Day 97: Mid Clyth to Wick

It was a cooler day today, and the path was a lot easier to walk on. That meant I had a great pace today, walking over cliffs for the third day running. 

• Date: 25 June 2024
• Start: Mid Clyde
• End: Wick
• Miles: 13.2
• Total miles: 1,257.7
• Accommodation: Wick Riverside Campsite

I woke to the sound of cows mooing this morning, as it turned out we were the only ones camped on the whole site. Well apart from the cows next door obviously. We headed off early again thinking that it would take a while to complete the walk, as it has the last couple of days. 

The walk started along the A99 again for a couple of miles to a point where I could rejoin the John O’Groats Trail. 

I joined at a point where the trail was still unmarked. It was fun trying to navigate through a couple of fields until I reached the Whaligoe Steps. I didn’t bother walking down the steps, because I couldn’t be bothered climbing back up them. 

The trail continued along the cliff tops, following these little statues. There was incredible scenery out to the sea, with stacks and arches everywhere. 

The path ended at the old castle of Wick, and there isn’t really much left of it. The path then turned into a road as it passed an old swimming pool in the sea and into Wick itself. 

As I headed to the campsite, I was blocked by a stream of lorries carrying sections of wind turbines, but I eventually arrived at camp very early in fact. The walk didn’t take as long as I thought and we were done by 2pm. 

I was already aware that the campsite was building new facilities so their laundry area wasn’t open yet, but we asked anyway. It turns out they were testing the laundry machines today so we offered to test them with our clothes. That’s one way to get free laundry!

Wick is a bit of a ghost town, but we did find somewhere nice to eat. Then we headed back to camp. 

Tomorrow is the penultimate day. I plan to spend my final night camping on the trail near Keiss, at the back of a bed and breakfast. It should be an interesting place to spend the last night.