Day 4
Bearneas Bothy to Kinlochewe
8th May
31km
Once packed we headed off up the path at the side of the Bothy, which was to take us over Baobh-bhacan Dubha, again this was an intermittent path, visibility deteriorated nearer to the top due to low cloud base. I was carrying a Satmap GPS with me and used it to confirm our position when the path faded out near to the top, the plan was to find the two small lochs to our right so that we could connect with the path once more,
this done it was easy going on the path which leads to the cliffs of Creag a` Chaorainn. Visibility was poor at the cliffs but the rocky path down was easy to follow, zigging and zagging until it levelled out under the cloud base, now we had a great view of Achnashellach with Sgorr Ruadh in the background and the coulin Pass which was the route we were going to be taking.
The path down enters the forest and soon we were on the forest road at the bottom, from here we turned left (rather than complete the 3 mile dog-leg to the bridge and back) to find the planned spot to cross the river Carron, this spot was where the river was at its widest with an island in it.
Now!, Shaun has a novel way of crossing a river, it looks a bit odd to say the least but it works, he arrived on the far bank with dry feet, I on the other hand I had a pair of trainers for the job, but I took about four times longer than shaun took to cross.
With the crossing complete we made our way along the road to the train station or should I say platform where we were to take a short break before ascending to the Coulin Pass.
With the break over we set off on the ascent through the forest refreshed by our break on a good metaled road only to be turned back down to almost the road side again by a diversion due to forest operations, this was Bl##dy frustrating as we ended up back at where we had first reached the road before our break only to start the ascent all over again. This time it was on a narrow footpath which led to the East side of the forest before it meandered up to the top where it joined the metaled road once more,
through a gate at the back side of the forest and down the other side with great views down, presumably of Glen Coulin.
We stopped under the buckled bridge that crosses the river Coulin at Torran Coulin for our main break of the day as it had started to drizzle now. After our break we entered the forest directly behind Torran Coulin house on a good forest road, about half a mile into the forest we turned off to the right onto a boggy intermittent footpath which had blown trees over it, it led out of the forest and onto the open ground of Feith an Tairbh.
All over the open ground there was white fleece about 10’x10’ pegged to the ground, we have no idea what they were for but we did have a few guesses which included insect research by boffins and markers for personal food drops by air for other walkers, Now the path enters what was once a forest at a deer fence with a large gate, the descent isn’t as straight forward as you would think, because of the tree felling, the old path has presumably been obliterated and the new path descends and then ascends over and over again until you finally reach the far corner at the bottom, the path from here is marked with posts but it wasn’t long before we lost them, fafing about wasting time looking for them we decided to cross the open field and river in front of Cromasaig to complete the days walk on the horrid black stuff into Kinlochewe.
On arrival at Kinlochewe we went straight round to the caravan park because this was where I had sent a food parcel some time before by post, once collected the next stop was the shop to get the elusive fruit scones and stock up for the second half of the walk with junk food, but alas still no scones to be had. Our night was at the Kinlochewe Hotel Bunkhouse, good hot showers and a soft pillow. I think it was at this point that Shaun heard from Stevie, He was too unwell to continue so had returned home. Once organised in the bunkhouse dinner was high on the list of priorities, “Sod it, a bar meal! NO CHIPS ON THE BAR MENU!” What’s that all about? There were five other people (canoeists) in the bunkhouse they also were in for a bar meal, but when they heard us go on about no chips on the menu they left and went to the café around the corner where they could get chips. Steak pie and mashed spuds, it’s not quite the same! Anyway, moan out of the way and moving on, back to the bunkhouse to catch up with home and get ready for bed.
No planning needed for tomorrow as it was to be my day off, Shaun was going to have his day off at Ullapool the day after. We agreed to meet up at either Knockdamph Bothy or the Schoolhouse Bothy, whichever of us reached Knockdamph Bothy first would leave a message in the bothy book if they were going on to the schoolhouse Bothy. ZZZZzzzz!
Day 5
Kinlochewe - day off at the bunkhouse
9th May
The day started overcast and cool, Shaun packed up his kit and said his goodbyes, he was heading for Ullapool today while I lay about.
As this was a day of rest, organising my kit and doing my laundry, I’ll use this opportunity to blab on about the kit I had with me, to some it may be interesting if they are considering doing the CWT but to others it will be dull, so just skip this chapter out.
Rucksack
Osprey Exos 46 (1.09kg) and rain cover – I decided to change this year from my Hagloffs Matrix 70 (1.7kg) due to its reviews, weight, functionality of the external pockets and back system. There was an annoying squeak from it which I wasn’t aware of until Shaun pointed it out to me on the second last day; this had been bugging him since almost the start of the walk. The pole carrying system on the shoulder strap worked well for holding the waterproof map case.
