Day 11 - Kinlochewe to Dundonnell Forest

It is interesting how a trip like this is an experiment with fortune - some good, and some not so good. Today was a good example of this. To start off, we were about 2.5 km into the day when we remembered that we had left some fresh food in the fridge (sliced ham, cheddar cheese, oranges). This was a devastating blow. It took the wind out of our sales and put us into a bad frame of mind for this three-day stint. It sounds silly in the normal context, but for us these three items were very important. About a half kilometre later, a guy in a truck approached us so we flagged him down. He agreed to take me back to town so I could collect our items. I left my pack with the boys, rode into town, and walked back to meet them and continue on. We were back on track!
The next bit of fortune came a couple of hours later when we were about to start one of our longest bushwhacking stretches of the trip. As we started climbing to cross from Lochain Fada to Loch an Nid via Bealach na Croise we found a stalkers path which took us the first two kilometres up to the bealach. On our way down to Loch an Nid we found another one which also wasn’t on the map that brought us the last two kilometres to the path we were trying to get to. These two good strokes of luck likely saved us an hour of bushwhacking and who knows how much energy.
I guess the point is, in order to be successful on a trip like this, and maybe life in general, you need to be prepared to deal with bad fortune, and appreciate the good fortune when it comes to you. There’s my inspirational thought for the trip!

We had a long day of walking today partly due to the late start, and didn’t set up camp until after 18:00. The boys and I laughed because we are in Dundonnell Forest, but despite being able to see for miles and miles in every direction we can’t see one tree!! Hopefully one of our Scottish friends will explain this.

There was some good chatter again today. I was completely flabbergasted at the at least 45-minute bit on the merits of cake versus ice cream cake. The general consensus after much back and forth is that ice cream cake is just ice cream in the shape of a cake, and cake is the real deal. I won’t go into details as it is much too complex for this simple a blog. If you want all the info, talk to Zach and Ben. They will be happy to explain!!
The scenery was unbelievable today. The mountains are massive, and the vistas are solitary. We really feel like we are far from the rest of the world right now. I can imagine how hostile it could be to be out here in bad weather conditions. Fortunately we have been blessed again today. We had mostly cloudy with a few sunny periods, and no rain. It will for sure be cold tonight, but our sleeping bags and fifteen layers of clothing will keep us warm!

I think that’s it for today. Thanks for reading, and thanks for the messages you have all sent. They have been a real pick-me-up!! Good night!

If we could have any piece of cake right now
Zach - Ice cream cake
Ben - Any kind of mom’s cakes
JM - Mandy’s carrot cake with cream cheese icing, of course!!

Route details - We followed the Kinlochewe to Shenavall leg of the SNT as per the Walkhighlands website except for we eliminated the dog leg to the bothy by heading north at NH 090 788. We are wild camping at NH 093 810. Very scenic spot, but not the most ideal location.

Day 10 - Allt a’ Chonais to Kinlochewe

Today’s walk went unbelievably fast, probably due to our anticipation of showers and a hot bar meal at the end of the day.

On The Way Up To Coulin Pass

We made it to Kinlochewe by 13:30 including a couple of breaks and one lunch stop. It took us an hour before we could get into the bunkhouse, so we just relaxed on the sidewalk with a snack and a cold pop. Since then we’ve showered, done some laundry, caught up with friends and family, bought food for the next three days, and charged electronics. We are now laying in our bunks waiting for our dinner reservation at 18:30. We are all starving!!

Back from dinner now (details below). There are five other hikers in two groups in the bunkhouse now. We’ve had some nice conversations. It seems we are all headed the same way, although neither group has the same end goal in mind this trip. It is a little reassuring to know that we are not alone out there. As Ben put it, “It feels good to know that there are other people going through the same hell we are.” Hahaha!!!
That’s about it for tonight.  I had two good FaceTimes with Mandy and the cats, and our good friend TT popped in which was a great surprise.  It was so nice to see some familiar faces.  We have breakfast scheduled at 8:30 tomorrow so it will be a late start. Next post in three days if everything goes well. Good night everybody!!

Health update: The legs seemed to be working fine today, despite all of the climbing yesterday. Getting our packs off so early today will help our bodies also.

What we will probably order for dinner tonight:
Zach - Steak pie
Ben - Mac and cheese
JM - Fish and chips

What we actually ordered:
Zach - Prime steak and onion burger
Ben - Fresh haddock (not battered) with chips and peas
JM - Same

We justified dessert also!!:
Zach - Ice cream - 2 scoops strawberry, 1 vanilla
Ben - Creamy triple white chocolate cheesecake
JM - Sticky toffee pudding

We are stuffed now!!

