Tuesday 13th May, TGOC2014 Day 5

Ault-na-Goire to Cafe Akto

After a cold and clear night we woke to a frosty tent. We’d unfortunately pitched badly, it was going to be a while before the warm sun would hit the tent. Just as well we’d booked breakfast with the Sutherlands – plenty of time for the tent to defrost and dry out. Alex and Janet, well Janet really, put on a magnificent breakfast that really set us up for the day.

We left Denis in the capable hands of Janet and Alex, the general idea was that Denis would catch up with us later in the day. Hmmm, he’d not even dropped his tent yet! I was rather hoping Denis WOULD catch us up – he’s great company over the Monadhliath and in the last few years we’ve always tried to cross to Glen Mazeran together.

Croydon, Alan, Viv and I set out for our long day to Cafe Akto, that well-known peripatetic raiser of dosh for worthy causes.

  Ault-na-Goire, the morning after the night before

There was to be much tarmac today but the weather was so lovely it really wasn’t too much of a trial….although I’m not sure Viv’s delicate tootsies agreed.

 Progress, greed or opportunism?

Our trial by tarmac ended just beyond Aberader House where we headed up a pleasant LRT that sort of followed the course of the Allt Mor. We kept an eye on the road as long as it was visible but there was no sign of Denis. He was probable still drinking, er, tea with Alex & Janet.

Ugh! (Sorry about the knees)

We found a suitable lunch spot and had a leisurely stop – I was still hopeful that Denis might catch us up. Then there was the climbing. Ah well, you can’t walk across Scotland without going uphill a teensy-weensy bit. Can’t you?

Looking back – still no Denis.

Once over the watershed the walk changed from good to brilliant. Not only was it (nominally) downhill it was just wonderful. The Monadhliaths are spectacularly wild and it’s a real pleasure to walk this way. I cannot imagine why these wild and wonderful areas are being ruined by windfarm development. Why on earth does a country that relies so heavily on tourism for it's income trash it's main asset? To say that this new windfarm won’t be visible from the Loch Ness and the usual tourist routes is just feeble.

These damned windfarms don’t even pay their way – they’re not efficient and they’re seriously environmentally unfriendly. The only attraction that I can see is that there are enormous cash subsidies available that make them financially attractive to landowners and energy companies. It’s us, the tax payer, that gets the short straw: we pay the subsidies AND we have to suffer the angst and the eyesores. Approving the Stronelairg windfarm is an unbelievably short sighted decision that will have repercussions for a long time to come.

I shall now get off my soapbox.

Anyroadup, to Glen Mazeran:

Viv trying to catch Alan 

 The Cairngorms on the horizon

Alan & Croydon descending into Glen Mazeran

The walk over to Glen Mazeran was a real pleasure. We trotted down lovely grassy river-bed runnels to the LRT. The ground was dry and soft – wonderful to walk on, if I hadn’t been so knackered I’d be happy for the day to just go on and on.

The LRT surface came as quite a shock, hard and stony – much harder on the feet than the soft ground we’d just been enjoying. Ah well.

Alan and Croydon, well ahead of us, were met by Cafe Akto’s proprietor. He was clearly very keen to ensure these potential customers didn’t wander off to a competitor’s establishment. That would never do.

The ground around Cafe Akto was a bit lumpy but it was quite dry and we all managed to find half-decent pitches. There were other Challengers camping nearby and a pleasant evening ensued as they all gathered around Mike’s beer supply:

 Cafe Akto and customers

I can’t imagine how Mike managed to transport all that food, beer and camping equipment up the glen, but he did. I gather the beer was good (there wasn’t much left by the time we left anyway!) although I didn’t partake, for me it was getting a wee bit too cold to enjoy a cold drink.

And this is where we went

15(ish) miles with around 2300’ ascent

Monday 12th May, TGOC2014 Day 4

Cannich to Ault-na-Goire

We were up early (well I was up early) to get our damp washing into the campsite’s tumble drier….and to make Viv her first cup of tea. She doesn’t say much until she has that cup of tea. The day could be quite ‘difficult’ if that cup of tea wasn’t forthcoming. So she got her cup of tea.

