A glorious profusion
Anne Satow from Devon was struck by the natural abundance she experienced on her crossing
I’m falling asleep in my room at the Park Hotel in Montrose, on Scotland’s east coast, tired but exhilarated after this long-awaited Challenge. Head and legs say “Hooray, you don’t have to walk tomorrow, it’s done, never lift that heavy pack again”. My heart says: “Not walking tomorrow? Think what you’ll be missing…”
A slideshow of the last two weeks randomly plays in my head as I drift between wakefulness and sleep. Huge open skies. Stony track under my boots, stepping on stones through burns, forest paths, dried-out peat hags, squelchy off-piste bits. Glorious flowers in profusion, a June bonus – glowing banks of acid-yellow broom, white frothy Queen Anne’s lace, tall grasses, masses of fragrant pink wild roses. Flower colours mingling by the path – blue, white, pink, yellow. In the damp places, starry butterwort, sticky red sundew, bright soft mosses. Lichens transforming trees and marker posts into shaggy sculptures. Birds – a few late, forlorn cuckoos; strident oystercatchers and peewits, and floating curlew calls; a blackcap singing late into the not-quite-dark night. The eagle overhead one evening. Many small birds I can’t identify, flitting around in the woods.
Blue hills in the distance, maybe black clouds – will it rain?
Blue sky and white clouds. The stillness of a loch holding its reflections. Gordon’s boat across Loch Ness. Wildlife vignettes – a beetle camouflaged on the path, a wee mole scrabbling around for a way back underground, a lizard frozen hoping I don’t see it, a deer nearby scrutinising us. Criss-crossing routes of other Challengers. Beer and cheer and fab food from the Sutherlands around the fire at Ault-na-Goire. The farmer, his daughter and her dog, rounding sheep onto summer pasture. The utter silence and everlasting daylight of a tent night.
An endless track, winding down an endless glen. Running short of water; sore feet; midges; navigational conundrums; aching ascents; a zippy nip from the hipflask. Happy evenings indoors with proper food, a welcome dram, a bed.
The slideshow fades, and I stretch in this comfortable bed.
Yes, I don’t have to walk tomorrow; but my heart sighs.
This was Anne’s fourth TGO Challenge.