Scott Westwood

Lands End to John O'Groats

25th - 31st August 2006

In aid of the Walsall Hospice Appeal

Day 6 – Into the Highlands

My spirits were lifted somewhat this morning as I knew the end was now in sight. This was until I mentioned to the B&B owner that my destination for today was Inverness. The look on her face was a picture and actually sowed a seed of doubt in my mind as to whether I would actually get there! I really thought, at one point, that she was going to offer to drive me there too. I followed the Kinross to Perth road, navigated around Perth until I reached the A9. The A9 was to become my home for the majority of the remainder of the journey. There were a few tough climbs and rolling hills between Perth and Inverness including a climb up Slochd summit. You know when you are at a high altitude when snow poles line the edge of the roads. This was quite a frequent sight on several section of the A9.  So it was on through Kingussie and Aviemore and after having a quick bite to eat at Dalwhinne, I finally reached Inverness at around 5pm. Thankfully, there was a pub very near to the B&B which I was staying in for the night so I didn’t have to walk too far in those flip flops. I’d made the decision to make an early start the following day as I wanted to get to John O’Groats in good time to have photos taken and take in a bit of the atmosphere before it all closed for the day. The lady in the B&B agreed to provide an early breakfast in order for me to make a start at 8am. She also offered me a reduced rate of £10 as a result of me completing the ride for charity.