“Are you decent Rosie?”
Rosie is my roomy (and tent buddy) for the next week. We arrived at the Ibis in Oarzazate a little after midnight and after rearranging bags, rucksacks ready for an early departure we had both managed only a little fitful, excitement fuelled sleep. Eight very excited and nervous Trekkers had been up at 3am on the Thursday to fly from Inverness. The remaining two coming in from Aberdeen. We all ten would unite, alongside our Trek Doctor Neal at Heathrow. So I was now almost three days without no more than perhaps five or six hours of real deep sleep. Not the best preparation for what was to come but the adrenalin would see us through the six to seven hour drive into the Sahara today.
“Anyone up for a final walk this weekend?” went out the call earlier this week. Me please! Me please! Me please! One by one the hands went up. Four hours was all we wanted. One final half distance and then it’s a case of maintaining with a little stretch each day until we fly on Thursday. 
This week has seen a significant shift in my fitness. I am not sure why. After having my “wheels fall off” exactly 14 days ago I suddenly found myself not only able to walk over 14 odd miles exactly one week later, but wake up feeling fantastic the day after. Now that is a first! So fantastic in fact I was eager to find more walking time this week. So the diary came out and I put a big fat “WALK” across three days. Yes, three! And not content with that I decided to squeeze a wee fourth one in too.
Feeling a whole lot more positive it was time to rejoin some of the 
Well a walk from Portgordon to Spey Bay on the Moray Firth coast of course.