It had been a still night and the tent’s flysheet was wet with condensation. A quick wipe down helped but it was soaked. The wonderful Sheila had opened the campsite cafe early and she was providing and excellent breakfast for norralot of dosh….all served up with a cheery smile. A nice start to the day. A bit like a cup of tea in bed I suppose.

I’d dangled the flysheet over the outside veranda of the cafe to dry as we tucked into our breakfasts. It dried nicely in the warm sunshine.

Eggs & bacon (with all the trimmings) later we set off to Drumnadrochit. The cafe at Bearnock was our next planned stop (for a cuppa) and were a bit disappointed to find the place closed. Well it was SORT of closed. The owner let us in and allowed us to brew up and have a sit-down. Nice eh?

Denis, Viv, Martin and Alan outside the ‘closed’ cafe at Bearnock 

The shortest route into Drum is on tarmac….but it’s a bit boring. Martin had come up with A Plan to avoid the boredom: he suggested we headed south, away from the road, towards Shewglie to pick up a LRT through the woods. The LRT would take around the south side of Loch Meikle and then back to the road. It wasn’t much of a detour but it would avoid around 2.5 miles of quite busy road.

That was the theory anyway.

Shewglie

A navigational error <koff> led us onto a horribly overgrown footpath, adorned with fence wire, mud, overgrown and overhanging treelets, fetid mud. Apart from that it was lovely.

We missed the LRT entirely and somehow managed to extricate ourselves from the jungle. Before we’d had the chance to check our location properly, Viv, Martin and Alan went off due south to try to pick up the LRT….into the jungle again.

Denis and I had had enough of the rough stuff so we had a nosey at the map and worked out where we were and plotted a different route. We shouted for the others but they couldn’t hear us. 5 minutes later we gained the LRT and went off in search of the others. Half an hour of walking up and down the LRT and shouting resulted in a DNF (Did Not Find).

My mobile rang, it was Alan. They’d given up and doubled back, finding their way to Loch Meikle. We arranged to meet up en-route into Drum – no point in trying to locate each other now.

Flahs, on the Drumnadrochit road

Denis wanted a gentle walk into drum so I shot off, arranging to meet him later. Residents of Drum are well used to seeing Challengers and I was greeted by cheery waves as I entered the town. Nice to feel welcome!

I entered the town and spotted Viv & Alan. Next up was a grim-faced Croydon. He’d been to the Post Office to collect a Poste Restante food parcel he’d sent the previous week. The Post Office staff denied all knowledge of the parcel – or the Poste Restante service, unbelievable! Worse still, the staff were quite obnoxious to him. No excuse for that at all.

We both suspected that the Post Office staff had taken one look at the parcel, didn’t have a clue what to do with it, and just sent it back. Croydon had done everything by the book – he’d even asked his local Post Office to talk him through the process – in fact I think they addressed it for him.

This could have been a disaster but the Post Office also sold food and the local OS map so it wasn’t the end of the world – but it was expensive for Mick.

We’d booked ourselves onto the 5pm ferry crossing of Loch Ness. It’s a surprisingly long 2.5km from Drum to Temple Pier and we didn’t want to risk missing the boat so we set off in the blazing sunshine (honest!) in good time.

Gordon arrived to meet his fares – and Denis arrived just in time. It’s a pleasant crossing in good weather and the passengers were (mainly) very chatty, enjoying the crossing. A storm was visibly brewing at the south end of the loch, we all hoped it would stay where it was. It did.

L-R: Alan, Gordon Menzies, Laura (worshipping at Gordon’s feet) and Andy Howell

L-R: ?, Martin Angell, Croydon, and Kate

? and Denis

Disembarking at Inverfarigaig, Andy Howell seemed to have lost one of his PacerPoles – probably over the side of the boat. A bit of a bugger, that.

