As soon as we woke this morning we were on the move. Daniel had spied
a good breakfast spot across the Melvich Beach bay. After a quick
paddle in the sea Marea declared it a bit cold then 30 mins later she
was up to her waist in the mountain river having a 'bath' and washing
her hair! We then spent a large part of the morning sunbathing on by
the Halladale river mouth on a fabulous golden sand beach.
Then a leisurely drive along Scotland's North Coast with the scenery
just kept getting better and better. We stopped for lunch on the
causeway across the Kyle of Tongue. We had a clear view of Ben Hope
which we were on our way to climb, but first we had to stop for some
gas, £1.45 per litre!?!??? We only put in £20 worth.
It was supposed to be a 4 hour round trip on Ben Hope so I (Marea) was
very impressed when I could see the top after only an hour! But that
wasn't the top, nor was it over the next ridge, nor the next one. In
fact it was hidden behind a cloud and unfortunately stayed that way!
We finally reached the summit at 927m after 1hour 40mins. We put all
our winter woolies on and then sat down in half a small stone shelter
to munch on snickers bars and will the clouds to blow away. After 20
mins they hadn't and back down we came.
My nice clean clothes I'd put on this morning were a bit hot and
sweaty by now; I should have just kept on my old dirty ones! Near the
base of Ben Hope is a beautiful stream which forms multiple waterfalls
and fantastic rockpools as it drops steeply down to the valley below.
In the late afternoon sun these refreshing swimming holes were
irresistible and even Daniel was persuaded to strip off for a quick
swim. Which is good cause he was starting smell (joke!). We then
filled Pat's water tank up from that same stream, drove 2 miles back
along the road and we've parked up for the night next to Loch Hope.
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