Where`s Duncan ?

[tomyboy73]

WHW Day 4
Woke up early , didn`t get much sleep , probably due to the sleepwalker bumping around farting in the night. We went for breakfast, six of us at the table together and Martin tried to chat up the waitress. Jim and louise set off before the rest of us who had a wee chat with our host Chris before we left. After telling us a story about his 3 legged dog he got a bit mixed up with our names which we found , in an extremely immature way, absolutely hilarious. So Duncan was to be our new companion for the rest of the trip.

Tommy, Martin, Tommy & Duncan

It was a wee bit grey when we set off but like the rest of the week it brightened up quite quickly.

2 horses & an ass

I walked this early part of the day mostly with Brian & Tommy as Martin had decided he was going to jog the whole way or until he met a woman We walked and talked and had a few laughs as we headed to Bridge of Orchy. With Ben Dorain ahead of us and the grey sky turning blue it was looking like another great day on the Way. Brian had asked me on the first day, " What`s the best bits" and i replied that it got better each day and each part of the walk has it`s moments. But for scenery we were just getting into the good stuff as the mountains opened around us. Walking along the path towards Ben Dorain was spectacular. We even spotted a couple of large birds in the sky, but couldn`t quite make out if they were buzzards or eagles.

Ben Dorain

We reached the bridge of Orchy in what seemed like no time and it was a beautiful morning. We caught up here with Jim and Cass and posed for some pictures on the bridge , we couldn`t have used my camera as I have no photos of us here.It was also at this point we realised Beck was walking on her own as she had missed Jim at the meeting point and we must have walked past her in a shop or something.

River Orchy

As we headed uphill here we all kinda swapped who we walked with until me Tommy Brian & Cass reached the cairn overlooking Loch Tulla. It was an absolutely beautiful setting. The Loch reflecting the blue sky above and the mountain tops all around us devoid of any cloud. I could have stayed there all day.

Loch Tulla

in fact when the others started off again I decided to hang on because I knew Jim would be coming soon and I knew he would love this. When we did this walk before , it was on this section that we had our only rain of the week. It was quite a contrast. While I waited i was joined by two lady walkers from England. They had both walked all over the place and said that what they were seeing now was right up there with anything that they had seen. Even compared Scotland to the Himalayas !

Jim photobombs my selfie

Jim joined shortly afterwards and once we`d taken about a hundred photos we moved on.

We walked down to Inveronan, Jim telling me how pleased he was that Louise had joined us and even more so that she was enjoying it and how he was so proud of how she was handling it. We got down to the Inn wondering if any of the others had stopped for a tea or a beer , but no , they had kept on walking. We reached Victoria bridge and found a couple of lizards hiding in an old campfire, Jim Attenborough was in his element.

Victoria Bridge

As we walked away from the bridge we came across half a deer`s leg lying on the grass. We joked about a 3 legged deer running around which reminded me of Chris` 3 legged dog. I started to relay the story and of his mishap with our names , of course me imitating his old english army major accent. when who should appear on the road in front of us ???? It was Chris, I cringed with embarrassment, had he heard me take the mick ? No , he greeted us with a big smile and explained to us that he and he and is wife had gone for a little walk up Glen Kinglas. We chatted fo five minutes or so and carried on. We went through the gate which marked 10 miles to the Kingshouse on to the old Thomas Telfer road towards Rannoch Moor.

Meall a Bhuiridh

We wondered when we would catch up with the others but by the time we reached Ba bridge we still hadn`t so we stopped for a break. I sat on the low wall and had something to eat while Jim went for a walk down the ravine and a sneaky dip in the river. Strangely, he videoed himself stripping off and going in and the camera was still running when he fell on his arse on the way out. Still to see this video though. We moved on again once Jim came back, thankfully, as the midges were beginning to eat me alive. The scenery was stunning and the waking was easy. The great big hills of Beinn Achaladair and Beinn a`Chreachain seemed to always be behind us and Rannoch moor opened up expansively to the west of us.

Beinns

Eventually we caught up with Tommy and Louise who had been napping by the side of the path waiting on us. I said to Tommy, "I`ll give you ten guesses who we met, bet you can`t" "Chris" was his reply. Aparrantly Martin had seen him first. The four of us carried on towards the Kings house and as I stopped for a call of nature the others carried on and I ended up walking the last mile or so myself. I came across a huge caterpillar which had set up home on an old facecloth.

Caterpillar

It clung to the facecloth with great strength and became quite "aggressive" as I tried to pluck it from it. I put it down. I was a wee bit scared of it. Before I walked round the last ben that would bring Glencoe into sight i climbed up to the cairn on the hill which provided a great viewpoint back before i descended down the path.

cairn

I could now see the hotel and of course Beauchaille Etive Mor.

BEM

All that was left now was to join the others .The first thing we did was make Louise do her ice bucket challenge in the river behind the hotel. Then it was dinner and party time. We did have a bit of a sad moment at dinner when someone said David Attenborough had died, then somewhat shamefully breathed a sigh of relief when we realised it was Richard As the night got on and the drinks went down, the music got louder followed by songs from Martin & Cass before we all went out and lay under the thousands of stars in the sky(this bit i wished i wasn`t so drunk).Once we were kicked out of the bar , we settled in the lounge for more singing and dancing, to the annoyance of some other residents. We all had a great night and if we hadn`t bonded before, then we definately had now. I just hope the owners don`t have CCTV !

[jogilv16]

great report tommy,this is just to good,what a great day this was.

[tomyboy73]

cheerz Jim