Day 5 – N500 East coast
Monday, 16.07.2018
Not surprisingly the roughly 2000km of the last few days took their toll. That’s why I decided, after a delicious Scottish breakfast
to stay in and catch up on sleep a bit. A bit turned into four hours and half the day was gone. That wasn’t acceptable. The plan for the day was anyway drive less, walk more. Since big Hikes where not possible anymore, I decided to do the Cairn o’ Get/Whaligoe Steps Tour as described on “Walking Highlands”. A few Miles easy Terrain and towards the end the “famous” Whaligoe Steps. The path crossed a few Sheep pastures and some hills until it reahced an old ruin of a Cairn, the aforementioned Cairn o’ Get. More than 5000 years old it was supposed to be, a burial ground from early history, where people pilgrimaged to be near their lost ones. The Cairn itself was indeed in ruin, a lot of the originally used stones had been “repurposed” for other constructions near by. On the pictures you see the inner burial chamber and part of the ceiling construction. Most of it is covered with Gras or was simply carried away.
One construction in the vicinity profiting from the Cairn’s stones was a stone dam, probably built in the 19th century. To be honest I found that one far more interesting than the Cairn. Today there is just a swamp behind the dam, as you can see in the pictures. But who knows which stream or lake was held up by that dam to control irrigation in the area.
To get to the next waypoint of my excursion I sadly had to double back. But then it got exciting. On the driveway to the steps lurks the caretaker of them, the guy looking after maintenance of the site, and jumps on obvious tourists to share the story of the steps with them. And you most definitely should let that happen. The good man adds so much to the facts first description on Wikipedia, giving it authenticity which makes these kind of sites so enjoyable. Of course he described how many steps there where in the beginning, how the place got its name and when the last fishing boat was dragged ashore for the last time. But he also tells you about the signs of tar to look for on the stones where the boats where made water tight. How the tar was heated up and where and that you can still find the fireplace for it. How the nets were dried and where to still see the leftovers of the old jetty the sea merchants used to land atto get there barrels full of herring. And that his grandfather was one of the last fishermen and that this was his boat on that picture he shows you (an old black and white A0 poster made from across the bay). After that climbing down those 337 steps is that much more interesting.
Climbing down was already very impressive. Just like the harbour itself. The bay was the ideal place for such a harbour, a bit secluded, where the sea would be a bit more calm than elsewhere along the coast. But I imagine the fishermen of those times where not very interested in the colossal beauty of the coastal cliffs. Maybe the younger people who might have gathered eggs off seagulls on the opposite cliffs at the birds’ breeding grounds.
Climbing up the stairs again was the real challenge. Halfway up there is a small stone bench to take a breath. When fishing was still going on this place was rather used to dry some fish for their own use. This was the women’s job. As was selling those fish at the nearby (about 10 miles) market in Wick that where not sold off to merchants at the harbour or used for the families themselves. The caretaker described the women as the real heroes of the time (surprisingly, since he rather struck me as the old-fashioned sottish guy). They had to go up and down the steps more often than the man, but still took care of selling the stuff in Wick and supporting the family as such.
After this short excursion I just quickly went to Wick for gas, get a bit for dinner and then back to the B&B. For today there’s no tour description since in the end it might have been 50km at most, all along the coastal road around Wick.