We don't have heat haze up here in the Highlands when it is still and warm. Instead we have the midge. Cycling down the track from Loch Eilde Mor, after my food drop for the Ramsay, clouds of midges swirled over the track at head height. I hit swarms of them and they pattered off my coat mimicking rain, turning my legs black as the wee beasties struggled to escape the jellyfish-like tentacles of my leg hairs. Some poor folk had decided to camp at the end of the loch and I can only imagine the torment they went through that evening.
If the midge wasn't such an irritating bugger, the shimmering clouds could have been one of the wonders of nature. Perhaps allowing comparison with the other great marvels such as salmon migrating up mighty rivers or the huge flamingo flocks on the lakes in Africa. Instead all I was left wondering was where on Earth all the predators were which surely must feed on the midge. Dark thoughts only turned lighter by conjuring up ideas of staking naked to a post, either here or on Skye, those ecologists who insist the midge does have a role to play in nature.
At least everything is now in place for the attempt at the weekend. Looks like we wont be having too much company. Then again I am not a big fan of the huge groups of pacers/supporters/hangers-on which some runners deem necessary to have around on attempts of these kind of hill-running 'challenges'.
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