19 April - Achnashellach (Jerry’s Hostel) to Camus Luinie

Achnashellach (Jerry’s Hostel) to Camus Luinie

(12  miles        7 hours walking)

The first thing I had to do was get back on track – having shortened yesterday’s distance due to concern about my knee.

The other teacher and I both apologised to each other for possibly snoring, but I think we were both so tired that we heard nothing.

Jerry’s hostel is right next door to the railway line, and consists of three railway cottages knocked together. Fortunately the trains don’t run during the night, so a good night’s sleep is guaranteed.

After a lovely breakfast of porridge (I still wasn’t fed up with it) I set off to hitch back towards the Strathcarron/Atterdale area. This seemed like my best option to a) shorten my route slightly and b) rejoin the CWT a.s.a.p.

My faith in being picked up quickly was soon shaken by the speed of vehicles on the road and the number of lorries and tourist buses that passed me at great speed, completely ignoring me. However, after about 20 minutes of walking west I was picked up by a kind man and taken SW from Craig to the junction of the A896 and the A890. One mile of walking SW took me to Strathcarron where there was a pub, shop, post office and railway station. There were a surprisingly large number of people loitering, I found out, to see a rather special steam train which was due at the railway station any minute.

I bought a coffee in the bar and hung around for a while, and was lucky enough to see the train. I’m not really a steam train boffin (grandpa would have loved it) but I thought I ought to take a photo anyway. The people inside the train were wearing jackets and posh frocks and being served meals at ornate tables with candelabras on. It was a million miles away from my experience of Scotland.

If i was going to cheat this would be the way to do it!

The weather on this day was overcast and potentially midgy, but the sun kept trying to get through the murk and by 11.00 I was back in shorts and a T-shirt. There were many tics today and unfortunately they seem to like my blood so this was the last day that I wore shorts.

I took a footpath SW from Strathcarron which was fairly easy to follow, although I had to keep my eyes open and was once again very glad I had a large—scale map. I climbed steadily uphill until I intercepted a long fence running almost due East-West across the hills. I have no idea what this fence was for. It certainly wouldn’t have prevented deer from moving between the two areas and must have been a boundary demarcation. I was extremely impressed by the sheer effort that must have gone into its construction and followed it East until I reached Bealach Alltain Ruairidh. The surrounding mountains were not as high as on previous days, but the countryside felt very empty and remote.

Unfortunately I was a bit inept with my camera on this day, and most of my photos came out rather bleached.





Once I got to Bealach Alltain Ruairidh I had to alter course to the SW and follow the very clear track (cars could use it) heading SW through the Attadale Forest (no trees again) to Loch an Droighinn

The descent to the loch was very steep indeed, and I was quite impressed to see a cyclist ascending these hairpin bends, pushing his bike very cheerfully and anticipating the downhill parts. Fair play to him!

I descended south to the River Ling, and then followed the River Ling due south towards Killilan. Willie’s bunkhouse at Camas Luinie was very clearly signed, and I was very relieved to finally get there at about 4 p.m.

Willie himself had left a note telling me that he was in Glasgow for the day and would be back later, but he directed me to make myself at home and told me where I would be sleeping. The bunkhouse was out of action due to a water leak (I think) but I was directed to stay in “Tigh Iseabhail” (Isabel’s House).

I went upstairs and found myself in the lap of luxury. I was the only person in my room and had an en-suite toilet and shower. There was central heating, T.V, and a fully-equipped kitchen. Bliss.

There was also a note for Willie in the kitchen from the couple who had left that morning, saying that the man had proposed to his girlfriend near the Falls of Glomach (where I was heading the next day) and had been accepted. How romantic! It felt like a good omen to me.

My food parcel was neatly waiting for me near my bed and I was very grateful for the care and attention to detail Willie showed me on my stay there. There was no phone reception but a phone in the bunkhouse for visitors to use, so I made a quick call to Andrew letting him know that I was safe.

Then I had some chores for the evening:

1. Wash my trousers (for the first and only time on the trip). It was perfect drying weather so I washed many of my clothes and even woolly socks. It was all dry in the morning. Incidentally I have been very impressed with Rohan kit.
2. Tic removal. I made good use of the tweezers in my Swiss Army knife and found about 6 tics on my legs. Yuck. But I was starting to get used to them
3. Cook some pasta.

Three young Frenchmen came by while I was (embarrassingly) removing tics form my legs and asked for water and direction to the Falls of Glomach. I gave them directions to the waterfall but there was a note saying the bunkhouse water needed to be boiled before being drunk. Apparently there had been a case of TB recently and the environment agency had made this recommendation. It was ridiculous really, as everyone drinks water from the stream without boiling it, and the water in the houses was exactly the same stream water. But I guess you have to do what they say.

Willie came round at about 7.30 with eggs and bread for breakfast. I thanked him and said I had been looking forward to the eggs for days, and he came round later with two more, which he suggested I hard boil for my lunch the next day. I did exactly that. What a very kind man.

Then I watched some absolute junk on T.V.; ‘Eastenders’, ‘Supersize vs Superskinny’, and ‘Don’t Pimp our Children’ (a Channel 4 sex education programme). Absolute rubbish all of it. I slept very well.