My Heart’s in the Highlands – Part 3

Some hiking trials

By James T. Carney

The first day of our hike, we covered 14 miles of relatively level but gradually rising territory. We probably gained a total of 800 feet in elevation but it was so gradual I didn’t feel it. I did feel the 14 miles, however, and I was overjoyed when we reached the headquarters of the Cameron Clan and picked up the van to go back to Alltschellach. We were scheduled to return to the Cameron headquarters the next day, but we would first visit the statute to the British Commandos (akin to our Special Forces) who had trained in the Highlands before going off to fight in World War II.
    Because the road had been washed out during the night, we did not go back to the Cameron Headquarters but stopped off at a waterfall not far from there and began the day’s trek of 12 miles. It rained constantly throughout the day, and I was without my rain pants, which I had left had home (in Pittsburgh) – a mistake I will not make again. Indeed, when I make my next trip, I will not only bring my rain pants and light-weight covers for underneath my heavy socks, but will also obtain a rainproof cover for my backpack and an umbrella attachable to my head.

    We stopped off at a floating pub on the canal to have a couple of drinks before finishing the last stretch of the trip. When I go hiking, I don’t like to stop until the end of the day, so I was impatient with this delay. But, in fairness to our guide, we had to wait for the van when we finally got to the end of the trip for the day. Again, we probably gained 1,000 feel in attitude, but I didn’t feel it because it was spread over 12 miles.

The next day started out well because it was dry and the hiking was good. However, about two hours of hiking, we stopped for morning tea and I found that my toe that had really been bothering had developed a blister. At this point, Dr. Sue (the member of our group whom I mentioned in Part 2), was a great help because she applied some ointment to the toe and then slipped a rubber cover over it. It never bothered me again during the trip. And I have kept the rubber cover and will not go on another trip without it. I think, though, that I may avoid blisters if I put the light-weight covers on my feet before pulling on my socks.
    We all did well until lunch when I started to feel a burning sensation in my left leg, similar to what I had experienced hiking in the Pyrenees. I felt okay after lunch, fortunately, and I did well until we got to the final four-mile stretch of level ground, when I got hit by an intense burning sensation. Again Dr. Sue came in handy. She applied a salve that helped to some extent. I still had a couple of tough hours, but the pain stopped before we reached the end of the day’s hike.

    What I later self-diagnosed (to be confirmed by a neurologist) was a case of meralgia paresthetica, which results from too much walking’s putting pressure on the nerves. (The neurologist told me that the next time I go hiking I should get nerve blocks from him several weeks before I start and I should be okay.)

The next day was a shorter hike and I did okay, although I had a short attack of the same condition towards the end. It was a good day’s hike otherwise. For much of the time we were hiking besides Loch Ness, although we did not see Nessie, the fabled monster.
    We had now advanced about two-thirds of the way along the Great Glen Trail, so we didn’t return to the manor house outside Fort William, but were driven on to Inverness for the night. The fifth day was to be perhaps the most strenuous part of the trip, with a significant gain in altitude, and I was concerned that I would hold the group up, particularly if I had a recurrence of that burning sensation, so I decided to stay in and explore Inverness.

Copyright © 2020 by James T. Carney