Day 13 - Strath Nimhe to Oykel Bridge

The Scottish weather had a temper tantrum today and threw everything she could at us. I’m pretty sure last night was the coldest we have had yet. We woke up to slushy rain, which slowed up enough for us to have a fairly dry pack-up (good fortune). Throughout the day we had pretty much every combination of layers on imaginable. I owe my good friend and Co-CEO of the Monday Morning Hike Club a big thank you here, as he taught me the real benefit of stopping and layering up or down. Thank you, Mr. Mac!! We saw snow, sleet, hail, rain, mist, wind, clouds, and even a little sun. And we saw all of these on multiple occasions.

Ready For Anything

By the end of it Zach had thrown his hands up and just kept his waterproofs on for the last couple of hours, even during the sunny break. Haha!!

Zach With Rain Kilt and Pack Cover Still On

We passed two bothies today - Knockdamph, and Schoolhouse. The first one made a perfect spot for lunch, as the wet snow and hail had just started again. We all felt a little humbled when we were taking refuge inside as we watched a small bird pecking for food on the grass outside, oblivious to the hail pellets smashing into him. Man, even the Scottish birds are tough as nails!! The second bothy made a perfect spot for a break, as the rain had just started again. We loved both of these bothies, and would love to come back sometime with a plan that would allow us to stay at all of these. I think it would be a great way to meet people and have a bit more comfort than a tent offers.

Knockdamph Bothy

After lunch I decided to put my music on for an hour. What an amazing treat!!! I put my phone on shuffle mode and got so into the music that I didn’t even notice my feet. I felt like I was on wheels! On top of that, it was as if all of my friends were choosing the tracks as a way to help out. I will list the songs I am taking about, and you will know if it was you who requested it on my behalf.
Crying Over You - Platinum Blonde
Round and Round - Ratt
Roses - OutKast
Let’s Go Crazy - Prince
Seven Nation Army - White Stripes
Locomotion - Kylie Minogue
It was great. I’m not sure if Ben laughed or rolled his eyes when he looked back and saw me playing my hiking poles like an electric guitar!
Tonight we are in Oykel Bridge, in our own Bothy rooms. It’s like a bunkhouse but with private rooms. The facilities are shared but there is only one other guy here so no problems!! We had a good bar meal, and will have breakfast and a packed lunch tomorrow. Woohoo!! Life is good! My heater is on full blast and I am sure I will be sleeping soon. I think the countdown will start tomorrow for sure. Five days to go....

Health update - If you are not fond of too much info skip this next part... We have each found multiple ticks on us the past six or seven days. Unfortunately for one of us, a tick was found on the last part of a guy’s body that you would hope to find one. I won’t say who, but it wasn’t me or anybody I’m related to... (sorry Jacqueline and Paul, this is probably way more than you wanted to know). We all had a good laugh and the person who I won’t name handled it waaaay better than I ever would have. Other than that I would say we are all dealing with the usual pain and fatigue of this much waking fairly well.

Route notes - We continued from our wild camp spot in Strath Nimhe NE to Glen Achall, and rejoined the official route at Loch an Daimh. We walked past Knochdamph and Schoolhouse bothies as mentioned above, and into Oykel Bridge where we are staying in the Bunkhouse at the hotel.