22 April - Cluanie Inn to Tomdoun

Day 15:    22 April 2011

Cluanie Inn to Tomdoun

(13 miles         6 a three quarter walking)

I had a FABULOUS breakfast of Altinabuie kippers (from a local Loch), scrambled eggs, toast and marmalade and orange juice, all washed down with lots of tea. Then I paid my bill and headed off into the hills.

It was another hot, dry, sunny, hazy day, and I wore a T-shirt from the start.

(N.B. As I write from my home in Wiltshire this on 28^th May, I have switched on the central heating at home for the first time in weeks!!) I saw lots of deer today.

The path was initially an excellent track heading approximately south towards Loch Loyne. It was easy to walk on and sloped steadily uphill, skirting Creag a’ Mhaim. I saw two other walkers in the distance early this day, but believe they were bagging nearby Corbetts and Munros and would eventually return to their cars on the main road. At the top of the valley, before the track crossed Allt Giubhais, I took a smaller track west. The main continued ESE to Loch Loyne and ultimately ended in a dead end at the lakeside shore, according to the map!

At this stage I went quite astray and missed another fork in the path, causing me to take a completely unnecessary detour to the summit of Creag a Mhaim (947m). I realised about half way up (having come out of my happy trance) that I was quite astray, but the bloody-minded cell in my brain made me continue to the summit, and I didn’t regret it.

Then I descended down through “the Valley that Time Forget” (or so it felt) to the north of Creag Liathtais to the epic River Loyne Valley. This was a great place; lonely, surrounded by mountains, and utterly unspoilt.

I met a real CWT ‘er here on his third day from Fort William. We swapped trip notes and thoughts about the route. He had attempted the route before, and had failed (he said) due to the speed and distance he believed he could cover.

On his first attempt he had walked from Glenfinnan to Tomdoun in one day; not to be recommended. This is him heading north (the way I had come) after our meeting at the River Loyne. He was the only other walker I met all day.

I really needed all my micro-navigational skills for this part of the day, as the path through the valley and across the river Loyne was not at all clear. Again, my 1:25,000 map proved indispensable, as I was able to identify and find an almost perfectly circular island in the River, which I used to precisely fix my position. The path through the wooded enclosure south of the River was also not clear, and the trees were mostly cut down, so I relied upon a compass bearing and mark one eyeball. There were two very large (and hard to climb with a heavy pack) stiles marking the path entry and exit routes through the enclosure, and these helped me find the correct route.

Looking back NW into the River Loyne Valley from Coire Dubh Mam na Seilg

Once these navigational hazards had been conquered, the path became clearer and it was a steady ascent and steep descent to the pretty road following Glen Garry.

Quite close to the road, while descending (of course), I fell flat on my face and was pretty certain I had really damaged my knee. However after a few minutes lying with my face in the mud and my pack pressing me down, I realised I would have to try to move. I wriggled my leg and managed to stand up. My knee was sore but not worse than normal, so I carried on gingerly and was soon walking quite confidently. It was a wake-up call reminding me of the dangers of solo walking.

The warning on this sign that I was entering (exiting in my case) “remote, sparsely populated, potentially dangerous mountain country” was heeded.

I decided that I would continue to Tomdoun Hotel, as I had some idea that the owner allowed people to camp in his grounds, and I thought it would be nice to have a meal there. I was starting to think about the end of the trip, and wanted to make the most of the last few days. And after all I was on holiday!!! The detour added an extra 1.5 miles to my trip and was quite a hard slog along the tarmacced road, but was worth it.

The owner of Tomdoun Hotel showed me where I could camp about 100m from the hotel, on land owned by the hotel. The site was dry and there were some useful trees for tarp attachment points. It was quite windy and there was rain in the air, so I used all my spare guys.

I sat outside the hotel for a while with a party of men from Edinburgh who were on a ‘fishing’/mountain biking holiday. They were very friendly.

We saw an osprey in the distance and many swallows. The view across the valley was excellent.

I asked the owner if I could have supper there and he said “we eat at 7.30”. I started to be aware that my only spare shoes were crocs, and I had no skirt etc, but it didn’t matter too much.

The food was cordon bleu and served under chandeliers. I had cod and the Scottish cheeseboard (to replenish my protein levels) and it was excellent. I sat down with another walker called Steve, an Australian called Hazel, and her girlfriend (the chef at the hotel) whose name was Celestine. The seven fishermen from Edinburgh were on an adjacent table. Afterwards we all gathered around the Grand Piano and sang songs. I was persuaded to play the piano (badly) and sing, but the landlord’s girlfriend, a Polish (?) woman, was a real expert on the piano. There were 140 different whiskies at the bar and I tried some Glenmorangie, in memory of the film “Highlander”.

I was treated with great respect all evening despite the fact I was wearing crocs, would be sleeping in a tent, and my handbag was my orange food bag (converted).

 If you want a fabulous experience with a touch of the surreal added in, come here. I felt as if I had wandered into an Agatha Christie book.

This was sent from my phone at same stage today...

Phone reception at last! All is well. I am half way between cluanie and tomdoun. Weather is perfect. No midges. Mountains are breathtaking. Awesome. Do i really have to go back to work on tuesday?

My camp for tonight. Got a long 18 mile day tomorrow and rain forecast for the morning so hoping for my good luck to continue. Staying in tomdoun tonight.