[This walk was completed on 21st May 2024]

It is another cloudless morning. I chain my bike up behind a notice board in Helmsdale Harbour. I’m nervous leaving it so close to a busy car park, but decide to leave it in full view of some nearby houses. Hopefully it will still be here when I finish my walk!

Make my way up to the A9, and follow the road over the bridge. It’s a pretty impressive bridge.

I stop to take photographs of the harbour and the car park below. Try to spot my bike, but I must have hidden it better than I thought, because I can’t see it. The light is in my eyes, and shining off the sea, so the photographs are not very good.

On the other side of the bridge, the light is much better for photography. How lovely. I can see a much older bridge crossing over Helmsdale River. I wonder if that is the old route of the A9?

On the far side of my bridge, I stop to take a photograph of the view along the shore. I was warned you can’t walk this narrow section of the coast, because you get squeezed between the railway track and the water.

Today I am following the official John o’Groats Trail again. This is going to take me on an inland route for a while – breaking my coastal walking rules slightly – but I reckon the inland deviation is safer than walking along the A9.

I cut off to the right, and start heading up the hill towards a place called Gartymore.

The road is quiet, with pretty houses and cottages on either side. And a fabulous view down over Helmsdale.

A woman overtakes me, walking briskly and carrying some shopping. She turns up a side road to climb further up the hill, and I soon lose sight of her. Living here must keep you fit!

Love this little road. Sheep in the fields. Gorse in the hedgerows. And a purple-brown hill ahead.

I come to an official Core Path sign. Port Gower is this way. And the route is confirmed by a JOG Trail sign below. The sign helpfully tells me this is the way to go if you are heading south along the trail.

(The heading south part isn’t obvious without the sign, as the path is actually heading north at this point!)

The path starts off as a wide track…

… but, after crossing over a bridge, it soon dwindles to a narrow path. Lovely view ahead – Creag Loisgte, I think. The smell of gorse is delicious.

Rather alarmingly, the path seems to want to take me right up to a cottage. (I’m always nervous about being accused of trespassing at times like these.) But this is the right way, and the JOG Trail sign indicates I should bypass the cottage and walk through a field just below it.

The path is still obvious on the ground, but far less distinct. And… oh my word!… what a fabulous view.

This is turning into a wonderful walk!

But the gate below me has a sign. “OGS”. Obviously the sign has lost a letter. Could be “LOGS”, but I suspect it is “DOGS”. Oh dear. I’m glad I have my pole with me.

Beyond the gate, the path joins a track, and the route doubles back on itself to take me over a bridge. It’s an ugly, functional bridge, but I guess it has to be sturdy enough to take vehicles.

I don’t meet any dogs (or see any logs), but the next sign I come to is even more ominous. “Cows & Calves on ROAD”. Uh-oh.

I’m walking back towards the A9 now, and another official sign reassures me that I am still on the right track. Heading south (for real this time) along the John o’Groats Trail. And there is Helmsdale in the distance.

The track twists and turns, and I round each corner with my heart in my mouth, wondering when I am going to meet the cows. It’s a relief to see houses below me – Portgower – and no sign of any cattle. Whew!

Back on the A9, the traffic flow is disrupted by roadworks. The traffic lights held me up this morning when I road my bike along here earlier. It is much easier to navigate this stretch by foot.

I turn off left along a little road, and discover something rather lovely. The cottages which line the A9 along the seaward side of Portgower have turned their backs on the main road, and face this quiet little lane instead.

At the end of the cottages, a track leads straight ahead, but I soon turn off to the left – signposted for the JOG Trail – and head down to the shore.

First, there is a PRIVATE level crossing to navigate. Stop, Look, Listen.

And then I am on the shore.

It is wonderful to be beside the sea again, after a couple of days of road-walking. THIS is what my trek is all about!

I shrug off my rucksack and perch on a handy rock. Time for lunch.

Only the cormorants on a nearby ledge for company. They ignore me, but an indignant oyster catcher – who I can’t see, but I can hear – keeps up a constant complaint about my presence.

After finishing my lunch, I perch my camera on the rock and take a self-portrait with my timer. Here, I am trying to walk nonchalently towards the camera.

What a great start to today’s walk. It doesn’t get much better than this!

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Route so far this morning:

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