Reflections of TGO 2023

 I've taken my time to have a good think about this post. I think we can safely say, my Challenge this year didn't go to plan.

I didn't have any major changes of gear this year, except I carried my RAB Xenair gilet and the lighter of my two Montane primaloft jackets, the Prism, in the hope of a little more flexibility with my insulated layers. I also had my Montane Primino zip top instead of my Montane Allez Micro. The combination seemed to work, but I was still cold at night at times, so I might have a re-think.

My food plan works, so long as I can find suitable items to resupply. Kinlochleven was tricky, but I managed. Perhaps more imagination needed.

The route plan itself wasn't the best, I think I lost sight of my goal of a simple route across Scotland and took the easy option of cycle paths in the first few days which meant I had long days. Coupled with the added pressure of a ferry crossing on the first day, and missing the most convenient one back to the main land, the first three days proved to be quite taxing. The blisters that developed on Day Four were my own fault, I felt the hot spots but couldn't be bothered to deal with them, I was so close to camp. At the end of Day Five I really aggravated them after taking some heavy duty painkillers for my shoulder and didn't realise the damage I was doing until they exploded.

In the first few days after returning home, I was convinced I was not going to Challenge again. I have now failed four times out of twelve to get across Scotland, perhaps I'm not really cut out for this? There was some doubt in my mind that the Challenge itself might continue after 2024, meaning maybe I couldn't now get my 10th Challenge, so what was the point?

After a while, I decided that if I didn't get my 9th next year, and the Challenge did continue, it would take me longer to get my 10th.

Then I had news from my dear friend Alan that change my thinking completely. Alan had been hugely influential on my having entered the Challenge in the first place, back in 2009. Ever since, he had been the most wonderful support, always encouraging and interested. Not just to me, but to dozens of other Challengers and First Timers.

So now, I *have* to get my 10th. Because Alan had faith in me. So I must have faith in me too.

Thanks Alan xx

Alan and his pal, Phil, in the Mason's Arms, Tarfside

Reflections of TGO22

Gear

Tarptent Notch

The major bit of new or largely untested gear is my tent, Netty Notch. I had only spent about 3 nights in her before this Challenge, and the main test had been whether the midges could get in last June/July. Which they didn't.

This year, midgies weren't going to be the biggest issue.

The inner of this tent is half solid, half mesh, so it was possible that I could be cold, but I never felt that there was a cold draught coming through the mesh, so that was good. We had plenty of rain overnight, but Netty was completely water tight, which was also reassuring. The main problem faced this year was high winds, so pitching the tent and remaining upright was the concern. Because of some of the decisions I made, based on the forecast, meant I was mostly pitched safely with shelter, unlike some other unfortunate Challengers who had to endure several difficult nights. The worst conditions I faced were on the Invernahavon Campsite, so I was at least in a safe place, but I was still pretty worried by the huge gusts of wind over a two or three hour period, the torrential rain at the time meant that if Netty had failed my gear would all be soaked, so when the rain had first woken me, I had packed everything away in my rucksack and had a plan to rescue my sleeping bag and mat to keep them as dry as possible. As it was, Netty was awesome, my walking poles, Black Diamond Carbon FLZ, also new, were absolutely solid and we survived in tact.

As well as being pitched with my walking poles, the other main difference with this tent is having two porches. I find this incredibly useful. When Netty is pitched, she is pointy end into the wind. because of the way the doors open, one will open into the wind, the other will be sheltered, so when emptied I keep my rucksack in the windy porch as I won't be opening that one again till I drop the tent. The other porch is where I will keep my boots and water and use my stove, with the door open. Unless it is raining, this works well. If it is raining, it really depends on how the rain is falling as to whether I use my stove or not, I usually have enough food with me that I can cope without having to light my stove if necessary.

I need more practice to pitch her nicely every time, but overall, I think I like Netty, and trust her.

MSR 9" Core Pegs

Yup, four teamed with four mini-ground hog pegs, did a great job.

