28/06/14 - Scafell Pike - (me and Luca)

The walk was an offset for me to not having Scotland to look forward to any more. Also, was a good opportunity to get Luca walking up a hill with me. Set off from home later than planned as I was kept up lateish the night before by work issues. We were on the road by 8am, rung by work on the way....

Luca forgot his waterproof jacket (shock!), so had to pick something up in Keswick. Luca said he didn't need it, but I said we'd see.....

Parked up and was immediately strung by how busy it was in comparison to Scotland. We struggled to get anywhere to park.

Set off on walk. Weather was warm, cloudy, but rain wasn't forecast. We started at a steady pace, but Luca seemed to be making a lot of excuses to stop and in truth quite a few people are passing us on the way. However, he says he's enjoying it, so it's all good.

The map is a little tricky to follow - there are so many hills and paths and my map reading seems to be falling short. Hills in Scotland were more pronounced and the paths fewer. It took me a long time to work out which hill was Scafell!

The last stretch is a bit of a slog. The peak is crowded and very cold, especially as the cloud descends.

We start the walk back, weaving through the hills as Luca doesn't want to do any more peaks than necessary. However, he's on good form.

We stop at the bridge to fill our bottle with the stream water - which is incredibly clear. Luca drinks a lot and we'd nearly run out.

We get back to the car having completed the advertised 7 hour walk in about 5.5 hours. We have some tea in a nice hotel and then drive home.

It didn't rain.....

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Solo walking trip to Scotland - end of trip thoughts

Looking back at the posts, I seem to have had a lot of negative things to say, but I still remember the time as being very special. It was definitely the right thing to go on my own as I didn't have to worry about keeping anyone else happy and could just do whatever I felt like. It's strange to spend that amount of time on your own, but not at all unpleasant or lonely (apart when on the beach and completely out of contact with everyone - i.e. no texting).
I kept roughly to plan and covered a hell of a lot of miles. But most of the walks were cut short in one way or another. I also spent far more nights in hotels than I planned. And had more restaurant meals than planned.... My illness and shoe issues really didn't help, but I worked around them as best I could.
The main learning was that next time I'd stay in hostels - wild camping is too iffy in terms of whether you get a good nights sleep, but staying in hotels all the time felt too much at odds with the 'back to basics' nature of walking in the wild.

13/06/14 - Glen Etive - (me)

I feel very tired today. It's drizzling. I want to have the spirit for a long walk, but I don't.
I drive through Glen Finnan and stop off at the statue and viaduct (I get a glimpse of the train). I also stop at Glen Coe to take some more pictures, but it's thick mist and I can't see the mountains at all.
I've decided to drive down Glen Etive (where they filmed Skyfall), and take a wander round. It's 14 miles of single track through (not particularly attractive), forestry commission land. I'm not feeling much love for it. I arrive at the end and the Loch is pretty unimpressive and the car park is a litter ridden site full of rough campers. I chat briefly to some Geordie lads who are camping there and then return to a Lochan I passed on the way in to go for a stroll.
It's incredibly wet, so I turn back before too long and set off for home.
I stop for macaroni cheese at Tebay and I'm home for 7pm.....

12/06/14 - Arisaig - (me, Rory)

I'm pleased to be spending a day sea kayaking as it will give my feet a rest and someone else can take responsibility for what we do/don't do. However, it starts suitably stressful by me having to rush breakfast down and then cover a 1.5 hour journey in about an hour - why don't they serve breakfast earlier?
Rory will be my guide for the day, in my party of 1.... Luckily, he's a wonderfully likable young chap. We set off around the coast, stopping off on islands and in bays and watching seals and birds as we go. The sea is incredibly calm, beautiful and the whole thing is remarkably relaxing.
I do some more GoPro footage (this turned out to be the only video that I took that anyone was remotely interested in, and I'd take a fairly thorough blog through the entire expedition....).
By the end of the day I ache immensely and quickly decide against any idea of wild camping on my final night. Especially as it's now drizzling and I desperately need a hot shower. Luckily the adjoining hotel has a room. I sit and enjoy a couple more whiskies (a Laphroig and a Lagavulin - it takes me ages to work this out after - both really peaty and very nice).
I continue reading 'The Call of the Mountains' and then bed.

11/06/14 - Tom na Gruigaich - (me)

I wake up to take the tent down pre-6am. I feel very tired and generally pretty dreadful. The sore on my foot was also making me hobble. I start the drive to Torridon and have to stop on the way for a kip. Luckily I find a cafe in Torridon, have scrambled eggs on toast (not on the menu, but the rustle it up for me anyway), which picks up my mood somewhat and stops me wanting to go straight to the hotel where I'm staying that night. I also pick up a book in the cafe called 'The Call of the Mountain' by Max Landsberg, this also inspires to continue with my planned walk for the day - or at least to start it.

I start the walk up Beinn Alligin (Tom na Gruigaich), with low expectations of how far I'd get, but I manage to get to the top and feel OKish. I feel reasonably tempted to continue to Sgurr Mor (though not even slightly tempted to continue as far as 'The Horns'), but the weather closes in, the ridge looks quite exposed and I think better of it. By the time I reach the bottom I'm glad I did, as I'm stumbling quite badly and generally struggling to lift my feet in a coordinated manner.