Tent
GoLite Shangri-la 3 (1.2kg) – Another change from last year as mentioned before, a huge amount of space to weight ratio which was incorporating the Oook nest half inner with an inverted T zip, This was purchased from Oookworks.com , made to the specifications that you desire and is worth every penny, this inner opens up the entire floor space allowing you to cook indoors in poor weather or even hold a barn dance. The only down side with the tent is its high profile, I had no confidence with it in a high wind, of which there was plenty in the second half of the walk.
Sleeping (1,210g)
The sleeping mat was the Neo Air regular (410g)
Sleeping bag was the Vango Venom 300 down bag (800g)
Cooking (2,788g)
Honey stove (362g)
Trangia meth’s burner (120g)
Evernew Titanium Solo Cook Set (149g)
Trangia 1ltr meths bottle (1,160g)
Sigg 600ml water bottle (750g)
Travel tap 500ml (180g)
Titanium long spoon (17g)
Light My Fire Oak Fire Steel (50g)
50ml Fairy liquid and pot scourer (65g)
Food (6.5 kg) – half posted forward to Kinlochewe and the Kinlochbervie Hotel
5 X freeze dried main meals & 5 X freeze dried puddings from be-well.co.uk
5 X Home-made dehydrated meals
10 X Alpen Porridge oats vacuum packed with sugar and powdered milk
20 X sachets of 3 in1 coffee
20 x Cereal snack bars (more picked up along the way)
Washing Kit (240g)
Medium travel towel, half a bar of Dettol soap, cut down toothbrush and mini paste, nappy rash cream, disposable razor with detachable head, mini deodorant, tissues and folding wash bowl.
Clothing (4,182g)
Salamon Cosmic 4D boots (620g)
Merrell waterpro mesh trainers (350g)
Berghaus extreme Gore-Tex jacket (480g)
Montane Atomic waterproof trousers (170g)
Outdoor Designs Gore-Tex gaiters (280g)
Outdoor research cap (50g)
Sealskinz waterproof gloves (180g)
Karrimor down jacket (450g)
Montane trousers (255g) and shorts (200g)
Montane Featherlite Smock (100g)
Salomon Trail Runner II 1/2 Zip Tech Tee (130g)
Mountain Hardwear wicked lite T shirt (120)
Berghaus long sleeve zip T shirt (212g)
4 pairs of Coolmax socks (240g)
3 pairs of Baw bags (270g)
Sunglasses & case (75g)
First aid kit (270g)
Medium dressing, T bandage, assorted plasters, roll of fabric tape, Anadin extra, anti diahorrea tablets, burns gel, scissors, Rennies, Lightweight Emergency Bivvy/survival bag, chap stick, Wound glue and paper stiches.
Electrical (2,182g)
Samsung waterproof phone (100g)
Apple ipod shuffle & headphones (25g)
Canon SX40HS camera/case and 4 spare batteries (1,150g) 2 x batteries posted forward
Satmap Active 10 and 9 x 2900mah batteries (480g) 6 x batteries posted forward
10,000 mah battery pack (250g)
Spot 2 GPS tracker & 3 X spare AAA batteries (150g)
Pizel E+Lite head torch (27g)
Miscellaneous (1,677g)
Leki Makalu Corklite speedlock poles (542g) pair
Zippo lighter and other stuff to go with it! (150g)
Combination knife (100g)
6 x various sized dry bags (250g)
10 x OS Land Ranger maps cut down (460g) 5 posted forward
Compass (50g)
Suntan lotion & insect repellent (125g)
Day 6
Sign post error
Kinlochewe to Dunonnell
31km
10th May
Up at stupid O’clock in the morning to have my breakfast and pack up, I had put all my kit into the bunkhouse kitchen the night before so that I wouldn’t wake up all the other people who were snorting and snoring, burping and farting, but there is always a floorboard or a door that creeks when you least expect it. Today my pack was going to be at its heaviest again because of the restocking, I noticed it as soon as I put it on, just like the first day. The morning began cool, dry and a bit overcast.
Out of the bunkhouse turning right onto the A832 for a short distance to where I turned off left over the Kinlochewe river to Incheril, as you walk along this road you have a good view of Loch Maree down the glen to your left, Now here is a question for all you history boffins out there, Kinlochewe means head of Loch Ewe, So obviously the loch has had a name change at some point in history, why, when and who was Maree?
Once you reach the end of the road you pass through a gate onto a farm track which leads to the heights of kinlochewe, this part is very easy,
all the way to a junction were I turned left through another gate which is the entrance into a new indigenous hardwood forest. If I had turned right it would have led me to the film set of Stardust, a film where Robert Deniro plays a camp, closet transvestite pirate in in a ship that flies. I forgot about it at the time so didn’t visit.
The walk uphill at first isn’t hard and you are soon descending Gleann na Muice on a gravel foot path all the way to Loch Fada, about half way down the glen there is a junction in the foot path which has a metal sign post, it is wrong, someone has scratched this fact onto it, so check your map, don’t rely on the sign.