MSR Pocket Rocket Deluxe

I had a new stove this year, an MSR Pocket Rocket Deluxe, and I had an Alpkit MyTi mug to go with it. I had debated what size gas canister to take as obviously I expected to use more gas than with my Jetboil Flash, but had no idea how much. I settled on taking a 230g cannister, and if needed I could collect a small can from Laura's front porch or buy one in Braemar or Ballater. I also knew I wouldn't be on my own in the second week, so if I badly miscalculated, there would be someone who had spare.

I found that I was comfortable with the stove after a few uses, it burned well and usually brought a half litre of water to the boil relatively quickly, unless it was catching a bit of wind. I did not use it in the porch without the door open, which I have done with my Flash in my Laser, but I don't think I would use the Flash in Netty's porch either.

I almost got across Scotland with the one canister, I just needed to borrow a small canister from Barry on the last morning for my coffee, so that gives me an idea of how much gas I might use in future, I did not have a hot meal and drink every night and sometimes no coffee in the morning, mainly due to mood, not weather.

The Alpit MyTi mug is also great, no issues with that except I am stupid and kept burning my fingers. I have made myself a pot grab to resolve this.

Buff Trek Bucket Hat

I love my Tilley hat, I have taken it on all but one of my Challenges thus far, but the brim catches on the top of my pack and gets irritating. So this year after a little bit of searching I found the Buff Trek Bucket Hat and I have loved it. It fits nicely, has a handy little bit of adjustable elastic cord at the back of the had, a big enough brim to give protection but not catch on my pack, it is light and comfortable to wear and takes up no space in the pack. A good buy.

The Crocs

Croc Literide. These are not a lightweight option, but they are a really comfortable shoe to wear when I take my boots off, which after suffering Plantar Fasciitis for nearly two years and recently resolving the issue, I wanted something with support and comfort, so this was my choice. I decided to pack them in the parcel I would collect at Newtonmore, this was an illogical decision given the river crossings I was due to make on days One and Seven, but in the event, I made no river crossings that required a change of footwear and got away with the decision. I would also say that, once I had my Crocs, I was glad of them when I took my boots off at the end of the day. They may be heavy, but are likely to be high on the list next time.

Rab Borealis Jacket and Montane Primino Hoody

I wore the Borealis every day, either under my waterproofs, or as my top layer. I also wore it as a thin layer in bed over my Montane Primino Hoody. I love it. It is light and comfortable, very effective as a windproof and doesn't make me hot underneath my waterproofs. Love it. The Primino Hoody is super comfortable, surprisingly cosy for such a thin layer and the hood was fantastic instead a hat in my sleeping bag. I also wore this as my social top, as it is largely merino, it stays odour free for days, brilliant top.

Montane Dart LS top

A great t-shirt, worn every day to walk and only washed twice I think during the trip, just wish it was slightly longer.

Knickers

Back to the drawing board with these, I took two pairs of Sloggi knickers, Wow Comfort and Sensual Fresh, neither of which were comfortable to walk in, one was better than the other thankfully. Merino is definitely better for freshness, just need to find a comfortable pair that don't have an awkwardly placed seam that rubs on my hips. I had sore, rubbed hips again this year, I like the rucksack, it carries well, but there is conflict between my rucksack belt and knickers that causes the rubbing which I need to resolve. I put clear film waterproof dressings on this year, the kind used on a canular or new tattoo, they definitely helped, but it was still sore enough that I had to take painkillers towards the end of the longer days, so I need to sort this.

Hoka One One Sky Kaha boots

I love these boots, no rubs, no blisters, no sore toes, all day comfort. I will buy them again.

Kula Cloth

Hmm. Saved my carrying much toilet paper, needs much more sunlight to work at its best. Enough said.

Panda Bamboo Dry Wipes

Yup, work fine, will take again.

Salt of the Earth Deodourant Crystal

Brilliant, I felt much better than I usually do, I had a wipe down at night using the Panda wipes and then applied the crystal. I use the bigger version every day at home and for me, it is amazing. Love it.

Aluminium mat cut off

Next time, don't forget it. I could definitely feel the cold coming up through my mat from the ground, just enough to notice it, if the weather had been colder, I would have been miserable. Take the mat!

