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For my annual spring walking trip, I decided to visit Knoydart for the first time, beginning and Glenfinnan, stopping at A'Chuil bothy overnight, and then spending a day in the hills around Inverie.
Tuesday began with almost 10 hours of travel. After switching trains in Glasgow, I had a slow and scenic journey through the highlands, reaching Glenfinnan just before 5pm. There had been relatively few signs of life from Fort William onwards, so it was a bit of a surprise to walk through crowds of tourists taking pictures of the famous viaduct.
- The view from Glenfinnan
After snapping a few quick photos myself, I set off briskly along the paved track, as I had roughly 12 miles ahead of me and only a few hours to go before sunset. I'd been reading about the area's remote and rugged hills for months, so the first few miles on flat asphalt felt a bit incongruous - but after passing Corryhull bothy, the glen narrowed, the track steepened, and the forest gave way to rough heather, where herds of red deer grazed above and around me.
The dark clouds that had been looming overhead since Glasgow also finally broke, though not convincingly - I kept alternating between keeping the rain jacket on, causing me to get hot and stuffy, or taking it off and getting damp.
- Looking back
- Red deer
The descent towards the river Pean was extremely boggy, and made for slow going, though the glen was not without its charms. I started off dancing between increasingly rare dry patches of heather, but soon gave up and waded along the trail with two wet feet.
- Following the river
- The boggy bounds
After crossing the river and making my way onto Glendessary wood's mercifully dry road at last, I pushed on as fast as I could, making it to A'Chuil bothy at roughly 8:30pm. At this time in the evening, the bothy was already quite full, so I had a quick dinner to avoid disturbing the other guests and lay down for a very fitful night's sleep.
- Arriving at A'Chuil
A crisp and sunny morning greeted me when I woke up. Before setting off, I decided to go for Sgurr na Ciche on my way to Inverie; I knew I had a long day ahead, but it would feel like a waste to pass by such tantalising hills without bagging at least one!
- Crossing the Dessary burn
Emerging from Glendessary wood and following another waterlogged path, I plodded on for several circuitous miles on an old jeep track. The snaking route didn't seem to make intuitive sense for a walker, frequently dropping in elevation or veering around minor hummocks, but the terrain was rough enough that I stuck to the track despite this. Roughly halfway up the shoulder of Sgurr na Ciche, I stashed my heavy pack, and armed with nothing but a water bottle, jogged off to find the steep gully to Feadan na Ciche, making quick but tiring progress.
- Steep gully up
- View from the bealach
One last scramble brought me to my first summit of the trip, where I had wide-ranging vistas across much of the central and western highlands. While taking a breather, I saw that another cloudy front was rolling in, so I rushed back to my pack to resume my progress along the jeep track.
- Sgurr na Ciche summit
- Dark clouds approaching - time to descend!
Loch Nevis soon came into sight, and after passing some impressive waterfalls, I made it to Sourlies. To recover from the morning's efforts, I had a long, drawn-out lunch, soaking in the sun on the front bench of the busy little bothy, which I had all to myself - I wondered how many others would arrive before nightfall!
- Loch Nevis coming into sight
- Sourlies bothy - great lunch spot!
However, Sourlies was not for me tonight, so I set off first along the beach, then across an interesting (and surprisingly dry!) marsh. After passing a recently constructed bridge and abandoned croft, I set off on my final ascent of the day.
- Walking along the beach
- Abandoned croft with Sgurr na Ciche looking impressive
A straightforward and well-graded track soon had me overlooking Inverie. The clouds I had seen earlier burned off completely, and I felt the full strength of the spring sun for the first time.
The last few miles passed in a bit of a blur as I was laser-focused on making it to the Old Forge, where I proceeded to have the best pint of my life. Since it was only 5pm, I had more than enough time to lounge on the benches that overlooked Inverie Bay before replenishing supplies at the post office. At my accommodation for the night, I had a much-needed shower before returning to the Old Forge for a delicious meal.
- Inverie at last - time for a pint!
The next morning, I set off to complete my main objective for this trip - completing the 3 Knoydart munros. After eating a full english breakfast, the start of the walk was very pleasant, as was the ascent up Ladhar Bheinn; no mucking about, just a straight shot up to the ridge.
- Easy forest tracks to start off
- Gaining height on Ladhar Bheinn
The views for the next few miles from Ladhar Bheinn and then Luinnie Bheinn cannot be fully captured by words or photos - looking past the dramatic cliffs and crags that surrounded me on all sides, I could see quiet bays and loch after loch, blurring the lines between the mainland and surrounding islands. Further afield, the sun was shining on the large snow patches on Ben Nevis, the sharp ridges of Rum and Skye, and the countless other munros within view. The ridgeline stretch between these two hills had to be some of the best walking I've ever had anywhere in the world.
This didn't mean the going was easy however - after two hard days with a pack, my legs were starting to feel it, and I had to really dig to make it up the summit of Meall Bhuide and then survive the steep pathless descent to Inverie.
- Approaching the day's third munro
- Punishing descent - knees were knackered!
To celebrate a big day out, another trip to the Old Forge was in order, where I savoured my second delicious meal of the trip. The next morning, I would take the ferry to Rum via Mallaig, which I will describe in my next report...
