Day 9 - Iron Lodge to Allt a’ Chonais

By consensus this was one of our most strenuous days. We got out of camp at Iron Lodge a little later than normal (8:30), and did not get to our current location until 18:30. I’m usually in bed by then!!!! Our longer day was partly due to trying to take more breaks, but mostly due to over 1000 m of ascent.
We started with a climb from Iron Lodge over to Maol-bhuidhe. Maol-bhuidhe is a bothy. For those that have not heard of bothies, they are remote buildings in the Scottish wilderness that provide shelter to hikers that go by. They are all more or less in the middle of nowhere. Some are maintained, some are not. They all have the potential to provide for a unique hiking experience, especially when you happen to meet up with other hikers. Amanda and I had an amazing experience in a bothy when we were here in 2017, and met some people that we are still in touch with. The boys and I took a break at the bothy, looked around inside, and signed the guest book. Ben commented on how awesome it would have been to sleep there, and I fully agreed. But we had to press on.
From the bothy we had our first bushwhack of the day which led us to our beach lunch beside Loch Calavie. This loch (thank you Joyce!) is about two kilometres long, surrounded on three sides by mountains including Beinn Dronaig. We all laughed again because we were wondering why people bother going to Mexico or the Mediterranean to get away from cold, dreary weather, when you can just go to Scotland in April. I know I will eat those words before we finish this trip... It was a very peaceful and relaxing lunch of macaroni and mashed potatoes.

Looking Way Back to Lunch Spot

After lunch we walked along the lake and dropped into the glen by Bendeonaig Lodge to start our 6 km hike up to Bealach Bhernais. It was a real grind, but when we made it to the top, we were truly rewarded. With munros surrounding us, we sat at the top of the pass in the sun looking down to the valley so far below us. Again, we wondered how many people get to experience a spot like that, in those favourable weather conditions. I don’t think it happens that often. We were very fortunate.

View From Bealach Bhernais

After this amazing break, we packed up and began descending to the valley floor. We quickly gave up every meter of elevation we had just fought for. The last few kilometres were tough, but we found another beautiful, solitary spot to pitch up. We are camped beside the Allt a’ Chonais, a small stream that will provide us the same soundtrack as all of our previous nights.
We are all excited to walk into Kinlochewe tomorrow where we are staying at a bunkhouse. We will have showers and flushing toilets. We will also be able to resupply for the next three-day stint. We will also likely get a pub meal at the hotel. Can’t wait!!
That’s all for tonight. It’s getting chilly again, and I am starting to yawn. Thanks for reading again. Good night!!

Route details - From Iron Lodge we took the trail heading north over to Maol Bhuidhe bothy. From the bothy we bushwhacked over the east end of Beinn Dronaig to the east side of Loch Calavia, where we picked up the trail. We followed this toward Bendronaig Lodge by turned north over the bridge just before reaching it. We followed this trail north then north-east until it petered out, then bushwhacked to the top of Beallach Bearnais. The path on the other side was easy to find. We followed it down to our camping spot beside the Allt a’ Chonais near NH 072 475.