17 April - Shenavall Bothy to Kinlochewe

Shenavall Bothy to Kinlochlewe Bunkhouse

(16 miles         8 and a quarter hours walking)

I woke up at about 5.45 a.m. It was very dark. But I figured that by the time I had cooked breakfast (yummy porridge and coffee again), packed my kit and washed up, it would be light. I was keen to be on the road and away. So I negotiated the sleeping bodies, checked I had all my kit and nobody else’s (there was quite a medley of socks, waterproofs and other clothing adorning the bothy), and left Shenavall bothy at 6.45. There were plenty of deer very close to the bothy, seeming much more at home in that remote place than anything of human flesh construction.

I followed a fairly clear track SW along the north side of Abhainn Strath na Sealga for about 3 km, passing a few lovely, remote old stone buildings and bothies. It gradually got lighter as I walked and turned out to be a fabulous clear day. Then the path turned south and headed towards Loch an Nid. This photo is taken about 1 km north of Loch an Nid, and (in the distance) shows the waterfall which is at the northern entrance to this remote and beautiful Loch.

On the shore of Loch an Nid I spoke to my second CWT trekker. He was from Yorkshire and was doing the route in weekly sections, whenever he could get the time off work. I caught him just getting out of his tent, and rather envied him his beautiful campsite which I would heartily recommend to anyone.

I then proceeded south for another kilometre to a ruin labelled Ruighabhraghad on my map. Until this point the path/track had been fairly easy to follow; however from this point onwards I had some difficulties.

I followed the main stream into Loch an Nid – Allt Cul Doireachan – as it headed south and then SW with little difficulty, and found a useful pair of cairns to mark the spot when I had completed the ascent to Bealach na Croise. I then tried to follow a compass bearing (SW) to find Loch Meallan an Fhudair, which looked like a very useful landmark. However the ground was boggy, uneven and full of ridges of black peat, so this turned out to be a very difficult traverse. My tendency when traversing along a compass bearing is to go too high, and so ended up heading too far north. I found myself at a rather beautiful waterfall, which was (fortunately) marked on my 1:25,000 map. Not for the first time, I was very glad I had brought large scale maps as I have no GPS and was relying solely on map, compass and my navigational skills. The rock outcrop called Sithean Biorach is a very useful landmark, and next time I do this route I will remember to head just to the right of this unusual-shaped hill from the Bealach.

The picture below shows me with Sithean Biorach and Loch Meallan an Fhudair in the background. I was very happy to be un-lost as I had found the ground very hard to ‘read’ from the map on this day and realised I needed to practice my navigation skills. If a fog had come down…..

From the waterfall I followed a fresh compass bearing (with much more south in it) and eventually found Loch Meallan an Fhudair. I went round the south side of the loch and followed the stream down to the junction of Lochan Fada and Loch an Sgeireach.

This photo shows Lochan Fada with Slioch (980 m) in the background.

From Lochan Fada onwards the route was relatively easy to follow, but it was a long way to Kinlochewe.

I took the eastern side of Kinlochewe Forest (with very few trees again) and followed the Abhainn Gleann na Muice in an approximately south direction. I entered the Letterewe Estate, where there were young trees (rowan, alder, Caledonian Pine, willow and aspen amongst others) fenced off to protect them from deer.

This path involved a long and quite laborious descent and I had some pain in my right knee, which has been ‘dodgy’ for years, but really doesn’t like long descents.

After heading South for about 7km I arrived at the Heights of Kinlochewe, where there were some sheepfolds and a house called “Heights of Kinlochewe”. I really meant to find out why this house was called thus and what its significance was, as it is now quite empty and run-down. One life is not enough.

After the Heights of Kinlochewe the path turned SW and I followed the Abhainn Bruachaig to Kinlochewe. On the way I met two other walkers who were staying at the Bunkhouse at Kinlochewe, and a man who comes to Kinlochewe every year to look at an eagle’s nest.

He has his telescope trained on an eagle’s nest and we had a good chat.

Of all the things I regret not doing on this trip, the one that springs to mind most frequently is “Why on earth didn’t you ask him if you could look through his telescope at the eagle’s nest??!**”  It was there on a plate for me and I didn’t do it…

My only excuse is that my knee was really quite painful and I just wanted to get to Kinlochewe.

I got phone reception about 0.5 km before the village and so texted Andrew and sent a message to my blog. And then to the bunkhouse which was attached to a pub/hotel. Joy.

I met lots of great people at Kinlochewe and ended up having a bit of a session with some ex-Navy characters. We played cards and drank too much Bacardi and coke and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. I must also mention the food, which was great. I treated myself to a salmon starter, followed by lamb and veg. I was sorry to leave in the morning.

Original Blog message - sent from my mobile at 2.30 on 17/5/2011
I am absolutely knackered. Have been jumping over bog in the most stunning countryside since i left shenevall bothy at half 6 this morning. Nearly at kinlochlewe though:-)