Tain to Brora (Sutherland (no more!))

Weather today: Rain, 70mph winds

Daily Miles Covered: 23

Total Miles Covered: 1000.1

Things of Interest: Nothing

Personal Comments: If anybody asks me which day did you like best I was going to say all of them, now, today I can't. Today was horrendous, incessant rain all day, but worst of all was the wind. Before I set off I knew it would be bad, but nothing could have prepared me for crossing The Dornoch Firth. Leaving Tain by the A9, I was buffeted by high winds trying to send me across the carriageway into the traffic. I walked as far to the right as I could, but it was hard keeping a straight line. 2 miles down the road it became more exposed, and the wind increased in force. As I started to cross the firth the wind became almost double the strength it was before.
On the bridge the mesh which provided protection to stop people dropping into the sea below, was causing the wind to howl and scream like a banshee, I had to hold on to my hat with one hand, with the other I held on to the rail. At one point it was difficult to breathe, the wind was so strong in my face. Half way across I met a young girl who was carrying her bicycle, it was impossible to ride, I think she was carrying it for ballast. We had an animated conversation for a minute I wished her well. Once across, the wind died down to gale force proportions, and I carried on up the A9. I had lunch at Golspie, where everybody was indoors for obvious reasons.
2 miles beyond Golspie I found a path leading to a beach, and luckily it took me to Brora and to complete the day I had just covered my 1000th mile, yippee.