I have a great drive to the Leterfinaly Hotel on Loch Leven - going through Glen Shiel and past Eilean Donan castle is amazing.

The Hotel is nice, the room has a bizarrely over configured Victorian bath suite. I have an average steak and a couple of nice whiskies (Talisker (nice and peaty) and Dalwhinnie (too sweet)) and even go for a pleasant sunny evening stroll on the Loch.
And then bed.

Munro - Tom na Gruagaich

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10/06/14 - Sandwood Bay - (me)

Had another full Scottish breakfast at the hotel and drove north to Kinlochbervie (stopped off at castle ruins on Loch Assynt on the way). It was raining when I arrived so I cooked up some tomato soup on the stove (only time I ended up using it), and bided my time till it stopped. Also made some cheese sandwiches for tea. The sun makes a tentative appearance so I set off for the beach, with tent and overnight gear in my rucsac.

It's a few miles to the beach, which turns out to be about as stunning as expected. There's a couple of other people on there, but it's so big you hardly notice. I find a fantastic spot for the tent - in among the dunes and hidden from the beach itself. I go for a bit of a walk on the cliff edge, but after that the lack of purposeful and necessary activity makes feel a bit hapless. I go for a paddle. The water isn't that cold and is a pure Asiatic blue - except where the water comes in from the sea loch, where it's bog brown and really very warm. I then end up packing up my tent, deciding that with no alcohol, nothing to burn, or cook I'd be better off going back to Loch Assynt to camp. So I pack up the tent and bolt back to the car. I'm really not sure if this is a smart idea or not, but I know that unless I get a shift on it will be really late by the time I get back. By rushing, I make my feet twice as sore as they were previously.

On the way back the rain starts again so I stop at a little restaurant in Kyelsku (they do fantastic local food -  I have scallops). I then leave for Loch Assynt (it's kind of stopped raining now). 3 deer run out in front of me and I have to break to avoid hitting them. As I park up the car I see a stag watching me from on overhanging cliff above me. I plan on drinking a beer at the site and having a small fire, but the midges are so bad, that I need to rush then tent up and jump inside. I can see the 3 deer about 100 yards away, watching me from the edge of the Loch. Overall, I'm quite freaked by now. I can't even watch them to see how near they're getting because the midge are bothering me so much. To top it all I realise as the wind starts that my chosen location is very exposed to the wind. And I start thinking that I'll need to get up early so as not to bother anyone who wants to see the castle first thing. Result of all these concerns is that I hardly sleep a wink.....

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09/06/14 - Loch Assynt and Quinnag - (me)

Set off from Glencoe pre-7am. Drove alongside Loch Ness through Inverness to Ullapool. Had a full Scottish Breakfast and bought postcards and presents. I then drove further north to Loch Assynt.

I parked on the A894 and started to walk to the Quinnag Corbetts. Realised after a while that I was going anti-clockwise rather than clockwise so I really struggled to get up the first hill - steep, steep heather. Had a bit of a scare with a deer about half way up. It was nestled into a rock and didn't want to budge - I go fairly close to it without realising it. Had to do quite a detour to get round it as it really didn't want to move.

After reaching the summit of Sail Gorm (where I encoutered my first grouse and then baby grouse), I started up Spidean Coinich but some really heavy sideways rain came in and I didn't feel that I could proceed. Shame. In hindsight I should have waited for a bit.

I was planning on camping next to the castle on Loch Assynt but it was chucking it down. I went for a nice steak and chips at a rather posh Lodge and then took a drive through rich, dense and almost prehistoric valleys and sea coves - it was like the land was still forming.

I ended up booking into a hotel in the Summer Isles. As I did the skys opened and it turned into quite a nice evening. I went for a walk down the road (past numerous dumped and rusted bits of farm machinery), on the very rugged coast, being watched all the time by seals. I wore a new pair of walking shoes and realised when I get back that I'd ripped a great hole in my heel!

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08/06/14 - Bidean nam Bian - (me)

This was to be the first day of my first walking trip to and tour of Scotland. I became ill the day before I set off.... I was due to set off at 6am, but didn't leave till 7:30. However, the journey was excellent and I was parked on the A82 and walking up Bidean nam Bian by 1:30pm.

The main thing powering me along was adrenaline. I tried to ignore the fact that I was actually feeling pretty rough. I realised after about 30 minutes that I really needed to calm down. Luckilythe views were excellent and the air was crisp and clear. I could see the ridge line laid out before, it was both intimidating and exhilerating.

There was a lot more snow about than I was expecting - I wasn't expecting any. It covered the path (somewhat dangerously) in a number of places and led to some precarious snow-ridge walking.

I felt I was running short of time so I decided not to take the (really quite short) walk up to Stob Coire Sgreamach (I really regret this now!).

The path down from the col was completely covered and so the journey down into the valley was interesting.... I ended up trying to take a straight line into the snow and the walk down the middle of it where I thought I could see some steps. I slipped on my arse and needed to use my walking pole (stuck between my legs) to try and steady and steer myself. I survived.

Ate in Glencoe and camped in Red Squirrel camp site.

Munro - Bidean nam Bian

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