 hour extra light before sunset than our home in Petersfield.
Total distance today 38 miles
Total Hill Climbs 2,028 ft