18 April - Kinlochewe to Achnashellach (Jerry's Hostel)

Kinlochlewe Bunkhouse to Achnashellach (Jerry’s Hostel)

(11 miles         6 and a quarter hours walking)

Back home in Salisbury I had planned to walk from Kinlochewe to Bearnais Bothy – however my knee had been very sore on the previous day and I was reluctant to do an 18 mile and a 16 mile walk back to back. So I went for plan B, and aimed for Jerry’s Hostel (which two walkers at Kinlochewe Bunkhouse had recommended the previous night)



Photo from phone when I left Kinlochewe



The weather today was absolutely stunning. I stopped at the post-office in Kinlochewe to buy a packet of mints and a cake. I still have some of the mints with me now (It was a large packet!). I took the road (the A896) south from Kinlochewe as everyone I had encountered had advised against the footpath that follows the east side of A’ Ghairbhe as being very hard indeed to negotiate. Tom (the CWT website manager) had also recommended following the road due to the presence of deer fences and fallen trees on the footpath.

About a mile out of Kinlochewe I passed Cromasaig, where Tom lives, and was just looking at his useful weather chart when Tom himself appeared. “Rachel?” he said.

“Yes. Tom?” I replied. He was clearly expecting me and we talked a bit. I was glad to know he had been following my progress and promised to write up my trip report as soon as I could.

Tom offered me a cup of tea but I wanted to press on as I had made a late start that day (10 a.m.!!). He was very helpful about the route and I took every part of his advice gratefully.

I followed the A 896 as it curved toward the SW and then took the track south, which crossed the river A’ Ghairbhe and followed the East coast of Loch Clair.  

This sign made me smile. Surely the possibility of bumpy roads is to be expected in the highlands?

At the shore of Loch Clair I decided – tics be dammed- I’ll put my shorts on. Very shortly afterwards I met a party of 4 men all doing a section of the Cape Wrath Trail and realised I needed to slightly more careful about where I got changed!!

The path followed the north-east side of Loch Coulin, passed a few houses, and then started to climb south and then south-west to the Teahouse Bothy. Up until the Teahouse Bothy the path was really excellent and a 4-wheel drive vehicle could have used it. I stopped here and made some tea and ate my cake in the sun. What a blissful spot. The bothy was tiny but had a table and space for a few people to sleep in (at a push). It was dry, tidy and the logbook showed it was a really well-loved place. I noted in my journal that I removed a tic here, but decided to keep the shorts on anyway.

The 3-kilometre stretch south-west from the Teahouse Bothy sticks in my memory as the most beautiful part of the entire walk. The weather was perfect and the landscape fabulous. It was really big-scale, mountains and rocks were all around me, the ground was dry, the path easy to follow, and my spirits soared. My knee was absolutely fine and I contemplated pushing on to Bearnais Bothy after all.

I met another group of walkers doing a section of the CWT – this time 5 men from Switzerland (I think).

The photo below was taken at the cairn Drochaid coire Lair looking WNW up the valley that follows the River Lair. I would love to have followed that valley and was never more tempted to deviate from my path than on this day. The mountains (Sgorr Ruadh and Fuar Tholl) towered over me like beautiful, benevolent protectors. What a place. The photos don’t do it justice.

What goes up must come down, and there was a very steep descent down to Achnashellach Station. My knee started to play up again and I decided that I would stay at Jerry’s Hostel after all. There was the promise of a ‘café’ of some sort at Achnashallach but it was closed. The railway station was very quiet and when I got to the few houses that made up Achnashellach it dawned on me that I had absolutely no idea where the hostel was. I had a 50/50 choice – go east along the busy A890 or go west along the busy A890. My map gave no clues and there was nobody to ask. I opted for west for about 10 minutes and, finding the houses even fewer and further between with every step, back-tracked and headed east. Fortunately I found someone to ask, and it turned out that he was Jerry’s son (of Jerry’ Hostel fame). There aren’t that many people in the highlands! Jerry’s son gave me a lift to the hostel, which was about 2 miles east of Achnashellach at a place called Craig. The road was very busy and would have been rather dangerous to walk along, so I was very grateful indeed for the lift.

Jerry was very welcoming and showed me round the hostel. It is a fabulous and very interesting place to stay. Jerry has run it since 1969 and is quite a character! He lit a wonderful fire that night and demonstrated the lovely smell of incense you get when you use Caledonian pine and cedar as fuel.

His hostel has a little store – called “Highland Harrods” and I augmented my dried pasta meal with tinned peas and carrots, and some bockwurst. YUMMM.

The only other person staying at Jerry’s Hostel was – would you believe it – another Science teacher. He was teaching in Kent (Petersham?), 60 years old, and nearly as tired as I was.

The dormitory bedroom was large and comfortable. Jerry provides sheets and duvets for an extra £1 per night. The shower was hot, the kitchen had everything you could want, and there was a wonderful record player and supply of records. We listened to Elgar, read our books and talked about OFSTED. It was all quite bizarre.

I went to bed at about 9.30 and slept like a baby.