At this moment in time, I think that was all my major new kit.

Struggles

Clearly, I had a bit of a crisis before the start of the Challenge this year. There was a combination of issues which ganged up on me, but Ciara's advice of step by step, go to the start, was crucial. Once there, I was able to focus on each decision, one at a time, and once walking, I relaxed and had no further issues.

I did not eat brilliantly for a few days before setting off which did not help, and the first few days on the Challenge I wasn't brilliant either. The evening meal I had at the Prince's House Hotel definitely helped, once I got to Newtonmore, my food problems resolved.

I felt as though I didn't sleep well, but I think in reality, I was often asleep much earlier than normal, and even if I was awake several times in the night, it was mainly for very short periods of time, and on the whole I got a good amount of sleep. This probably helped with my mood and with my decision making.

The most important thing was meeting friends in the second week. It gives an enormous boost to be able to discus your adventures and to have them put into perspective by hearing theirs. Don't underestimate the power of your friends!

Adventures with Ellie - West Highlands 24th August 2021

We had an opportunity to go away with Ellie towards the end of August, so the Tuesday night saw us making our way towards Invergarry in order to park up overnight and then walk Gleouraich the following morning. We were aware that the A82 was shut at Invergarry and we had to follow the signed diversion. This however did not go to plan, the road we needed was also shut, despite having followed the diversion, so we stopped in the next large layby, luckily away from the road and sheltered by a large bank of trees, so any noise from passing traffic was deadened significantly and we had a reasonable night.

In the morning, we returned to the junction and were able to continue on our route, towards Invergarry before taking the road to Kinloch Hourn. It's a narrow and slow road, and we arrived at the parking area just before lunch. Our sandwiches were ready, so we packed them in our packs, put on our boots and set off.

We have tackled this hill before, last time in May 2010, when we had hoped to be on our first Challenge. We hadn't made it off the standby list but had hired a VW van, Rosie, and gone away for a few days. I didn't make it to the summit on that occasion. This time, it was a really warm, dry day, with little breeze and a cloudless sky. I remembered the beginning of the walk quite clearly, the neverending zigzags up hill, passed by two ladies on their way down, continuing until we eventually reached a memorial. I had waited here last time for David as he quickly climbed to the summit and I had rested. There was another name added to the plaque since we were last there. This time we were plagued by flies. They were buzzing around our heads and landing on us, on our faces, necks and arms, on our heads and burrowing into our hair and biting. They refused to be swatted away and couldn't be flicked off, they had to be nipped and pulled off. They were keds and are quite vile. From this point on the keds were our constant companions.

We continued on, climbing to a false summit where we paused to allow the young lady who had caught us up and two young lads coming towards us to pass comfortably. Then we continued up to the summit cairn. I had to coax myself on after the memorial, the path was at times close to what felt like a precipitous edge, I do not enjoy such exposure and need to stay focussed and calm, trying to keep my breathing controlled and relaxed and DON'T LOOK DOWN. The summit cairn was surrounded by a huge swarm of keds, but I had to touch it to be able to claim the Munro, so I held my breath and shut my eyes for the obligatory selfie. I quickly moved away once done to get photographs of the views, but the swarm came with me and I didn't linger too long before we started the return journey.

Again, I had to coax myself and muttered my mantra "You're fine, you're okay, you're doing fine." until we eventually reached easier ground again. Once round the corner and onto the zigzag path, we lost the swarms of keds, which was a relief, but the path just seemed to go on forever. We were caught up and passed by another chap, an older gentleman who was some kind of mountain goat, powered by the call of a flask of coffee in his car. He quickly disappeared from view.

As we neared the bottom of the path,  we found the handle of a walking pole, I thought it was from a folding pole and had seen the young lady had been carrying a pair, so I thought it might belong to her. I wondered if we could leave it at her car, but once back at the car park I wasn't confident which was hers and didn't want to leave it in prominent position in case she didn't see it or it wasn't hers and was therefore litter, so we opted to take it with us and bin it.

