Day thirty-nine - Thursday

Amazing weather, first time since I've been here!

Sun streaming through my window greeted me in the morning, as I threw open the curtains to reveal the best day of weather since I've been on the island! Made my way into A&E, bit of a morning lull before two cases in quick succession, a young one with possible bronchiolitis and an older one with a nose injury. Had to quickly look up how to do a nose exam, not something I've covered so far! Was interesting following the paediatrician on the first case, got some good teaching and they had a great manner with both the baby and the parent. Another lull before an ankle injury came in, which on examination looked like it might have been fractured. Xray proved otherwise however, so they were discharged with a support bandage, crutches and physio advice. This is something I picked up in Fort William, after doing a fracture clinic. The consultant there was really good at talking people through physio exercises and giving them crib sheets - it can make a lot of difference to the speed and quality of their recovery, and many people will not have time to seek proper physio advice afterwards so the A&E consultation provides one of the few opportunities to instill some practical tips.

After that the treatment rooms were empty, waiting room was empty, sun was shining... Yep, hit the road for a run! Drove down to near the Scaladale outdoors centre on Harris, took about 35mins. Awesome driving, such good weather and really nice roads, plus empty! Had my sights on the An Cliseam horseshoe, a ridge walk culminating in the highest mountain on the island at 799m. Set off around 1515, decked out in my running kit. Good thing about running is that you don't have to worry about getting wet feet - it's going to happen so you just get on with it! The shoes are designed to shed the water too. Good job, as the approach up Gleann Sgaladail was INCREDIBLY wet and boggy! The type of ground if you were wearing walking boots and wanted to keep your feet dry it would have taken an age to navigate pools of water and saturated moss, but in running shoes you just plow your way straight through, trying to avoid plunging knee deep into the softer areas of bog. I still get a bit edgy on bogs, used to have a mini-phobia (I think in part inspired by the dead marshes in Lord of the Rings) but slowly getting over it. There's a place in the Lakes called Great Moss on the approach to East Buttress on Scafel - have to properly work up the courage to walk across that, haven't yet done it on my own, always gone round the side!!

Passed a lone fisherman dressed in tweed, fishing the river. Onwards to Loch Mhisteam then straight up the east flank of Mullach an Langa, 614m. Punishing. The combination of wet ground and no paths meant I was already pretty knackered. I only pretend at the fell running stuff anyway! Once on the ridge the views were fantastic, quite cloudy but all above the tops and good visibility over the island.

The horseshoe ahead of me, no paths

Shameless selfie

Onwards over the ridge to Mulla bho Thuath, 720m. I was accompanied for some of it by some sort of bird of prey riding the thermals coming off the west side of the ridge, heard the call before I spotted it, amazing! The ridge was pretty cool too, steep drops on both sides down to little lochs shimmering in the afternoon light. It was cold - definitely felt like the start of autumn, hands were going numb in the wind!

Looking back at some craggy outcrops on the west side of Mulla bho Thuath, some potential for new routing

The next top of Mulla bho Dheas, 743m, was gained before too long. From here I could see the entire outline of the island, with the exception of the far north. Surround by sea, it was an awesome feeling! Could clearer make out the Cuillin on Skye, and in the far distance a hazy view of the mainland, with the mountains of Torridon rearing straight out of the sea. To the north west I could just make out the brooding outline of Sron Uladail, home to one of the steepest cliffs in Britain and the scene of the live televised 'Great Climb' a few years ago. A further chance glance to the west gave me a massive rush when I set eyes for the first time on St Kilda - semi-mythical place that I'd finally seen! Looked incredibly lonely and isolated. I could make out the main island and then the mind-boggling stacks of Boreray and Stac an Armin...

Looking back at the horseshoe, went up the right hand flank then all along the top

The highest point on the island of An Cliseam, 799m - great summit shelter around the trig point!

Free whiskey you say?

It wasn't long before I'd reached the highest point of the island at 799m, the summit of An Cliseam. There was a sturdy summit shelter enclosing the trig point, to which was tied an orienteering marker for the Isle of Harris Mountain Festival. Without a card to stamp I settled for a photo, hopefully that'll get me the free dram of which they speak! Superb views. Cold. One last glance at St Kilda before launching down the steep descent to the east.

Stumbled upon a herd of deer after rounding a corner, bit of a stand off as I watched them for a few seconds before they galloped off round the hill. Small top of Tomnabhal at 552m before the long flank down to the car, finished off with more incredibly boggy ground which at one point I did disappear down to my knees in muddy slurry. Nice! Waded in the river to wash my shoes before hurridly setting off in the car - the 14km route had taken me just over 3hours and I'd agreed to go to the Hebridean Search and Rescue team's medical training at 7pm at the hospital, was gonna be a bit late!!

Driving back on the at times bullet straight roads my mind once again turned to the black box sitting behind my dashboard. Ah well! Arrived back to the flat dot on 7pm, rushed fresh pasta eaten on the way to the hospital and arrived for 1915. Antonio was leading the session, with five other team members who had come along. The turnout was pretty small as apparently alot of people are away in the summer. The session took the shape of basic casualty assessment, with consideration of team roles, DR ABC, secondary survery, SAMPLE history (symptoms, allergies, medications, past medical history, last meal, events). I was the casualty for one scenario, and helped out with some tips I've picked up over the years on courses/through the medicine course. Mountain rescue is something I'm definitely keen to get involved with, I really enjoy the teaching side and would have skills to offer from a medical point of view but equally I'd have lots to learn on the technical rope work side which would be great fun. Session finished by 9ish and they packed up the land rover as I chatted to Jonny, one of the team members. He runs a bike hire business in Stornoway, and we made some plans to go mountain biking in the Lews Castle grounds the next day, awesome!

One of the HebSAR team's two landrovers

Back to the flat I was wasted after the run and training session, tried to rehydrate by necking a pint or two of water! Scrambled egg/toast and a brew took my mind off my aching muscles, started to get a bit of cramp in my right calf towards the end of the run. Quick bath to soothe them before collapsing for the night.