Day 2 Loch Leir to Rhian Bridge

It had clouded over in the night and the expected frost hadn't materialised. After tea and instant porridge I was away by 8am, and skirted Sletill Hill on the forest track, and down to Forsinain and the Hallandale River. Occasionally a salmon tail fin would languidly break the surface of the pool beneath the bridge. They probably new it was the close season! A single track A road led up to Forsinard and the RSPB office where I'd arranged to catch up with some of the folk I'd worked with.
I was a bit shocked to see the anti RSPB notices; a few locals were not in favour of the new viewing tower and field centre. After a couple of hours catching up with old faces I continued along the A road before taking the B871 to Strathnaver. There was a sign warning about forestry trucks, but I didn't meet another vehicle for 25 kilometres. The road followed the headwaters of the River Helmsdale. There were no steep impressive mountains, the countryside having more of a rumpled carpet look, desolate and deserted. Above Loch Badanloch I stopped and munched on a malt

loaf while a large herd of young stags eyed me nervously. 'It's alright I'm a vegetarian' I shouted, and they all took off.
The road now veered to the north and I had a welcome tailwind, which turned out to be pretty well the only one of the entire trip! I'd have savoured it more if I'd known. Then it was a descent into Strathnaver, scene of some of the cruellest evictions by the Duke of Sutherland during The Clearances.
A pleasant run down the edge of Loch Naver led to Altnaharra, which shares with Braemar the UK's lowest recorded temperature of -27C. It was only 2pm and too early to call it a day, so I set off up picturesque Strath Vagastie, a single track A road, and the NCN1. The view was dominated by Ben Klibreck, the secondmost northerly Munro, and today the peak was wearing a limpet-like cap of hanging cloud. Near the head of the glen I passed a perfect camping spot next to a terraced waterfall, but instead carried on hoping to find somewhere beyond the bealach, leaving me with a downhill start to the following day. Unfortunately the road turned out to be hemmed in with the debris of cut trees, and it wasn't until Rhian Bridge that I found a flat spot next to the river, a few hundred metres upstream of the bridge.
I cooked up a quick meal, and by 6.30 was fighting sleep while reading, so had a very early night.

Day stats Distance 93km 771 Metres of ascent
Off road 8km
A road single lane 41km
B road single lane 44km