What we will probably be dreaming about tonight:
Zach - Big Macs
Ben - Sleeping in
JM - Slippers and tea by the fireplace at home

Route details - We left our campsite beside Allt a’ Chonais and followed the track north to Craig. We took the A890 west for about a kilometre to the sign marking the old pony track to Coulin Pass. We followed this to Coulin then took the hydroelectric scheme road from Torran cuillin. This brought us over to the A896 at NH 018 593. We walked the A896 for three kilometres to Kinlochewe. We are staying in the bunkhouse at the hotel.

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.

Day 8 - Cluanie to Iron Lodge

As mentioned in the previous post we got a head start on today by doing the first 7 km last night. Good thing we did too, because 29 km today might have been rough.
We woke to a cool overcast morning. There had been a few light sprinkles last night but our pack-up this morning was dry. We started with an easy downhill bushwhack into Glen Affric at the Alltbeithe hostel/bothy. The boys were game for a quick river crossing across River Affric to shave off a little distance, which we were able to do relatively incident free - one of my boots slipped in but I didn’t get a soaker. At this point the clouds started to break up and we got some more of that Scottish sunshine that has been so kind to us this trip. We were joking tonight that we are so tanned that we are going to have to make sure to share our pictures with everybody in order to make sure they know we weren’t actually in Hawaii or the Bahamas!!

Carnach

The four or so kilometres off-track up Gleann Gaorsaic were surprisingly kind to us and before we knew it we only had the steep descent into Strath Duilleach and a couple more kilometres up the track to Iron Lodge where we are pitched up tonight. The view of the buildings at Carnach and Loch na Leitrich as we descended into the glen were very picturesque in the sunshine.
Our tents are set up underneath a huge maple tree tonight - three Canadians camping under a maple seems appropriate I think! There must be several dozen bees hard at work in the tree as it sounds like a bee hive down below in our tents. The flowers on the tree must be good because nobody has bothered with us since we arrived.

Maple Tree!!!

After dinner we went down to the river and had a good face and hand wash. It felt very refreshing. After that we walked up to a waterfall nearby, before coming back and having dessert and a hot beverage. It was a very nice wind-down for the night!

Today was interesting in that there was very little conversation during the walking. Things picked up at dinner, but it was very quiet during the day. I don’t think anybody minded, but it was just different than the rest of the week.
We did some more reflecting on the trip today and agree that 450 km in 18 days was ambitious. If I were to plan it again I would do it in two trips with a little more flexibility than this time. Live and learn, I guess. Next time we won’t make the same mistakes.
Feels like it might be chilly tonight. I’ve got everything I need either on me or keeping warm in my sleeping bag. I’m off to the loo one more time and will be bundled up for the night by 20:00. Not bad!! Thanks for reading, and good night everybody!

Health update - Blister situation is very positive right now. Legs are feeling decent all around. Ben is still struggling with his sore achilles, but was leading the way over the last few kilometres today. I will be keeping my eye on it and decide if we need another rest day when we get to Kinlochewe.

Best camp meal so far:
Zach - Ham and cheese buns with tomato soup
Ben - Same
JM - Same

Favourite hiking snack so far:
Zach - Fruit pastilles
Ben - Double Decker chocolate bar
JM - HobNobs at tea time

Route details:
We deviated from the SNT as per plan today. Once we got to Glen Affric we headed north through Gleann Gaorsaic. We picked up a trail at NH 033 247 and followed it as it descended into Strath Duilleach near Loch na Leitreach. We followed the glen NE and are wild camping beside Iron Lodge at NH 043 293.

Day 7 - Loch Garry to Cluanie

We got back on the trail today after our rest day yesterday. After a very delicious and filling breakfast at the Bank House B&B we did a little sight-seeing around Fort Augustus. We walked down to the head (or foot depending on how you look at it) of Loch Ness. It was very cool to see it in person, and we snapped a few photos. After looking around, and sitting around, for a few hours we finally caught the 14:00 bus to Cluanie, where we were supposed to end today. The drive only took about an hour but the scenery was spectacular. The road seemed treacherous, especially in a big bus! The driver was a professional though and was clearly used to this, and delivered us safely to our bus stop literally in the middle of nowhere. We had decided yesterday to walk 4-5 km along our route for tomorrow in order to make tomorrow a little less demanding. It actually felt great to have the packs back on. After about 1.5 km back along the road we headed north and were on our own again five minutes later. The conversations started up immediately and we seemed to get back into our normal groove. We had a very nice walk up An Caorann Mòr. I have no idea what that means, but if I had to guess it might be something like “Beautiful Solitary Hike Up Glen With Spectacular Mountains on Either Side”.

How to get your coat on without taking your pack off!

