August 29 - There was a lull in the rain when we woke up at 6:30 so we took advantage of it by packing up and started hiking a bit after 7:00. The rain started up again right away but at least the tent and gear was all relatively dry.

The forecast has more rain all day and tapering off this evening to make way for three nice days. So, the plan is to hike just 8.5 miles to the Glencoe Mountain ski resort where Kelly was able to find a 'pod' for the night. Then, we'll have three days of longer hikes with nice weather and camping.

Today's walk was probably 50/50 rain for the 3.5 hours we were on trail. The terrain was open and rolling with hills around. The trail was very easy walking with just the usual flooded spots to navigate. We're following an 'old military road' built in the 1700s by the British government so forces could be deployed more rapidly if there was a Jacobite uprising.

Even though the views were still quite limited, this was what I was expecting when looking forward to a highlands hike. We could see it over the valley at times and we passed through miles of peat bog and heather.

The Scottish government has some big peatland restoration projects under way to restore some of the drained or over grazed peat areas. This is important because the peat is a huge carbon storage, natural environment, and sponge to help with flood reduction. We hiked through an area where a couple backhoes were working the ground in one of these projects.

Just as we approached our goal for the day, the sun peeked out and gave us a wonderful rainbow which was my highlight. Since we arrived at our destination before noon, we had a very lazy afternoon sitting in the ski area cafe waiting for our check-in time. It was nice, but I didn't care for the haggis and venison burger we ordered - no more haggis for me.

This evening, after nice hot showers and one of our trail meals for dinner, we found a couple trail friends from a few days ago. They are from Wisconsin. We chatted with them, an Englishman, and an Irish so it was a great evening.

Check out my current location on the map.