Day 01 - John o'Groats to Mid Clyth - 27 Miles

After a night of rain I was relieved to wake up and find the inside of the tent completely dry.  However, the drizzly start to the day was not what we had expected for the first proper days walking.  We left John o'Groats in full wet gear and headed off towards Wick hoping that all the plans and preparation for this day would be sufficient.  As you leave John o'Groats, there is no real alternative but to head down the A99.  This is a busy road and not really recommended for a walking holiday.  However, there is a grassy verge that can be used as traffic approaches and the miles tick by reasonably well.  My final pack weight is around 15kg including water and  this certainly makes your shoulders ache, but as the day wore on I got used to it and I think that after a few days it won't hurt so much.
As we neared Wick, there was an opportunity to do a few miles of beach walking which although a bit sapping, was really peaceful and welcome break from the A99. As we approached Wick, it dawned on us that we had missed an ideal opportunity to grab a B&B in Wick yesterday, then take a bus to John o'Groats for the signpost photo and walk the 15 Miles back to our B&B in Wick, which without having to carry a rucksack would have been a breeze.  Too late to worry about that though, so we grabbed food stop at a cafe in Wick, then pressed on further in order to achieve the daily target of 25 Miles.  We intended to stop near a dis-used building that I found on Google Earth, near Mid Clyth.  However, when we finally got there it was no longer dis-used and as it sadly had not been converted into a B&B, we had to find somewhere else to stop.  The next sizeable town was Lybster 6km away and as we were both ready for a break, we decided to find a secluded patch of land just off the road to rough camp.

Some beach art near Wick.

Statistics
Distance: 27.1 Miles
Moving Time: 8 Hours 9 Mins
Cumulative Distance: 27.1 Miles

View the route for day 01 here.