Day 15: Bunbeg to a bit further down the road (2.8 miles)

As you can tell from the title, I didn't get very far today. The wind and rain started to get up and party as I went to bed last night.  I knew that it was likely to rain today, but the ferocity of the wind took me by surprise. When the alarm went off this morning and the wind was still howling outside I started getting a bit of deja vu. (Does anyone remember the walk from Malin Head to Carndonagh?) The last time I did a walk in such severe conditions I had no choice but to continue because I was on my own. I was also on extremely remote road with very little traffic. This time, however, I was walking on far busier roads and I had support.

I had hoped to get started early but the conditions were making me nervous so I waited the morning to see if the winds would drop. By 11.30am I decided that I had to at least give it a go. Bunbeg, my starting point, was about an hour's drive from the house so I hoped that the weather wasn't as bad over that way. The likelihood was that walking fifteen miles in bad weather would take about 6 hours. I really wanted to be finished by six so we just had to leave and suck it and see.  The drive across Glenveagh National Park, which is a particularly barren and wild place, just increased my nervousness. But it really didn't seem bad when I got out of the car in Bunbeg. Yes, the rain was beating down but the wind didn't seem that bad. I waved goodbye to Tim and set off. Luckily there was a footpath on one side of the road so I felt fairly secure even though it did start to get a lot more blowy when I left the shelter of the buildings of the town. It was when there was a break in the trees on my right hand side and I was suddenly exposed to the raw, naked power of the wind, that I realised I'd been fooling myself - the wind hadn't dropped at all - I had just been walking on a particularly sheltered stretch. I kept my head down and forged on. I was wearing a waterproof coat under the orange tent but after a while I started to feel like I was getting wet. I thought I must be imagining it. The orange poncho is certainly not waterproof but even if it was letting in the rain, I had a completely waterproof layer beneath it so I must be dry. I was cold though. I wasn't imagining that.

As I got to the junction with the N56 I was increasingly anxious. I knew that as soon as I turned the corner I would be getting the wind full force in the face and as it was an N road I would no longer have a path to walk on. I would be on the road with the traffic. I turned the corner and the gales hit me. What I didn't realise was that I was still being sheltered somewhat by a large property. As soon as I walked past it the ful force of the wind pushed me straight onto the road. I righted myself very quickly but as the cars sped by me I had a moment of realisation - not only could I be killed or injured if I continued, potentially I was a huge hazard for the cars on the road and could easily cause a crash. I decided immediately to stop right there. I sent a text to Tim and waited to be picked up. I recorded this a few moments after deciding to throw in the towel for the day.

Attractive isn't it? I think that I'll come back in the summer and fill in this missing day. Hopefully in better conditions.

When Tim arrived I took off the waterproofs on the side of the road.  I was indeed, a little damp in places. My feet were soaking.I got into the car. My husband was looking at me in a very odd way.

ME: What? What is it?
HIM (smirking): It's your hair. You look like Boris Johnson.

I wasn't sure how to respond if I'm honest!

So here we were Tim and his Boris look-alike wife at lunch time with nothing planned.

ME (flattening my hair): Would you mind if we actually drove along the route I've got to take over the next few days so I can see what I'm in for?

HIM: Sure.

So we turned the car around and headed off on the road that my feet had just abandoned. The rain, unbelievably got even heavier and the conditions worsened the further we went. I was so glad I'd stopped when I did!

However it was further along the road that I realised that this opportunity to drive the route was hugely fortuitous. The end of my next walk is Lettermacaward and as we approached the town we found that there were very serious roadworks going on. All the roads in and out were dug up with massive diggers the whole way through. Only single lines of traffic controlled by temporary lights could move through. There simply isn't anywhere to walk. Now that I know about this I can try to plan an alternative route. If I'd gone in blind tomorrow I would have ended up completely stuck. I can't help but feel that I have someone looking out for me.

I won't give too much away about the rest of the trip but it looks like it's going to be an interesting week! I hope the weather stays fair. I've had enough of the very wild stuff,

Total mileage: 203.7 miles