20 April - Camus Luinie to Glen Affric Youth Hostel

Camus Luinie to Glen Affric Youth Hostel

(16.5 miles              7 and a half hours walking)

What a great day. What a destination.

Willie had warned me that the route to Glen Affric was hard, so I got up and left early. I was walking by 07.45 a.m.

But not before I enjoyed that plate of scrambled eggs on toast I mentioned early. Thanks Willie. What marvellous hospitality.

The weather was calm and hazy, with just a hint of a breeze to keep me cool. I hoped very much the mist would lift and remove any navigation fears.

My path followed Glen Elchaig east through an area that felt really ancient. I crossed the river at Coille-righ and continued east along the north side of the valley. The track was excellent and clearly used by vehicles to access farmland. There were many signs that humans had lived her for centuries; with a few old dolmen-type structures to be seen and really old walls and ruined shielings.

This post was almost worn through by it’s previous use and I wondered if there had been a gate there once? Or perhaps animals had been tethered there? Either way, it was a rather beautiful object.

I got very close to several herds of red deer, who seemed completely unfazed by my presence and just watched me pass with vague curiosity. It was wonderful to get so close to them, and I didn't feel in any danger at all.

At Loch na Leitrach I turned south and completed the challenging ascent to the Falls of Glomach. The ground was steep and slippery, and in places I had to haul myself (and my pack) up some quite serious scrambles, with steep drops on my left to raise my adrenalin levels. I was very glad I was ascending rather than descending this route, and would advise heavily-laden walkers to think twice before descending from the Falls of Glomach as the route is quite dangerous.

The information provided by the sign at the top was:

 a) too late for me and b) quite obvious in any case

From the Falls of Glomach I headed east and then south following Abhainn Gaorsaic. There was no path here, but I stayed on the west side of the river for a few kilometres and then crossed – using Andrew’s rubble sack method – to the east side. Both sides of the river were pathless and seemed quite boggy and difficult, but it was always clear which direction you had to go in. So I just took Churchill’s advice to ‘Keep Buggering On’ and after a bit of a slog I made it to Loch Gaorsaic.

The walk took me through a stunning secret valley, with very few signs that humans had ever been there. I heard lots of cuckoos and saw a loon (Great Northern Diver) on Loch a’ Bhealaich. There was a small path marked on my map heading south along the side of the Loch, and I tried to find it. However the route marked on the map had been masked by 4-wheel drive paths and I got rather annoyed by this occurrence over the next few days. It seems that 4-wheel drive vehicles do not drive in single file but follow any route they like along the hillside, which makes sense for them, I suppose. But it means the least well-used footpaths, which are faint at the best of times, are confusing to find and frequently masked by tyre tracks. Anyway, to cut this rant short, I failed to find the path and just headed cross-country and rather wearily south to the junction of the path running east-west from Glen Affric to Morvich.

At this point I met a Frenchman with no map, wearing black brogues (suitable for working on a building site but not trekking!!) and following his compass to get him to Morvich. He asked me where he was and I told him exactly where he was. I was slightly bemused by his lack of concern about being lost and his simple confidence in “If I keep going west I will get to Morvich”. I guess the old pilgrims and shepherds had no maps either.

When I was finally on a proper path near Allt Gleann Gniomhaidh, I rewarded myself (as I had been promising myself I would for miles, it seemed!) by stopping for a rest and brewing up some coffee. I had one of Willie’s hard-boiled eggs and was very happy to be alive. I congratulated myself on having covered some quite difficult terrain in good time and felt very fit. From that point it was only a few miles further to Alltbeithe, or Glen Affric Hostel.

The path east was boggy and hard-going, but to my complete amazement at about 3.30 p.m. I met a Scottish cyclist with a ROAD BIKE (!!!) wearing deck shoes, and also heading west for Morvich. He was naturally pushing his bike over the uneven terrain, and was taking his bike to Morvich so he could cycle home the next day. I thought he was crazy, and was less concerned about his wet feet than his chances of getting to Morvich before it got dark! Not that I told him that. Each to their own.

Shortly afterwards Alltbeithe Youth Hostel came into sight.

There was a lovely warden called Colin, who was originally from Birmingham and had left his job to get away from it all. He lives at Alltbeithe hostel 3 weeks out of 4 and I am very envious of him. His story was inspiring and motivational but is not mine to tell. He was very welcoming and allowed me to beat him at chess that evening.

Another person staying was Momo from Spain, a trainee psychologist who was travelling all over the place and looking at different religions as he went. Momo did not allow me to beat him at chess! There was also a Swiss family who had thought they could drive directly to the hostel and had walked up from their car without sleeping bags, and a lovely family from Sheffield. We made quite a jolly crowd.

There is no electricity at Alltbeithe, but is a small wind turbine which provides enough electricity to charge a phone or GPS (so long as the wind is blowing!). There was no phone reception and no phone at the hostel; although Colin said he was expecting a phone to be delivered, for emergency purposes. He said that if I walked for 1 hour up the steep hill opposite the hostel I would get a phone signal, but I decided not to bother! Sorry Andrew but there is a limit..

This picture shows Momo and the fire in the kitchen.

There is no central heating at the hostel, but the fire is connected to pipes and provides enough hot water for a brief shower and wash. Colin got up at 5.30 the next morning to light the fire so we could have hot water to wash with.

That evening I discovered another tic on my back and asked Rachel (the woman from Sheffield) if she would remove it. She tried but was too squeamish so we asked Colin if he would do it. What a diamond.

                                               Me, Momo and Colin

I couldn’t be gladder that I went to Glen Affric Youth Hostel. I met some real kindred spirits and even though we were from different parts of the world and different classes and cultures, we spoke the same language. We understood each other. You can’t put a price on the sense of belonging that gives. I felt really at home there.