Day 3 - Alltbeithe to Cougie

After a night of on and off rain storms we had to pack up wet this morning. We slept in a bit due to our long day yesterday and didn't get walking until about 9:30.

Today's walk was mostly all on track as they call it here, or trail as we call it back home. For the most part it was nice out, but we switched in and out of rain coats and rain kilts about a dozen times. We met another challenger today, Patrick from Wales, who we played leapfrog with. For a man in his 70's he is unbelievably fit. This will be his 12th crossing. We are very glad we met him as he ended up saving us a pretty significant bushwhack that would have cost us a couple of hours. We all ended up at the same place, a Highland horse trekking outfit that also puts up hikers on their way through. We thought we would be in a tent here but they have a small bunkhouse that fits up to seven people. Tonight there are just the three of us. We got here around four and sat around with a very toasty wood stove, just relaxing. What a treat to be warm and have a chair to sit in! I took advantage to dry out some of our gear from this morning.

We cleaned up and headed over to the house for dinner at 6:30. Sasha made a delicious supper, and her and Ian kept us very entertained. We learned about the sport of Shinty (Sasha is a goalie), and the art of turning steel barrels into rockets (one of Ian's many talents). After lots of laughs we came back up to our shack for an early bedtime (it's about 8:50). It was really cool talking to Ian and Sasha. Their place here is amazing. They live without electricity, or cell service and they and their boys are very happy - the boys were out fixing a bike and playing the whole time. We had an amazing evening tonight. Instead of cold and wet we are warm, dry, full, and entertained.
Tomorrow should be about 24 km with about 3 km off-trail. Our bodies are holding up OK (a few blisters today, and generally sore muscles), but we are really looking forward to showers, beds, and a good bar meal tomorrow night! We also intend on seeing Nessie, as Fort Augustus is on the southern tip of Loch Ness. Watch for it on the news Tuesday morning!
That's it for now. We'll be caught up on the blog tomorrow. We have been checking, but have had no service since Friday afternoon. Good night everybody!!