The weather on Thursday was predicted to be dry in the morning with rain in the afternoon. So we set off fairly early to walk to Achmelvich Beach. We didn't even need to take the car because the path leaves from the top of Lochinver very near the cottage. Now, I have walked this route before, in 2014, and I remembered it as an ascent to a sort of rocky plateau with grass and lochans, followed by a gentle descent down to Achmelvich Beach, a total of about 12 km there and back. And that recollection is absolutely correct, however I had forgotten how much the path rises and falls as it meanders around the lochans and hills on the way to the beach. In other words it was longer and more strenuous than I remembered! However I was blissfully unaware of this when we set off and enjoyed the walk very much even though my legs were very tired by the end. Hugh was able to measure the accumulated height using his GPS and it came to nearly 500 metres.
Again we were very lucky with the weather. Apart from one short shower it stayed dry the whole time. Achmelvich Beach is so beautiful and the water was an amazing shade of blue-green. When we got to the beach there were three swimmers in the water, complete with wet suits and floats. Further along the beach there was a kayaker who was struggling to get his kayak out to sea past the waves breaking on the shore - he tried again and again and managed it eventually!
Back at the cottage James lit the fire and we had a cosy afternoon before walking down to the Lochinver Pie Shop for dinner; it was a delicious meal. On the way back we saw three roe deer walking along the road ahead of us, they were gorgeous.
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