Once back with Ellie, we had first replenished our water bottles, added a hydration tablet and drank at least a litre each. We then ate the lunch we had carried with us as with the keds for company, we had not wanted to stop and eat on the hill. We didn't want to sit too long as we weren't sure if the road was going to shut overnight again, but we needed a rest before setting off for our next overnight stop, which we had decided would be at Creag Meagaidh car park.

We had no problem getting through Invergarry and were soon in the local Spar in Spean Bridge to buy vital supplies, beer, pudding and chocolate. Then we were on our way again.

Creag Meagaidh is part of a nature reserve looked after by Scottish Natural Heritage. There is a large car park and they welcome campers (admittedly, they probably mean in tents) as long as people behave respectfully and maybe make a donation, which we did. There are also toilets up the hill a bit, so we visited them. The toilets are to the side of a shelter where there was information on the reserve and its wildlife. The toilets were clean and well looked after.

Roughly 8.76km and total ascent 918m

There were several vans and a couple of tents that pitched overnight, it was a busy little car park with some comings and goings late into the evening, but we had a pleasant evening and a reasonable night. In the morning we had a relaxed breakfast and made use of the facilities again before heading for home. As we were about to pull off, David noticed one of the newly arrived cars was very familiar, then recognised the driver, our young lady from the hill! He was out of Ellie and across the car park in a shot, she was somewhat surprised as he approached her but when he explained we thought we might have her walking pole handle she was utterly delighted, it was indeed hers and she had greatly missed it the day before when coming off the hill. I retrieved it from our rubbish box and we reunited owner and handle.

On the way home, we stopped by Ruthven Barracks. We've passed by so many times, but have never stopped and had a look, so today we did. We had a pleasant wander around the impressive ruins (mostly, but people...) before re-joining Ellie and trying to decide where to have lunch. We ended up in car park near Feshiebridge where we popped the roof and made coffee to go along with our sandwiches and biscuits.

Adventures with Ellie - West Highlands 28th May '21

I had not run since my half marathon in the middle of April and in fact had done little walking, considering the Challenge was in a little over two weeks time, I thought a walk in my new boots would be a good idea. So we set off with Ellie to the North West Highlands and the car park for Beinn Eighe. There were quite a few vehicles when we arrived, we guessed a few of them were staying overnight, some with occupants, and some would have late returners from the hills.

We had a pleasant evening, a few vehicles came and went, and we had some very late, very noisy, very rude arrivals.

We were off for our walk at a good time, just gone 09:00, which is early for us, but there were already plenty of people and we had company all the way there and back. We walked to Loch Coire Mhic Fhearchair, far enough and rough enough to test the boots and the ankle. We were passed by many people as we walked, but we were just dawdling and pausing to take photos and practice my map and compass skills, as it had been two years since I'd used them and I can lack confidence.

We arrived at the loch after two and a half hours in time for lunch. There was a group already gathering on some handy rocks, so we found some more a little distance away on which to sit and enjoy our sandwiches. I sat watching a few people making their way up to the ridge, some took a more interesting route than others. I wasn't sure I'd like it.

Eventually it was time to return to Ellie, we arrived in good time to dither about where we would spend the night. Having decided we would return to The Fairy Lochs the following day, but that the car park would not be suitable to stay in. We investigated a perfect forestry parking spot by Loch Maree, but unsurprisingly there were signs asking people not stay overnight. I'm sure people do, but we don't want to be those kind of people. We investigated another forestry car park close by and there were no signs regarding overnight stays, and it was much quieter, so we decided to stop there. Once all the visitors to Victoria Falls had left, we were alone for the night. It was a nice spot, albeit without views.

Can you see Ellie?

