days11-12 - pain and more pain

I did not miss one day of Janathon, even on the cold, dark snowy days but today I have to sadly admit that I did not do my daily Juneathon activity (am very ashamed and disappointed in myself). I have a pretty good excuse though...thanks to a very tough climb of a mountain in Skye I can barely walk today, let alone anything more strenuous! I am also sporting 2 gashes and some serious bruising to my left leg due to a major tumble coming down said mountain. I am, however, very lucky it was not my skull that came in contact with the rocks that damaged my leg.  Despite the pain though it was a great day. The Isle of Skye is an amazing beautiful place and we were blessed with some wonderful weather and equally wonderful views around Skye. The assent started out with some arduous trudging through very wet marshy terrain. This eventually changed to very difficult scree and a steep incline up the very rocky path (though calling it a path would be stretching it a whole lot and I'm glad I was with some more experienced walkers).

I am happy to say I was 2nd to the top, though, I think I would have been first if I didn't have to faff around with my walking poles so much.

Once at the top we waited for the rest of the party to catch up and ate our sandwiches and admired the impressive views.

The descent was hard and I think I fell on my arse about 5 times. More scree and sharp rocks (including the ones responsible for my hurt leg) followed for what seemed like a long time. However, what followed wasn't much better.  Billy Connolly does a skit on the songs you get about our ancestors "marching through the heather" and makes the comment: "have you ever tried to march through heather?!" You don't - you stumble through it, making slow progress and wishing you had stayed at home instead off climbing a big hill. We returned to the waiting minibus cold, wet and in desperate need of a cold beer. It was worth it though.

We all had a big BBQ and drank lots of beers and subsequently got eaten alive by the renowned west coast midges.
I forgot my camera (doh!) so sadly I have no photos to share. I will be relying on my fellow walkers to share them with me later.

Normal Juneathon duties will resume tomorrow.

Stats (approximate as it was a rather meandering route and I didn't have my garmin):

Distance: around 10miles (all uphill/downhill)
time: 6 hours (including a lunch break and the summit.
calories: a lot, later made up in beer
big, painful gashes in leg: 2