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This was the long overdue meet that was organised by Jackie (and Malky) pre the Covid pandemic, unfortunately Jackie & Malky were unable to attend but still carried on sorting out all the loose ends - thanks to you both and am sure everyone offers their best wishes.
Having been to Knoydart in 2016 I was determined to revisit along with a few who have never experienced the magic of the 'Lost Bounds'.
The bunkhouse we were staying in has room for 26 and there were a few times when the list was full. In the end with the forecast not looking very clever we ended up with 13 turning up and a couple of hardy campers.
For anyone who is thinking of staying in the bunkhouse in the future, there are a few points worth stressing:
The kitchen is not big enough to cope when full.
The 3 bedrooms are basically equipped, the bedding has seen better days.
The large bedroom with 11 beds also has 2 heaters / radiators which you are not allowed to switch off, as a result it was like sleeping in a sauna.
Bathrooms there are 2, male & female each with 2 toilets and 2 showers, is that enough you decide?
Finally the 1km walk from the jetty in Inverie is not much fun when walking in with all the food & DRINK, it is a great way of making your arms a couple of inches longer.
I can't comment on the camping facilities but please don't be put off from visiting Knoydart, as it is just so different from anywhere else on mainland UK.
This was our ferry out and back
Mallaig harbour or part of it
Bigger ferry arriving
The ferry that was my transport 6 years ago
The female crew members unloading all the luggage
Looking across to the built up part of Inverie
The march to the bunkhouse begins, spritely to start with
Good tarmac road right through Inverie, but turns to a potholed track a couple of hundred metres before the bunkhouse
View across Loch Ness from outside the Old Forge
The place mat inside the Lookout restaurant, plenty of interesting facts
Just waiting for a couple of stragglers, Tommy bound to be one of them
The plan was to leave at 7am prompt and we managed that, all 9 of us for anyone who is interested the nine were:
Me, George, Parminder, Martin G, Tommy, Jim, Jim's daughter Louise, Heather and Richard (mountain miscreant) who was experiencing a meet for the first time having travelled up from London by train at great expense. It was great to meet you and well done for doing the long walk out all on your own, that wouldn't have been much fun.
Looking south
Look closely there are a few stags loving the bracken - just like us
Plenty of ongoing work with the heavy machinery
A familiar sight to anyone who has been to Knoydart, Lord Brocket's memorial
The fun that lies ahead, the ascent route through the bracken is to the right of the front of the lump
Probably the poshest bothy around
Nice windows, not sure what Parminder is doing?
Nice walk through the woodland
It looks fairly obvious why you don't head up there
We had just missed the path (if you can call it that) that traverses uphill
An option we discussed (suggested by David Main), was continue along the track and then turn sharp left up the shoulder
Heads down now and prepare yourself for the bracken
There is a path, you just have to keep looking down
Looking back down, you can see the bridge over the burn
Parminder looking up and relishing what lies ahead
Waiting for Tommy and trying to point him in the direction of the path
The bracken is now history
Views starting to open up
Inverie Bay / Loch Nevis
Here comes Tommy
Views now are limited, we are in cloud - which was forecast
The rest of the gang waiting for me & Parminder - ascending is very challenging
Cloud starting to break up creating some nice shapes
The way ahead
Cameras and phones pointing in all directions
Welcome to Knoydart
Looking back, we came down that
Contemplating a spot of scrambling
Once you reach the higher ground the path is fairly obvious
Don't expect a straight up and down between summits, the terrain is very undulating
A tiny bit of hands on
Loch Quoich making a brief guest appearance
More descending unfortunately means more ascending
In cloud again so we kept together as a group
Fairly steep zig zag path off Loony Bin, also getting a tad eroded
Loch an Dubh-Lochain appearing below the cloud
Looking back uphill
Steepish descent
Cracking photo of Ladhar Bheinn in all it's glory
Still plenty of descending left, what is worse is the distance left, we are heading for the second body of water in the far distance
We are now on the motorway that takes us down to the side of the loch - there were plenty of puddles and boggy bits to negotiate
We finally reached the loch side, looking back uphill
Loch side path
Very docile and watching us carefully
Unusual colour
Another different colour
The hustle and bustle of Inverie High Street
The most remote pub on mainland UK
Inverie jetty
Video looking east and south from the jetty
Video looking west and north
Ferry arriving to uplift us all
Looking back - goodbye Knoydart I will return
The next photo's have all been 'borrowed'
Photo taken with George's camera in "The Lookout" restaurant
The majority of the WH gang taken on the jetty by our resident photographer the one and only David Main
As usual a different photo
One of Jim's (Ogilvie)
The one thing most of us will remember
Inverie Bay
Zoomed shot
Knoydart for me never fails to disappoint, if you are tackling the Munro's do not expect an easy day and if you are superhuman you try and tackle the three in a oner. George tried to tempt us by saying it is only an extra 3 hours, but when you start descending off Loony Bin and look across to Ladhar Bheinn it was a definite NO from us all.
That draws to a close another WH meet, there was no quiz, everyone was very well behaved and the Saturday evening was a very quiet affair, the majority of us had been Loonies and were just happy to relax.
There are no plans or volunteers to organise a future meet so if anyone wants to leap into action please feel free?