Gordon leaving to go back to Temple Pier for his next boat-load of Challengers

It’s a bit of an uphill tug to Ault-na-Goire, the home of Janet & Alex Sutherland. We’d arranged to camp in their back garden and for them to provide our evening meal and breakfast the next day.

Janet was waiting for us – she’d baked an enormous Bran Loaf and brewed what seemed to be the biggest pot of tea in the world. Just the job! It really hit the spot.

Janet and her Challenge guests

A pleasant evening followed. with good food and good company. Alex had been out for a run and didn’t arrive until mid-evening. It was good to catch up with the Sutherlands again, they’re good people.

Around 10pm we drifted off to our tents for a well-earned kip. We’d had a good day, apart from PacerPole-less Andy. And food parcel-less Croydon.

No day is absolutely perfect. It just wouldn’t be right.

This is what we did:

16 and a bit miles, 2100’ of ascent.

I’ve not posted the route from Inverfarigaig to Ault-na-Goire, it’s pretty easy to guess though!

Sunday 11th May, TGOC2014 Day 3

Loch Monar to Cannich

We woke to a still morning – still enough for a goodly amount of condensation on our tents.

I wasn’t too sorry to be leaving our lumpy pitch that morning. The reflections on the surface of Loch Monar began to blur as a breeze built up and cloud appeared in the distance.

The ‘path’ on the NE shore of Loch Monar varied between the usual boggy morass that often passes for a Scottish path, and a half-decent path – certainly from beyond Monar Lodge.

 Looking west over Loch Monar

 Alan posing by Loch Monar, heading towards Monar Lodge

 Warm sunshine – and the rear end of a stag as it scooted off by Monar Dam 

Leaving Loch Monar behind, we had a very pleasant 3-4 miles - albeit on tarmac. We were following the course of the River Farrar to our next waypoint where we were to turn south by Allt Innis an Larach….and lunch – in sunshine.

‘We’, at this point, consisted of Croydon, Martin Angell, Alan R, Viv and me. Well I think I was there. 

A suitable lunch spot was decided on, just before our big climb of the day. We ate and drank in warm sunshine – it was lovely. The nice weather lasted until we decided to pack up and continue on our way. Ho hum.

The next bit of the day’s walk was horrible. I’ve been this way before, Day 3 of TGOC2012, and it was just as horrible then. The route up the East side of the burn was initially okay but it quickly deteriorated and it became quite a battle to make headway. A landslip blocked our way at one point so Croydon, Viv and I decided to descend to use the grassy river bank whilst Alan and Martin opted for a much higher route. Our route entailed crossing and re-crossing the burn which wasn’t brilliant but it seemed easier that more ascent. At the end of the day I don’t think there was much difference in the level of horribleness.

I might have said that I wasn’t EVER going to go that way again. I also said it in 2012. I lied.

Eventually we got to the top and then it was just (Ho-ho!) a matter of descending to the road by Liatre Burn….more mud and much rough going. Admittedly we did manage to find a half decent path / track part of the way down and that made it a far less unpleasant experience than my 2012 descent. Still not nice though.

By the time we’d got to the road both Viv and I were cold, hungry and thirsty. Oh, and it was raining. A quick brew, a butty and a cereal bar fortified us for the long tarmac trudge into Cannich.

We spotted two of the three Dutch Challengers we’d met earlier on our crossing, they were waiting for their mate to catch up. They’d used a different route down from the top but I don’t think it was any better than ours. Probably worse.

It was 6-7 miles of tarmac into Cannich – hard on the feet – and a little worrying for Viv. She was in training for the LDWA100 in South Wales and hard tarmac doesn’t do much for her very delicate feet.

The Cannich campsite is really excellent. It has a very good cafe, run by the ever helpful Sheila….no, not THAT Sheila, another one. Anyway, Sheila stayed open later than normal being as what it was the Challenge. Tea, coffee and other stuff passed our lips – just what we needed. This was whilst sat on REAL chairs whilst sat a REAL table. Quite luxurious.

