Strathan & Knoydart

Clicking on pictures gives access to the full album with 156 pictures.

31 March 2006: Prologue

Quite a transition: back from a business trip in sunny Monte-Carlo, quickly changing to field dress in the airport in order to leave to North Britain! As direct flights to Glasgow had been cancelled recently, I head for Newcastle upon Tyne. There is still some time to visit the airport lounge. With my heavy boots I'm a bit out of sync with the business suits prevailing there, but a good dram brings one in the mood!
Arrival in Newcastle and checking in the new Albatros hostel, very close to the station. Just time enough for a pint at the Bigg Market; Newcastle remains one of the more lively and pleasant cities in England.

01 April 2006: Start in Glenfinnan

An early departure today, the 0630 to Edinburgh, and then on to Glasgow Queen Street. Time for some shopping, mainly gas and oatmeal. Still time for an "80" in the famous Horseshoe pub, to catch the 1240 to Fort William. The line towards Mallaig is out of use for maintenance, so it's the bus to Glenfinnan, where at 1700 the actual departure of the walk can take place. A light drizzle alternating with sunshine: the ideal weather to get some nice rainbows over Glenfinnan Viaduct! About one hour walk up the glen, until Corryhully bothy is reached. A bothy with the luxury of electric lighting! Very cold inside though, despite lighting a fire with the wet wood available. No cold once sleeping in the bag though, and a good start of it all.

02 April 2006: Corryhully to Strathan

Breakfast with tea and oatmeal, systemizing everything and hit the road for the good climb to the Bealach A'Chaoroainn where snow patches were still abundant. A very good path on the ascent, the descent into Glen Cuirnean however was more difficult, with a mostly poorly defined path, slopes to be traversed, Allt Cuirnean to be forded several times and above all progressing slowly through a terrain really saturated with water. No more precipitation though, and nice views to be seen in all directions through this rough, desolate glen. The bottom of the glen and the river Pean were reached by the late afternoon.

Time to look for a camping spot, but the flat areas around the river were extremely boggy, once got stuck until my knees which gained me wet feet! Eventually a nice feature was discovered: a small islet in the river, covered in hard grass, the ideal place to pitch. The islet has no name, but being adjacent to the knoll Tom na h-Iolaire it could get the same name which means Eagle Island! The rain started just after I finished pitching, but I was warm and dry inside by then! First night in the Nammatj, which lives to its expectations. Quiet night, with only the tickling sound of the rain, and towards the morning, hail!

03 April 2006: Strathan to Sourlies

Just a short walk to arrive in the famous town of Strathan. One well-kept house (presumably used for holidays only), a few semi-derelict farm buildings and a corrugated iron building reported to be the schoolhouse: this is the whole "town"! One could nearly call it a ghost town! Very atmospheric place though.
Further on through Glen Dessary with its fauna, including a large herd of deer, quite tame now it's out of season, as well as Highland coos. After the last house the path goes further up and becomes a bit rougher, and it was shortly before crossing Allt Coire nan Uth that malchance struck: I slipped badly on a boggy bit, while my foot was still standing, twisting it badly in the process.

I could stand up and walk again, obviously nothing broken, but further progress was a bit painful and slow. One had just to go on though. I was happy though to wear my high Meindl Army Pro boots which must have prevented more serious injuries. The weather turned worse too and on the bealach I had to endure a snow shower with near zero visibility. It cleared up soon afterwards, with very nice views unfolding on Loch Nevis. The descent through Glen Finiskaig to get there was very difficult however, particularly the last bit, a quite steep descent with lots of big stones on the path which gave me problems to position my sore foot on. Eventually I reached Sourlies bothy at 8.30 pm, just before dark.

Nobody else in the bothy, so I had some space to put out things to dry, make some tea and eat oatmeal again, and inspect my foot which looked pretty battered indeed. I had a relatively good night of sleep though, on the elevated wooden floor of the bothy, pondering on what to do next. Several scenarios were envisaged, but all of them meant that at least I had to continue from here towards Inverie the next day by my own means.

04 April 2006: Sourlies to Inverie

Up early, since it would be a very long and hard day, having to climb 1600 feet to reach Inverie. On reaching the salt marshes of the Carnach valley, I was overtaken though by three hikers who happened to be Dutchmen. They were very friendly and took over a large part of my load, making it much easier for me to cross the rickety footbridge and go up the hill in a reasonable timespan. They left me at the bealach; I gave them my spare bottle of whisky as a thankful token of recognition. Thanks again guys! They kept carrying a few heavy items however and arranged to leave them at the footbridge down Glen Meadail, as they were not heading for Inverie village.

The path down Glen Meadail was good and smooth. I got some more help from a friendly Scot, and made it eventually to Inverie, where I pitched on the basic campsite provided at Long Beach. I had decided by then what to do with my foot: postpone the continuation of my walk to Glen Shiel and Glen Affric, taking two days rest in Inverie instead, returning by the Friday boat, going to Fort William and catching up with the work party in Inverness. The two next days would be calm then, the only movement to make being the walk to the quintessential place in Inverie: the Old Forge Pub!

05 and 06 April 2006: Inverie

The idea of camping of the beach may sound nice, and the venue fabulous with great views in all directions indeed, but weather conditions were somewhat different, dominated by heavy rain and wind most of the time. The Nammatj showed its expedition-grade quality however, standing strong in even the heaviest gales and providing a nice and dry environment to enable me to take a lot of rest of course, but also to do some reading, and doing some essential maintenance like shining my boots which really had become necessary and which was in a way a boost for my morale too.

By the end of the afternoon of these days however, I got bored and hungry enough to venture outside again and head for the Old Forge. This remote pub offers excellent food (I'd particularly recommend the scallops), a welcome treat after a few days of eating mostly oatmeal, and beer on tap of course! With a few pints of "80" I had the chance to have a chat with both local peoples (including the only Briton I ever met who was an admirer of Napoleon!) and visitors such as the electricians working on the local hydro plant. A good pub indeed!

07 April 2006: Departure

Early departure and waiting for a (near) windless moment to de-pitch and walk back through the rain to the village to catch the 1100 departure of the "Western Isles" to Mallaig.
The actual crossing must have been the only dry spell of the morning, so it gave a good opportunity to stay on the outside deck, breathe the sea air and admiring the views.
At Mallaig, I was offered a lift to Fort William by the electricians, and went to see my friends living there. The next morning, I would take the bus to Inverness to catch up with the work party there and go on to the West Affric camp.

So thus I left Knoydart by boat, instead of walking out as provided. But the whole thing did not despair me, and I will certainly come back here the next time to continue the trip, if only to have a reason to visit this nice piece of land again!