Roughly 13.8km and 603m total ascent

In the morning, we visited the falls ourselves, another short walk. The path was well maintained, the waterfalls had a bit of water, there were nice views, and then we returned to Ellie. On arriving at the car park for the Fairy Lochs walk, I was dismayed to find the car park really busy. It had been a good idea not to stay there. A small group set off ahead of us, an older couple and a middle aged couple. Another young couple left the car park before us and we soon caught them dithering 100m from their car. The young lady asked us if they were going the right way for the walk, they'd left their 'map' in the car. I assured them they were and that if they got stuck there were markers to show them the way. They had been put off by the warning on the sign that they were heading in to dangerous country and that they should be prepared. They scurried off ahead of us. After about the first kilometre, we passed the first group, having a break. We exchanged pleasantries and continued. A short while later, I could see the young couple ahead of us, scrambling up beside what looked like a small waterfall. Now, we've been here before, many years ago when the children were small and we used to camp for two weeks at Gairloch, I did not remember such a scramble on this walk. I suddenly spotted a walk marker we were just about to walk passed and so corrected ourselves, taking us away from the approach to the scramble. It could be that the couple had every intention of going that way, but somehow, I doubt it. They were too far away to attract their attention. We continued on our way, greeting some walkers coming in the opposite direction, before reaching a gate in the deer fence.

From here, we left the path as I wanted to bag a nearby trig. We crossed some fairly rough ground and as we reached the foot of the lump we needed to climb, we stumbled across the small group, looking a little lost and confused. David spoke to them, showing them where they were on the map and suggesting how they could return themselves to the path. They had probably unwittingly followed the route the young couple had taken and must have climbed the deer fence, which would have been fun for them. The easiest thing to do was to return the way they had come but not climb the fence, just follow it to the left to meet the gate, return to the path and visit the lochans. They seemed to be taking the advice as we continued. 

It soon became abundantly obvious that I was not going to reach this trig, there was a small scrambly climb and I was so close, but I was very concerned I wouldn't get down again, so I returned to easier ground and waited for David. In doing so, I got to watch the group. They had ignored David's advice initially and tried to continue the way we had come, but with no obvious path they were unsure. There was much heated discussion and I'm sure some foot stomping, difficult in the soft ground they found themselves on, before they headed back the way they had come. We never saw them or the young couple again, the groups car was gone when we returned.

Once David returned, we returned to the gate and to the path and continued to see the memorial by the lochans. The route we know continues, but judging by the state of the path, most people (if they make it this far) turn around and go back. We were eventually caught up by two couples walking dogs.

It was nice to revisit, but far too busy for comfort. It was usually just ourselves on this walk.

We got back to Ellie in time for a late lunch, but decided to move on first, eventually stopping at the viewpoint overlooking Kinlochewe and Loch Maree. My goodness, a busy carpark! But we were only stopping for sandwiches, cake and coffee, so no worries. We were soon on our way home after a lovely weekend away.

Roughly 6.19km and total ascent 264m

Adventures with Ellie - Cairngorms 11th November '20

We had an opportunity for a couple of days away with Ellie, and although I had badly sprained (or broken) my ankle out on my long run on Sunday, we decided to go anyway. We drove south to Newtonmore and parked at the end of the road near Allt a' Chaorainn. We had a lovely quiet night alone before heading to Garva Bridge, the plan was for David to bag himself a Munro, Geal Charn, in the mist and murk, and I would stay with Ellie.

I had a lovely quiet time, I pottered about and did some crochet and went for a little stroll over the bridge to take photos, had lunch and pottered some more. Just before David returned, some men in green appeared from the hills with a big radio, and disappeared along the road.

David returned, a little damp around the edges, and we headed off for our second night, this time at Uath Lochan. Here, we were not alone, but we still had a quiet enough evening and night before heading home the next day.

Adventures with Ellie - West Highlands 28th August 2020

Friday afternoon saw us driving west with the intention of parking at Kinlochewe. We arrived to find an old VW campervan, what turned out to be an associated car and several cyclists camping already and a lady wearing PPE cleaning the toilets. There were a few vehicles that came and went early in the evening, the occupants mainly using the facilities but some using the recycling and bins. Another couple arrived and we watched as they prepared their new Range Rover to sleep in and then visited the pub to get hot water in takeaway cups to make their Pot Noodles. Clever, I thought. We had a relatively quiet, comfortable night, once the traffic eased. In the morning, we were in no hurry as we were waiting for the local shop to open (we went to the wrong one in the end, who knew Kinlochewe was big enough to boast two shops) in order to purchase lunch and breakfast items for the next two days. then we were off for a walk. The young couple and ourselves appeared to be the only ones to leave a donation in the box.

