LEJOG Day 11 Brora to Thurso

 Day 11 dawned grey and a little damp, so it was a fairly downbeat group this morning. The forecast was fairly good though so it was a case of just getting wrapped up and getting on with it. 

We started off along the A9 which runs along the coast. It's a beautiful view but the road is quite busy and when you throw in some wind and drizzle it's not much fun. 

After about 10 miles we turned off the main road at Helmsdale and headed inland and up onto the higher ground. About this time it started to brighten and the rain stopped which cheered us up a lot. 

The road soon narrowed to a single track and steadily climbed away from the coast into some beautiful countryside. 

We climbed, on and off, for about three hours with a break for lunch at the top followed by a steady ride into the wind all the way up to the valley head and popped out on the north coast west of Thurso. The scenery was beautiful, at times you could look in all directions and not see anything other than nature. 

Once back on the Coast Road we finally got the wind on our back and flew into Thurso and into the hotel for a nice early finish. I've been for hair cut and Mark and I have seen the sights of Thurso, which took about 10 mins and now we are rehydrating in the gay bar in town!!

So all we have left is 30 miles in the morning to Dunnett Head, the most Northerly point in mainland UK and then onto John O'Groats and theadventure is over. 

Today's stats. 65   860m climbing. 

Onwards and upwards !