Tents up, washing done, we all headed off to the pub to eat – and perhaps a beer. Or more. I’ve used the Glen Affric bar in recent years – an excellent place that offered wonderful beers, tremendous food and a very warm welcome from the friendly owners. Sadly the bar has recently closed – some grief with HMRC I understand. A damned shame.

We ended up going to the Slaters – I’ve been there a couple of times in the past (before the Glen Affric opened) and I have to say I wasn’t looking forward to it. The owner was unpleasantly abrasive – not what you expect when you go into a pub to spend your money.

This visit was much better. The owner still had a bit of an edge to him but he was far easier to deal with this time – perhaps he realised that being rude to customers wasn’t helping his business. Whatever…the food was very good indeed and the beer quite acceptable.

We ate in the company of Denis and other Challengers including the 3 Dutch, Andy Howell and Kate Foley. A very pleasant evening.

Not many photos today, for most of the day the weather was just too wet and miserable to have the camera out.

And this is what we did:

18.25 miles (ish) with 2900’ of up.

 

 

Adlington Ceilidh

Playing a ceilidh at Adlington Hall & Hunting Lodge near Macclesfield this evening - what a wonderful building.

The music and dancing was good too.

Saturday 10th May, TGOC2014 Day 2

Craig to Loch Monar

M&G, Croydon and many others had gone beyond Gerry’s Hostel to camp the previous evening. Given the wet weather and the warm welcome we received from Gerry I would say Alan and I got the best deal.

We had been expecting to see Little Miss Maria (henceforth to be referred to as LMM……less typing that way) and Dave at Gerry’s. They’d started from Torridon SYHA but had decided to bag a Munro hilly-thing or two en-route. Apparently they’d arrived at Gerry’s at 10.30pm – I didn’t see them arrive or spot them in the morning. It must have been a hard day for them both.

A short stretch of tarmac from Gerry’s took us to a level crossing over the railway line to open country. The rain had (re)started and by the time we got to cross the River Carron we were back in full waterproofs. We passed some tents en-route, their occupants getting ready for the day ahead.

The rain grew heavierer (that’s Timperley dialect for the rain getting heavierer) as we followed the Allt a’ Chonais towards Pollan Buidhe and then to Glenuaig Lodge where we we hoping to make a brew in the shelter. I spotted the lodge in the distance, it consisted of a group of three buildings. I joked that the smallest one would be a shed and that would be the shelter.

We arrived at the lodge and found just that.

 Soggy Lesley, Viv and Alan. The shelter is nailed to the ground so it doesn’t blow away.

The shed was rather luxurious. It had an electric light and an electric heater plus two bunk beds.There wasn’t a great deal of room in the shed ‘cos Lawrence & Lesley Dark and Frank Row were in residence, sheltering from the wet. It’s really a good emergency shelter, not a bothy – not intended for overnight stops other than in an emergency.

The Dunsires rolled up – all cheerful and happy-like. Shouldn’t be allowed on such a wet and miserable day like today. They were all nice and dry too, clad in new waterproofs an’ all that.

Leaving the shelter we continued in an Easterly direction (East is good….I may have mentioned this in the past) following the north bank of the River Meig, all the time looking for a suitable crossing point…preferably not like the wire bridge we had spotted earlier in the day:

Eventually a suitable crossing point was identified and we went over one by one.

Croydon in River Crossing mode, Alan in Photographer mode. Waiting, just waiting…..

Alan, being a gentleman, put his camera away as Viv crossed 

Croydon and Martin Angell had teamed up with us by this time and we all enjoyed a brew and lunch on t’other side of the river as Lawrence, Lesley and Frank continued East on the north side: 

Martin Angell and Croydon 

My feeble attempt at a selfie

Croydon doing a selfie….properly

Our target for the day, the north shore of Loch Monar, was a long time coming – the weather was very changeable and we had a climb to contend with. Much of the ground was rough and boggy, added to which there were some landslips that made the route difficult. As with many footpaths marked on the map, this path appeared only infrequently on the ground. There was much crossing and re-crossing of the river as we headed south – the route the path took on the map was really only notional. A virtual path.