We made our way to the car park further up the road in order to walk the Beinn Eighe Mountain Trail. We did this walk 14 years ago with young children (ranging 5 to 10 yrs old) and whilst we'd had a nice walk with good weather, fine views and a Palmate Newt, I had had a little trouble with a short section of the walk making me extremely anxious. David's plan was for me to do this walk again in the knowledge that, having done it before, I would know I could do it again... On arrival at the car park, it was quite busy with people that had obviously stayed over the night before, most of them having canoes or kayaks with them. Their vehicles seemed to be stuffed full of all manner of equipment.

We set off on a path that took us underneath the A832 and through pretty woodlands, making our way steadily uphill. Views were snatched through trees until we crossed a bridge and then broke through the treeline and the ground became steeper and more rocky.

On a bridge we crossed

Views towards Slioch

There were a few of these really useful, informative signs

Fionn Bheinn

Looking towards Beinn Eighe

The troublesome stretch was, in reality, relatively short, gaining around 800ft over half a mile, but I found the path to be somewhat exposed. Where David could walk up, maybe occasionally resting a hand on a rock to lever himself up a high step, I found myself making three points of contact on most of this section. Towards the top, I had to give myself a serious talking to, I'd done it before, I could do it again, that sort of thing, but I did not enjoy the experience. I was happy to pause and rest whilst the two couples walking together passed by, we had a brief chat. There were two separate couples and a family that also passed by as I rested further up, but they weren't being drawn into any kind of a conversation.

 It was over soon enough (seemed like an eternity...) and the walking became much easier again as we finally approached the viewpoint. Which was quite busy. It was also quite chilly in the wind, so I said I'd prefer to walk on a little further to drop down and perhaps find a little shelter, the group of four having nicked the best spot at the top. The path levels out for a while, winding around little lochans and with great views of the surrounding hills. At the first point we would have stopped, a young couple started to fly a drone. The whining was very irritating. We walked on. The group of four caught us up and passed us again, complimenting us on our shiny boots. I had cleaned and waxed mine the day before and did David's at the same time, I told them I don't normally and wouldn't be making a habit of it.

We found a place with enough shelter and somewhere to sit a little further on and stopped for lunch, enjoying the views, but we didn't stop long. I had been looking forward to heading downhill and returning to the warmth of Ellie, but the downhill became tedious and somewhat wearing. Nice views, but really went on a bit. We talked about how it might be a good route up, but I felt the scrambly bits would not be pleasant to go down. Shortly after, as we were getting closer to the Woodland Trail walk, we met a couple coming towards us, dressed for urban walking and carrying shoulder bags. They weren't chatty. Then a middle aged couple passed us, the next couple however joined the path ahead of us just passed the viewpoint (no view now the trees have grown) they sat on a convenient bench to let us pass, they spoke and we shared a joke. I looked back and the second couple had turned back and joined our path, I believe the first couple had also missed their turn and were making their way up hill further than they had intended, their tourist leaflet clutched in their hands. Oh dear. I hoped they realised in time.

Looking back

Loch Maree

We arrived at the car park to find it was very, very busy. Our friendly group were there and David managed to get into a conversation about Ellie. I had been sitting inside in the warm, but felt I should go out and join them. We chatted for quite some time, the women were travelling in a car, the two gents were riding Harley Davidsons. One of the women had never been in Scotland before. She was so curious about Ellie and how we managed with her, we persuaded her it's a fab life and I think she was sold!

We left the car park heading back towards Kinlochewe and then headed off towards Torridon, the plan was to park beneath Beinn Eighe in order to walk to Loch Coire Mhic Fhearchair in the morning. The single track road was incredibly busy and I began to think we might be making a mistake. We arrived at a car park and drove in. It was nicely away from the road and would have been quiet, but it sloped quite badly. We thought we could wait a while and see if any of the cars left and we could get a flatter pitch, but this wasn't the car park for the start of our walk, so we moved on to the next one. It wasn't far a long the road, but as soon as it came into view, I knew we would not be stopping there. It was full, there were cars parked along the verge and in passing places, and there was a stag standing in the entrance, drawing quite a lot of attention (NB. I would not stand that close to a wild stag with large antlers) We passed by and managed to get turned, then returned the we way we had come. We returned to the first car park, but I was not happy. There were one or two spot we could have parked as we got neared to Kinlochewe, but they weren't far off the road and we decided we might just as well return to the previous night spot.

