OUT AND ABOUT WITH RALPH: Plenty to enjoy even on a north winter’s day
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At this time of dark, short days it is tempting not to venture far from home!
An advantage of living near John O Groats is that I can have a bike ride out there whenever I like without having to make an expedition of hundreds of miles.
So in a bit of a lull in our winter weather, I set off on a little trip to Duncansby. A few remaining showers on an easterly wind were still quite wetting, but the weather was improving as I pedalled out along the quiet back roads by Barrock and Canisbay. The houses at Upper Gills have an amazing view of the stormiest parts of the Pentland Firth from their front windows. Stroma always looks enticingly close but I know only too well that the tides, winds and waves are rarely as benign in the Inner Sound as they may appear from a distance!
As gleams of sun appeared I carried on, down and up to the Duncansby Lighthouse. Only one car was parked at what is now a very busy spot in summer. Seas around the Pentland Skerries looked especially wild, a big swell was coming in from the east, breaking onto the Duncansby Stacks and rolling up towards the back of the stony beach. The hundreds of grey seal pups which were there in early November had now mostly departed, but a few remained up near the cliffs. It may have been a hard year for them, with some bad easterly storms.
Groats was almost deserted but the cafe was open and I reckoned that in my old age I could indulge in a coffee and mince pie, before taking the road south over Warth Hill. Eastward glinted the rarely visited Loch of Lomashion and the Lint Lochs. Down at Freswick Bay a magnificent swell was rolling into Freswick beach, lit by a low sun, while the brown waters of the Freswick Burn, often just a trickle in summer, poured over the stones into the sea between heaps of brown kelp stalks.
Low sun dead ahead is a big hazard for cyclists, especially if the road is wet creating a blinding dazzle. Cars from behind can easily not see you. Once, on the Castletown-Wick road, I was clipped by a wing-mirror. Heading southward, much of the road was directly into the sun, but fortunately the road surface was dry and the sun just high enough that sun-visors should work. But I was glad to turn off at Auckengill and cycle down to the old harbour. A bench provided a rare opportunity to enjoy a picnic in December sunshine, watching breakers crash onto the harbour rocks and low cliffs.
From Keiss it was straight into the dazzling sun again for a couple of miles before turning off with relief onto the Lyth road. Now I could enjoy the low sunlight illuminating the fields and Loch Wester. As the sun set and the temperature dropped I pedalled homewards by Lyth, Hastigrow and Bower.
Another favourite short outing is simply to cross the hill on foot then walk down the Sibmister road and on out to Murkle Bay. The route from there to Thurso is slowly turning into a designated coastal path, but work is needed to make the burn crossing easier at Murkle and to improve stiles. There’s always a big flock of waders at Murkle Bay in winter, maybe ringed plovers or turnstones, flying low over the waves with the sunlight catching white on their wings. The burn was too high to cross dryshod and coos were clarting in the muddy field so I had to climb a barbed wire fence to reach the bridge.
From west Murkle round to Thurso has always been a fine, easy walk, especially good when, as on this occasion, a huge swell is crashing into the slabby rocks and low cliffs. In calm weather you can hear the roar and boom of the surf from home, several miles away. A few surfers were out at Thurso East but the waves, though big, were a bit messy for them. If the surfers can get out in all weathers there is no excuse for you to stay in and not even venture on a walk! But there is no need to be especially adventurous to enjoy the Highlands at this time of year.
