Title


Day 04 - Cartastrophe


camp

Tent with Sgurr Thuilm

I walked the short distance up the Allt a’ Chaoriann to where the 1:25000 map showed a bridge. There was no bridge.


No bridge

Oh well, there was nothing for it but to trudge up the burn to a place where I could comfortably ford it, which was about a km up the glen. This would have suited my intended plan for the day which was to ascend the hills to the SE of my fording point and eventually make my way down Glen Mallie to the east end of Loch Arkaig, but although the day was turning out good the burns would still be full and I was unsure of my leg. A much easier option was to hand – walk out along the road on the north shore of Loch Arkaig. The only problem with this plan was that I’d walk off my map which gave a slight “Here be dragons” feel to the plan, but I knew where the road went and it’d be hard to get lost. (In any case I had OS maps of Scotland on my second phone if needed).

After an hour and a half I had walked back down the river and was just a few yards from where I’d started the day which was a little disheartening, but after a few more yards the bridge over the River Pean appeared right in front of me and I surprised myself by throwing my hand in the air in triumph. I’d been trying to cross this river for 24 hours and at last I was about to succeed.


Bridge over R Pean




River Pean

As so often in Scotland, just when you think you’re home and dry you find you aren’t; having crossed the bridge I found the path through the forest up to the main east/west forestry track was boggy and blocked by fallen trees. But once on the track it was easy going to Strathan where the track turns into a road. I walked along the road for a short distance and then turned back to look at the hills. The contrast between the ease of the road and the difficulty of the hills was startling. The sun came out and I set off on a pleasant lochside walk that would last most of the day.


Looking back

"But don't look back in anger.......at least not today"

I stopped and chatted to a lady at a croft who told me about the local area. Towards the end of the loch I saw a wheely bin outside a fish farm and threw my sodden 1:25000 map into it.


deer

Eventually I reached the end of the loch, turned right and crossed the bridge over the outflow of the loch. The water was racing out at a fair old lick. A little further on I briefly saw an osprey flying over the river, but it disappeared before I could get the camera out. The lane took me through Achnacarry, the Clan Cameron headquarters.......


Cameron HQ

Cameron HQ..... (political joke)




Or maybe this one

.....and the stables

.........and down to Loch Lochy in the Great Glen. Here the Great Glen Way ran through the woods at the edge of the loch. I came across a woman pitching a tent in the wood. She was meeting a Challenger friend there and told me of a likely place to camp further along. I found a good place near a stream under some silver birch trees, put the tent up and then noticed a “Camping Prohibited” sign nailed high in a tree above the tent. I spread my wet belongings around and sat back to watch them dry in the afternoon sun, but after thirty minutes it started to drizzle so I turned my attention to making dinner instead. Thinking I’d start with soup I emptied a sachet into boiling water only to find it was mashed potato, so putting this into an empty pistachio nut bag (I only carry one pan) I boiled up some more water and made a Kudrati Palak Makai. The curry was good, but not with watery mashed potato. Kudrati suggest trying their products with all sorts of carbohydrates, but they didn’t really work for me until I was able to buy some rice in the Laggan Stores in a few days time.

Yesterday my mobile phone had drowned. I’d put it in a warm pocket next to my body and given it a new battery, but to no avail. Whilst this was annoying and inconvenient the phone was at least ten years old, so no big loss. This evening I tried the new battery again and it worked!

I phoned Challenge Control and was told "Thank goodness for that, we've been worried about you" which was a bit of a surprise and made me feel a bit guilty; in my imagination I could see them pacing up and down in Challenge Control muttering "Where can Hesp have got to?", and I could have phoned at least an hour before and put them out of their agony. It wasn't until later when I was told how bad the weather had been that I realised that a lone walker in one of the most flood prone areas of the west would be a bit of a worry.

I phoned home where there were no such worries. I expect they think I'm some sort of invincible superhero.


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Day 05

Day 06

Day 07

Day 08

Day 09

Day 10

Day 11

Day 12

Day 13

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