Saturday, 3 July 2021

Competent Ankles

We arrived back on Thursday from our fantastic trip to the Western Isles. The weather has continued to be beautiful and the views of the islands and mountains from the ferry as we approached Ullapool were spectacular. I do enjoy a ferry trip, and as a bonus we happened to sit right beside a tv screen which was playing Wimbledon; Heather and I enjoyed watching Coco Gauff winning her second round match against Elena Vesnina. 
On Friday we all set off to climb Canisp. I mentioned at breakfast that my feet would feel cooler in trail shoes, which Heather would also be wearing. James replied that I should wear my boots to support my ankles (I do have a track record of turning my ankles and in fact breaking them in occasion!) - he went on to say that Heather would be fine in trainers because “Heather has competent ankles” This was such an odd turn of phrase that Heather and I burst out laughing; it’s probably the strangest compliment that she has received! 
The blue skies promised wonderful views, but also a very warm day. I really did give it a go, but after a couple of kilometres I realised that it was too hot for me and turned back. I will try Canisp again but it will have to be on a much cooler and no doubt cloudier day, which will mean that the views will not be as stunning as they were on Friday. And I know that they were stunning because I later saw the photos taken by James, Heather and Ewan when they reached the summit. Such amazing views of all the other mountains. They arrived back down the hill a few hours later, hot and tired but very happy. 
Meanwhile I decided that the best way to cool off would be to have a dip in the little river that ran into a nearby lochan. The banks were rather muddy but the water was delightfully cool. Tiny little fish investigated my toes and the air was full of birdsong. I then read my book while waiting for the others. I felt very cool and relaxed in the sunshine. 
Later we had dinner at Peet’s in Lochinver and in addition to having a lovely meal, we spotted comedian Rob Brydon drinking champagne with actress Ruth Jones, whose husband owns the restaurant. Apparently they are filming a new comedy series nearby. Excellent celebrity sighting! 

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