It was busy. There were motorbikers with tents, a couple of backpackers and the campervan and associated car were still there initially. We parked up and later were joined by a (hired) motorhome and at least two other cars and another old VW campervan. The first one and the car left and their places were taken. It was so busy!

We had already had a gin by this point, so had dinner, put the blinds up, pulled the boards over (it's warmer on a chilly night with the roof popped) and settled down.

Roughly 6.4 km 602 m total ascent

Most people left before us in the morning. Noone else had made a donation. They had, however, left the men's toilet in a state (David said) and someone had nicked all the toilet paper from the ladies toilets...and I only saw one other lady...(I don't think it was her)

I was not happy with the idea of adding to the problem at Beinn Eighe. It was crowded and it just seemed silly going there, the mountains aren't going anywhere, so we made another plan, heading first to Achnasheen, then north to Ullapool and on towards Knockan Crag. We stopped for lunch and to see the state of the toilets (one user at a time, lock yourself in at the main door, suited me!) which were good, so we decided after our walk we'd spend the night here again. After lunch we continued north, passing Elphin, Inchnadamph and onward to reach a walk to Britain's highest waterfall, Eas a Chual Aluinn.

There were a couple of vehicles at the overflow car park but only one motorhome in the main car park where we parked. It was midgey, so there was very little messing about as we got ready and set off, picking up the old A894 briefly before taking a vague, boggy path away from the road. We met and crossed the outflow from Loch nan Gainmich. Here we found another vague path, boggy in places, and followed it till we crossed Allt Loch Bealach a' Bhuirich. We soon realised we'd been on the wrong path, which explained the couple we'd seen shortly before walking above us on the hillside, and crossed it back to pick up the correct path heading up hill, following the burn. The path left the side of the burn just before reaching Loch Bealach a' Bhuirich, where we met another couple, before reaching the bealach and heading downhill. The landscape was rocky and almost lunar in nature. We followed the river that had a series of waterfalls before leading to the main one. The ground varied, there was mostly a clear, well made path, sometimes it was boggy, and there were some big steps to negotiate. Towards the end there were peat hags, where we met another couple and their dog.

Looking towards Quinag

Looking up towards Glas Bheinn

Striding towards the bealach

Sedum acre

Towards Quinag

Lunar landscape

Cliffs above Abhainn an Loch Bhig

View south east

Towards Glas Bheinn

Lovely waterfalls

It felt as if we were walking off a cliff edge. I did not like it. David tried to coax me further, I was less than happy, but eventually screwed up my courage and managed to clamber down a little further to a flat area where I felt safe enough to enjoy the views. I didn't want to stay long, however, and we had to make our way back. There seemed to be an unfair amount of climbing, but we reached the bealach in good time, passed the loch and headed downhill. This time, we had no intention of taking the wrong path and found it quite easily, it was a good path all the way. A bit boggy in places. Like the bit David plunged into up to his knees. Whoops! We walked on until we reached the outflow again where he took off his boots and socks to wash them out. Then his trousers.

River leading to Eas a Chual Aluinn

Loch Beag

David looking over the edge (he couldn't see the waterfall)

Abhainn an Loch Bhig, a long way down

David stepped into my panorama 

I think it was at this point I got bitten by midgies, although not as bad as two weeks previously the night we spent by Quinag. We made it back to Ellie, quickly sorted our boots and packs and then headed back to Knockan Crag. There were just three other vans when we arrived, one of which was parked in a very territorial fashion, side on and awning pitched. We were joined by at least two other vehicles overnight, one of which was a Volvo car and they made much noise with slamming of doors late at night and early in the morning, but we had another good night here before making our way home the next morning, without another walk as we had originally intended.

Roughly 10.4 km and 531 m total ascent