Part 1 of Great Glen Way - day 6 of 6 - Completed!

April 19, Wednesday. From Drumnadrochit to Inverness. Official Estimate was 20 miles. My various iPhone apps said 21 or 22.5 or 24.5. (My feet say the largest estimate barely suffices to explain how they felt! As I write this, however, on Thursday morning after a good night’s sleep and as I begin my rest day,  my feet feel great. But they still deserve the 24.5 miles acknowledgement of their hard work )

The pinnacle of the hike was not the place with the highest elevation and best view. It was an eccentric little cafe out in the middle of nowhere almost halfway between Drumnadrochit and Inverness. I had read about it in several blog accounts and felt drawn to go just for the sense of walking in the footsteps of the bloggers. But all they described was tea or coffee and lemon cake and I wasn’t especially keen on breaking my sugar fast again. (Although, as I discovered hiking the PCT, my sugar metabolism is really different when I walk this far everyday and eating sugar does not seem to be a problem. In fact the quickly accessed energy seems to help me. ) 

But what really made me want to stop was that I had lost my sun hat early in the day’s hike. Somehow, presumably when I pulled my mittens out of the back pocket of my backpack, I had unsnapped throw closure strap and presumably the hat fell out then although I would not discover it until hours and miles later. I found this particularly remarkable because I find that particular strap almost impossible to unsnap when I am doing it on purpose. I still can’t figure how it happened. 

On the other hand, in the spirit of my psychoanalytic pilgrimage in which I welcome whatever happens and engage with it, I began to fantasize that the cafe might have a hat (left behind by another hiker) that they could give me. I found this prospect much more appealing than that of hiking hours of unshaded trail in the sun with no hat. And that I think is the real reason I stopped at the cafe. 

I wish I could recreate for you the process of walking along through the woods and coming across these odd little signs about lemon cake and a cafe open 365 days a year. The one about the steam train departing track 10/11 (a reference to Harry Potter commuting from muggle land to his school for magic that I was able to recognize having just reread several of the books because of their connection to Scotland) with a tea kettle (presumably representing the magical steam train and promising me a magical cup of tea!) truly delighted me. 

As I walked from one sign to next I felt as if I was being led on a magical treasure hunt - by a playful tour guide with a bewitching sense of humor. 

 There began to be messages about ringing a bell long before a bell became visible. When it finally did there was a fine big bell hanging beside the little button I was intended to push to summon magic. And immediately magic appeared in the form of an utterly charming woman (with a spider web in the upper corner of the photo of her). BTW, spiders have always represented magic to me. As a child, wishing I could bridge the warring worlds of my two parents, I read a scientific American article about spiders, wingless and unable to fly but still building their webs across significant open spaces. They did so, the article explained, by attaching a thread to a branch and then taking a leap into the unknown and simply allowing the wind to carry them where it might, and the, upon arrival, attaching the other end of the thread. So it was great to see this magic woman more or less through the web of one of those iconic magical bridge builders. I asked if it was too early to order something to eat. She told me that soup and “real tea” (from loose leaves not packaged tea bags) and gherkins hand and olives and oatcakes and lemon cake were on offer and though it was not yet 10am I figured I was ready for lunch, having started my walk at 5:15am.  I also told her about my lost hat and my hope. 

If you look carefully at the fourth photo in the collage above you may see that the magical waiter is carrying a black cap along with a tray full of food. The food appeared very quickly, it was wonderfully good and full to the brim with magic, and my lost hat led me on a marvelous adventure. 

BTW, the lemon cake was delicious. 

To be continued in Part 2 of Great Glen Way - day 6 of 6 - Completed!