The view down Loch Fada flanked by the mountains of Slioch, Sgurr Dubh, Bein Lair and Beinn Tarsuinn is superb, almost at the loch I turned right uphill with no path, the going was easy underfoot as the ground was dry, the higher up Bealach Ban I got the stronger and colder the wind got.
The two landmarks that I was aiming for were firstly, Loch Meallan an Fhudair which I missed by quite a bit to the west and then the waterfall which I hit bang on,
from here I could see Bealach na Croise in front of me at about the same height as me, but the ground in-between dropped away quite a bit before rising up once again, so I simply skirted round to the west keeping at the same height,
once at Bealach na Croise I found a path which isn’t shown on my map, this was intermittent and at times a bit rocky, it headed for the path at the side of Loch an Nid. I was having a great day with simple walking, enjoying the views of Mullach Coire Mhic Fhearchair, Sgurr Ban and Beinn a Chlaidheimh with their exposed great slabs of rock.
On reaching the junction with the track that leads down into Strath na Sealga and Shenavall Bothy I decided to have a good long break in the sunshine.
Now came the ascent on a good metaled track over Dundonnell Forest (no trees), Again as I gained height the wind became colder until I dropped down into the lee of the hill and into the open woodland of Gleann Chaorachain where I encountered the wild goats, some of the kids were up the trees, it’s amazing to see a goat climb a tree!
When I popped out onto the A832 it was a left turn then only a short five minute walk on the black stuff, then it was now a right turn over an old stone bridge heading towards Dundonnell house.
Just over the bridge past the farm buildings there is a thin strip of land between the road and the river, this is where I chose to camp for the night as there is a thick layer of moss over the ground which is then covered in last year’s leaves from the mature beech trees that overhang the area, very comfy and warm!.
I decided that when my tent was up and I was organised for the night that I would nip along to the Dundonnell Hotel for dinner, I didn’t look at the map, I had assumed that it wasn’t far away, Mmmm! over 5 miles to it and back along the shores of Little Loch Broom, but the food was very good. Having returned from my epic march to get dinner, it was time for bed and bring a close to a fantastic days walk. ZZZZzzzz !
Day 7
Race to the Bothy
Dundonnell to the School House Bothy
36.7km
11th May
This day started cold and wet; there was definitely a change in the weather this week, so unfortunately I wasn’t taking my camera out of its dry bag until it had stopped raining.
Following the normal mornings routine it was time to backtrack to the bridge and turn left immediately before it, through a gate and up a track which led past a house on the left, once past the house the track continues along the bank of the river at the edge of a field with steep sides, turn left and cross the field which is uphill towards the tree line of an open wood, no path, once you reach the tree line you will find an old path which will take you to Inver broom Lodge. The footpath was very wet and had blown trees all over it, This section is steep in places but you soon pop out onto open moorland which remains up and down on a faded quad track at times all the way to the start of the descent at Creag Bhriste, nearer to the bottom as you approach the forest it becomes very steep on grass, when wet it’s very slippy and I ended up on my backside several times (each time the air was blue with obscenities!). Once at the bottom I had a break out of the rain in the shelter of the bus stop before crossing the river and turning left onto the A835 which leads to Ullapool, I was only going as far as Campbelltown which is just before Leckmelm, this was a miserable, cold and wet walk on the black stuff on a very busy road with the driving rain in my face. This road walk was completed in double quick time. After turning off for Campbelltown it was into the forest on a good track which was sheltered by the trees, it was however extremely steep all the way to the top. On leaving the forest passing through another gate the ground levels out, now the sun has come out and once more it becomes a pleasurable walk,
through Strath Nimhe to East Rhidorroch where the descent is once more steep on a good but wet track, At the back of the house I was confronted with a tall stone dyke flanked by a deer fence, the only way over was on a metal style, into what felt like the garden of the house, once over the style two dogs in the garden spotted me and drew the attention of the owner towards me, I thought I was going to get a roasting from the chap but he just turned round and went back to what he was doing, Passing the left side of the house and across a field to a wire bridge which spans the Rhidorroch River,
then it was a right turn onto a good metaled road which goes all the way past Knockdamph bothy at the East end of Loch an Daimh, this is easy going.
Arriving at Knockdamph Bothy,
did I beat Shaun? I had a look in the Bothy book for the last entry, he had been and gone two hours before me leaving a note in the book letting me know he was heading for The School House Bothy.
After an hours rest I continued towards the School House as well, On reaching Abhainn Poiblidh water I couldn’t be bothered changing into my trainers to make the crossing, instead I opted to cross hopping from one exposed rock to the next, putting a rock in where one was missing.
On arrival at the Bothy I was greeted by Shaun who had made himself at home in the very posh
Bothy, After spreading my tent out on the floor in the other room to dry and getting organised for the night we exchanged the experiences of our chosen routes over the last two days whilst having dinner and having a nice relaxing evening before retiring for the night. ZZZZzzzz !
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