Log No 28. Fri 26th Apr 2013 - Montrose to Inverbervie, 15 miles. (480 miles walked)

It was 1.00 am before I got to bed last night and then I was up at 5.00 to make sure I could catch the 6.20 bus. The later one I caught yesterday should have got me to Aberdeen in time for the Arbroath bus but was 20 minutes late and I missed the connection.

Anyway, I got to Montrose in good time and I set off at 9.40, the weather was not too bad with sunny intervals but still a cool north wind.

I walked along the promenade for a bit then decided I would walk on the beach of Montrose Bay, I wasn't going to be able to walk all the way round because there was a river crossing to make.

By this time I had gone beyond the end of the promenade and realised I couldn't get across the dunes as they were steep and protected so I made my way to the cycleway.

This was shown as a straight line on the map but the signs directed me all over the place in an effort to avoid using the roads.

It was pleasant enough, with a small section through a wood before arriving at the viaduct over the river.

For the first time on this trip I was having bother with my left leg, I was having constant pains with my shin.

Once over, the cycleway was along the minor road going past 'Steptoes Yard' at Nether Warburton where all manor of goods were laid out for sale, to the car park at the small nature reserve.

There were signs here for the coast so it looked promising and stopped at a bench here for a break. It was a quiet spot as I ate some lunch, watching and listening to a pair of buzzards circling over the cliffs.

Rain clouds kept coming over so I put my waterproofs on before continuing.

Near the end of the bay the path went up the side of the cliff near St Cyrus.

There must have been an attempt at some point to establish a good coastal path in Scotland but with erosion and apparently little maintenance it seems to have been abandoned.

A feature of the walk in the Scotland has been signs saying the Footpath is Closed, generally these are in the middle of sections of a path, am I supposed to obey the sign and retrace my steps back to the nearest road?

I walked along the road for a bit then skirted round the edge of a ploughed field to get onto the beach after Milton Ness.

There was no sand in the bays on this section of the coast, being mainly pebbles.

There was a footpath still in existence to get round the rocky sections but I dropped down to the beach each time there was a property to get by.

I picked up the footpath again after Seagreens and stayed on it into Johnshaven.

It looked like there was to be a good cycleway now all the way along the coast into Inverbervie.

All was going well until I was stopped by another sign saying the path was diverted because of an unsafe bridge just before Haughs Bay.

I think I should have ignored and at least gone ahead to investigate as I could probably have got by okay, as it was I took the detour which took me all the way to the main road to get across the river.

With my leg still giving me cause for concern I decided to stay on the road, a short while later the 'X7' bus past me, that meant I had an hour to get to Inverbervie and make the connection as I was not wanting another long day. It was three miles so if I put my foot down I should make it.

I was thinking that the road was hurting my leg more than the footpaths so decided to drop back down the side of the steep hill into Johnshaven, on the way down I came across a fox lying in the grass just 5 metres away, it was up and away before I even had time to think about getting the camera out.

Once down I marched along the cycleway into Inverbervie with 5 minutes to wait for the 15.07 bus.

I wasn't sure I was at the right bus stop and this was proved out when, as I put my hand out, the driver pointed to a stop further down the road, oh no, I was going to have to run now.

Thankfully the driver waited for me and was able to get back to Fiona's for 17.30.

I was not feeling well, apart from my shin I was shivery and had a sore stomach. I only felt like a small portion of dinner and even with that I ended up being sick. Everyone at Fiona's had just taken it in turns to get over a sick bug so maybe I had picked it up.

I'll be having the weekend off.