The pull up to Coire Ffionarach wasn’t terribly steep but the false summits we encountered were frustrating. Alan and Martin went high above the river to bypass some of the trudge whilst we stayed close to the river, preferring to follow it’s grassy banks.

After what seemed an age, Loch Monar came into view. The last time I was at Loch Monar was two years ago and I was at the South Eastern side…in the sunshine.

Anyway, things were looking up: it had stopped raining (sort of), our destination was in sight and judging by what other Challengers had said we were expecting an excellent pitch for the night.

Loch Monar

No photographs of where we camped, we were all pre-occupied in trying to find flat(ish), tussockless(ish) and dry(ish) places to plant our tents. I didn’t succeed too well – the ground wasn’t brilliant. The only area that looked promising was already being used by a couple of lads who’s been at Gerry’s the night before. Eventually we all found suitable spots and settled down for the night – there was little or no socialising that evening, we were all a bit pooped.

Still no sign of LMM & Dave, they were intending camping at the same spot that night.

My evening meal was a home-made and home-dehydrated beef hash – think corned beef hash but using decent minced beef rather than corned beef. Well it was something like that.

And this is what we did:

15 miles, with 2300’ of up.

TGOC2014….the first bit

Friday May 9th, Torridon to Gerry’s Hostel, Craig

The Challenge Register had been put out early. 38 participants were due to sign out from Torridon. Although Alan and I signed out before 9am, we certainly weren’t the first….or the last.

Off we jolly-well set off on our Challenge: it’s Alan’s first and my ninth – and I STILL feel like an inexperienced beginner. A good job really, because that’s exactly what I am.

The intended route for the day covered 14 miles with around 3300ft of ascent. A slight navigational error saw us extending the route just a teeny-weeny bit. Unfortunately that teeny-weeny bit was through terribly overgrown and boggy ground. Oh well.

Our route involved going back over part of yesterday’s route: Annat > Ben-Damph Forest and as far as The Lousy Pass Bealach na Lice. It was a bit of a tug but it had to be done. A trio of cheery (and smug!) Dutch Challengers had chosen a more direct, but almost certainly steeper, route to the top:

Our climb earned us a sit-down at the top, which is where the Dutch team passed us. A couple of minutes later the smiling Dunsires, clad in shorts (and other stuff too), bounded past us so quickly that I didn’t have time to grab my camera.

The weather up to this point was still quite good, dry and bright. Alan spotted a gecko which he managed to pick up…..I thought he’d found a GPS.

Alan’s gecko

We enjoyed some cracking views – the rain hadn’t yet started:

Not all the views were of the landscape. For Alan: 

Our destination that night was to be Gerry’s Hostel. Our route to Achnashellach / Craig seemed straightforward enough on the map. Unfortunately it wasn’t to be quite so easy – a path we should have taken was dismissed as only a path can be dismissed, we walked past it and straight into some seriously, horribly overgrown and boggy ground.

Not nice. Oh, and by now the rain had started. Ah well.

After a bit of a faff that involved walking through someone’s garden we got ourselves down to the road – at least it wasn’t boggy. Or overgrown. A long stretch of tarmac took us to Gerry’s – a place I was very happy to find.

Gerry’s Hostel

Now then. Gerry and his hostel have a bit of a reputation and so Viv, Alan and I were all a little apprehensive as we entered.

We needn’t have worried. Gerry is a fine man who’s been running his hostel since 1964 and he’s well used to dealing with outdoorsy-type people. Almost as soon as we arrived in the building we were given a guided tour of the building and shown how to operate the showers. He’s got TWO showers now.

During the evening we saw Gerry as he bustled around the place, making sure that everyone had everything they needed and doing his best to ensure even those who hadn’t booked were able to stay over.

