It rained most of the night so we didn’t feel like getting up when we heard all the other campers around us start packing up. It was finally decided that I would have the privilege of cooking my lovely lady breakfast while she packed up the contents of the tent. I got dressed and stepped outside to light the stove. After about a minute I heard the faint music. I swear it was Barry White “Can’t Get Enough of Your Love” but there wasn’t anyone around. It was about then that I felt crawling on my face. I swatted the air and looked down—how in the hell did I get covered with pepper?
The midges had finally found us after a week on the trail. I yelled to Pam to toss me out the bug spray and my head net. She told me she would when she was done. I said I need them now! She got all pissy with me but finally got me the spray and head net then looked out the tent. She saw the pepper on me and said we should go to the hotel for breakfast instead of trying to cook. I immediately agreed.
By the time we got to the hotel, they had already finished breakfast and set the tables for lunch. After a little pleading and my best pathetic looks, I finally got Pam to shed a tear and they sat us for a limited breakfast of toast, porridge, and coffee which was slightly more than we had planned on our own—no toast. After breakfast, we headed back to our tent to pack up.
By the time we got back, we were the only tent still standing. In fact, we were the only people in sight. We stood outside of the tent to unzip it and that was enough time for “Can’t Get Enough of Your Love” to start back up. By the time we got inside, we were both covered. I’ve got to admit that I was silently elated that Pam was miserable thanks to the midges—maybe next time she will actually do what I ask when I ask when I’m asking for bug spray, etc. We packed everything up inside of the tent and braced ourselves to head back out. By the time we got our packs outside and were starting to unstake the tent I could already hear “Hey Baby…”. We got the tent down in record time and hit the trail once again at 10:30.
Fortunately, it doesn’t take much speed to outrun the midges, even as slow as 1 mph will leave them behind. 50’ down the road and it was already pleasant hiking. Today, we were going to be hiking along an old English military road through Rannoch Moor, the largest area of undeveloped land in all of Great Britain. Trees are sparse along this section so bathroom breaks become a little trickier without cover. Pam was the first to have bladder overload. I had lookout duty. Before her pants were down to her ankles Barry White was already warming up. Any, I mean any, exposed flesh is a midge feast. Pam was quicker than I usually am.
It was a cool enough day and overcast, but absolutely no breeze. We tried stopping to eat a quick lunch but the midges… We just booked on through the moor. We didn’t even stop to visit the cairn built to honor Peter Fleming (Ian Fleming’s brother—Bond, James Bond creator) who was killed on a hunting trip in this area in 1971.
We hiked the 10 miles to Kingshouse almost nonstop. We got in and set up camp by 4p. Even with head nets and bug spray, the midges were unbearable. I can see why this area is still undeveloped. Supposedly, on clear days, the views are incredible and make up for the midges. Also, we were told the midges are only bad for a few weeks a year and we hit high time—lucky us. We had contemplated going into Glencoe to do a few day hikes and possibly a little shopping, but opted to just head inside of Kingshouse Hotel instead.
Kingshouse Hotel is an ooold rest stop for travelers and has loads of charm and a very well stocked bar. After the bartender asked us if we were Canadians to which we replied Americans, he responded with “I thought so, but Canadians get quite upset if you call them Americans after Bush…” We started in on our first bottle of Sauvignon Blanc and ran into Peter, Marcia, and Daniel. We talked a bit before they headed up to their rooms to get cleaned up (maybe we can score a shower!). Dan’s wife is Scottish and was meeting them for dinner tonight. We also ran into our Sierra Club friends and met a woman from LA now living in Glencoe and her husband. We just had a great time socializing with everyone all evening. It was past 10 by the time we headed back to our tent.
Staggering back to the tent, we saw several pairs of eyes reflected in our flashlight beams. When setting up camp, we had seen a couple deer and they were still hanging around. After our Daisy encounter the previous night, we weren’t as impressed.