After passing what seemed like a dozen perfect camp spots we decided it was time to pitch up, and of course couldn’t find anything suitable. After an other half-hour of searching, and a couple of kms later we found something dry and flat beside a babbling stream, which seems to be a requirement for our personal preferences now. Our spot is about three kilometres from a place Mandy and I camped in 2017, as our routes are about to intersect for one last time on this trip. I remember that day in 2017 as being one which Mandy had to drag me along to finish. It was also the day we discovered crème brûlée thanks to our very good friend TT - this was an event that changed our lives forever!! We are probably 7-8 kilometres into tomorrow’s walk now, which helps set us up for success.

Tomato Soup and Ham and Cheese Buns

I have had time to reflect these past two days and have made a few observations:

Not starting with some shorter days was a mistake - we should have not been so ambitious right off the hop.
The 29 km mostly road day was a mistake - we should have broke it up or looked for an alternative route.
We have not been breaking enough, and we have been walking at too fast a pace. I need to remember that this is not a competition, and we are not in a race.
Hopefully we turn a new page over the next few days, stay a little more healthy, and have a bit more success.
A good family friend of ours wrote me some good advice before we left. He told me to go and expect that everything will work out, and that when it doesn’t just to deal with it. His advice was very helpful the last couple of days, and I will be sure to thank him when I get home.
I think our morale is up tonight as we are laying in our tents reading and writing blogs. We had tomato soup and ham and cheese buns for dinner tonight, with hot chocolate for dessert - how could we not be happy???
That’s it for today. Time to visit the restroom, and then call it a day. Thanks for reading everybody. Night-night!

Best meal from civilization the last few days:
Zach - Fish and chips at the Lock Inn with a pint of Bellhaven Best
Ben - Had three good ones and can’t decide: fish and chips st the Lock Inn, baked haddock filet in Fort William, and steak pie with potatoes and veggies at the Lock Inn again
JM - I also had steak pie, which I enjoyed, but all of those cooked veggies were extra-delicious!

Route notes: We were to follow the SNT official route between Fort Augustus and Cluanie on Days 6 and 7.

Rest Day Photos

These are just a few pictures we took on our rest day today.

In Fort William

Ben Nevis

Bank House B&B Room

Day 5 - Garva Bridge to Fort Augustus

We made it to Fort Augustus yesterday at about 16:30. I was too tired and full to write an entry last night so I am doing it today instead.
We woke up yesterday morning to some very light drizzle. It looked like it might get worse but fortunately it stopped and we were able to pack up in relatively good conditions. We were pretty excited at the prospect of having a pub meal that night, but we were a little down after a tough day the day before. The road walking really took a toll on us. After a slow start we hit a bit of a groove through to Melgarve bothy. We stopped for a look and there were two gentlemen from Glasgow just getting their day started - Nick and Grant. Nick was having a very hard time getting Grant to wake up, so he was happy we were there to make some noise. Grant finally came down about 30 minutes later and couldn’t understand why we had all gotten up so early - it was already 10:15 at that point. Haha! We all had a great chat. They were in the area doing some climbing. We talked about tourism, the wind farms and hydro schemes, and somehow even Donald Trump - not the Scotts’ favourite person in the world! It was a nice break, and I appreciated getting their view on different things. After we left the bothy we started the climb over the Corrieyairack Pass, something Amanda and I did in a raging storm in 2017. This time it was sunny with clouds and a little wind. We had some tremendous views on the way up and down, and stopped for lunch about 15 minutes after we started the descent.

On The Way Down From Corrieyairack

The next nice bit was at the bottom along General Wade’s Military Road in the Culachy Forests. The trees were very unique and it was very beautiful.

Optical Illusion??

Our first view of Fort Augustus was exciting. We could almost taste the fish and chips!! It ended up being quite a bit further than we thought, but we finally walked into town around 16:30 and found our B&B for the night. The first showers after five days in the bush felt sooo good, and the fish and chips at the Lock Inn were well worth all of the hard work.

At The Locks After Dinner

We had a strategy session at dinner, and made some tough decisions. I am not ashamed to say that Scotland has gotten the better of us in this first five days of walking. As a result, we decided to try and get some healing in and skip the Fort Augustus to Cluanie leg. We are going to rejoin our route tomorrow afternoon where we would have been and see how we do the following three days before we hit civilization again. We took a bus to Fort William today to look for some new hiking shoes for Ben, in addition to a few other supplies. The rest is doing us some good I am sure, both physically and mentally. It was also cool to get to see Ben Nevis. We also re-evaluated our daily routine and have agreed to focus on a few more regular breaks with snacks throughout the hikes. Wish us luck. I hope that I have some good news to report in four days when we get a signal again.
I think that gets us back up to date. As always, I really appreciate the support we are getting from everybody reading the blog. Thank you all so much!! I’m off to bed now. Good night!

Route Details - The route was very straight-forward today. We continued West from Garva Bridge, past Melgarve bothy, and over the Corrieyairack Pass. From the North side of the pass we stayed on the General Wade’s Military road all the way to Fort Augustus passing through the burial ground on the way into town.