Day 3
30th August

Awoke to the pitter patter of rain on the tent and lay there awhile hoping it would go away. It didn't and, in fact, stayed on and off throughout the morning and early afternoon. During a brief respite we packed up and set off, paying for the night's camp as we departed in the house at the top of the hill.
First thing on today's ride there was a lovely beach just the other side of Bettyhill - Torrisdale Bay. Then some splendid views up the River Naver with grey storm clouds above and beautiful colours and light. The road started to climb once over the bridge and we were up on moorland again before a fine run down to Borgie Bridge and then once more a climb to the moors. At the top here we were rewarded with some fine views of the mountains with the clouds lifting. From here to Tongue seemed but a short distance but took quite a while to cycle.
We sat in Tongue and had tea and the rain came on again. We had stocked up with provisions and so set off quickly before it worsened but we still had a cold, windy, and wet crossing of the Kyle of Tongue. We could see the moorland road stretching and climbing high ahead and, although by no means quick and easy, the ascent was much easier than we had feared. On the way were some fine views of Ben Loyal. We dropped down to Loch Hope with Ben Hope towering above to the south and then climbed once more before arriving at Loch Eriboll with more superb scenery at its southern end.
A head wind made the going tough but it eased off as we turned round the loch and we pressed on although we had already reached the point where we had intended to camp for the night. We followed the road through the heathery, rocky, hillsides, climbing and dipping gently until we reached the sea at a bay overlooking the island of Eilean Hoan. Up a steep hill and eventually to Durness and then down to the Kyle of Durness with huge sand banks in view as the tide was out. There was just a glimpse of Cape Wrath on the far side.
The mountains ahead looked good but we were by now looking for somewhere to camp as we were quite tired. We stopped by the River Dionard among the heather and, although plagued by midges, it was very pleasant. We could hear fish (salmon?) jumping in the river beside us.
The most impressive thing about today was, undoubtedly, the colours of the hills and the mountains. A hundred shades of green, brown and purple and just a beautiful sight.