Gerry seemed to me to be a genuinely caring type although I could perhaps imagine that his care and concern for his guests could be misunderstood and get on the t**s of some. I liked Gerry, he’s a decent bloke. I think his reputation is maybe due to the fact that he is caring and that probably annoys some people = Gerry getting a bit narked sometimes.

Our evening in the hostel was very pleasant. The place was almost fully occupied by Challengers apart from a couple of lads who were up to grab some Munro-type hilly things. The evening’s conversation was good.

  Gerry, his dressing gown, and his hostel.

Accommodation was in one dorm filled with bunkbeds. Not plush but perfectly adequate. There was some loud snoring during the night so there wasn’t a great deal of sleeping – even with the benefit of earplugs.

Where we went:

Around 14 miles with 3300’ ascent. Ish.

TGOC2014….a bit more of the beginning

Plockton to Coulags and beyond and thence to Torridon

We took the train, I mean we travelled by train from Plockton to Strathcarron. Trains are too big and heavy to take. Anyway, somebody might notice.

The Plan (Ho-ho!) was to alight at Strathcarron and then walk a few miles in the direction of my Challenge start of Torridon to camp for the night. I had arranged for the very splendid Mick & Gayle to follow our route that evening so they could drink my tea and camp next door. They weren’t due to arrive in Strathcarron until 7.45pm

Not sure if the shell signifies a Pilgrim route, it certainly would in Spain or France

As if on cue the heavens opened whilst preparing to leave Strathcarron. This was actually A Good Thing. After the five minute delay to don full waterproofs, a taxi rolled up and out jumped Alan R who was to accompany me on the Challenge. This is Alan’s first Challenge and I feel a little nervous in case he doesn’t enjoy it – I did rather give him the hard sell!

Less than a couple of hours later we found a suitable spot to plant our tents, leaving enough space for M&G’s Terra Nova wotsit tent.

  Pitch for the night, north of Coulags

Alan and I climbed a bit of a hill to get a good view down to Strathcarron to try to spot M&G walking up the valley but without success. Mick’s specialist training in camouflage was obviously being put to good use – less than half an hour later we heard menacing demands for tea.

It was good to catch up with M&G. Their walking trip from their home to the start of the Challenge had to be aborted part-way through when Mick sustained an ankle injury. The injury was thankfully very successfully treated by driving Colin around Anglesey and making cheese sandwiches for hungry stray dogs. You should try it – it worked for Mick.

Next morning our posse of five headed further north, following Fionn-abhainn to Coire Fionnaraich Bothy where we would breakfast and drink tea & coffee to excess. We were on holiday after all!

Approaching Coire Fionnaraich Bothy

The bothy breakfast table

  Viv pretending to enjoy herself….in between rain-showers

Rain at Loch an Eion

Torridon comes into view as we rounded Ben Damph Forest

….and looking behind, the tremendous view up Glen Torridon

Dropping down to Upper Loch Torridon we met Marion & Graeme Dunsire – they were doing posh, staying at the hotel. We were slobbing it, three in Torridon SYHA and two on the very good (and FREE) campsite adjacent to the hostel.

The hostel was good. It was good to meet Challengers who were staying there – it felt like the Challenge was beginning at last.

All went swimmingly until a large party arrived, armed with beer, wine, TONS of food….and an equal quantity of bad manners. This party proceeded to take over the hostel – completely alienating the Challengers. They swarmed into the kitchen which made it virtually impossible for ‘us’ to prepare our meals.

I was not impressed.

Having said all that, Jules, who seemed to be running the hostel single handed, was an absolute delight. She is one that the SYHA should hang on to – she’s made of the right stuff.

Torridon SYHA 

The evening was spent chatting with Challengers too numerous to mention – but it was lovely to see Nigel again and to catch up with Croydon. Little Miss Maria was there along with Dave, a Challenge virgin. M&G joined us in the hostel for their evening meal….we had commandeered a table so we at least had some where to sit, eat and chat.

Viv had an early night whilst Alan and I had a couple of beers before bed which finished the day nicely: tomorrow we sign out and start our Challenge to Montrose!