Distance: 17km
It may have taken some haggling, but the sleep under the comfortable, heavy doona was well worth it. I’m feeling somewhat revived today following the last couple of draining days. What’s more, it’s a relatively short hike into the town of Kinlochewe where a single room, and a rest day, at the hotel awaits me. It’s supreme motivation to get cracking.
It is still showery, though interspersed at times with moments of dazzling sunshine. Looks like I’m going to have to just get along with the rain, as the forecast is predicting more of the same until the completion of the walk. I guess I’ve had a lot of practice recently in this sort of weather!
It is a steep climb out of the valley through forestry plantation to begin with. At the top, the track widens into easy trail for a long, gentle descent. There are mountains all around, but none are as magnificent as the white quartzite stack of the the Beinn Eighe massif.
Just as I am about to start another steep climb I spot a friendly face. It’s Dave coming up the track. He suggests walking together which would have been nice, but I’m fixing for a break and recognise that I’m significantly slower than him on the hills. I don’t need that pressure today, so we wave each other off and continue.
On the other side of the hill, I can see the road / track I am on leads straight on down to a bitumen major road leading into town. The trail is telling me to turn right though, and follow a path all the way into town. I trust the trail and turn right. I shouldn’t have.
I am soon faced with an overgrown and spectacularly boggy path which eventually leads to several calf height creek crossings. It is a pretty miserable way to end what has generally been a spectacular day of walking. I straggle into town wet and muddy to find that the hotel won’t open until 4pm for check in.
What to do? What to do? It’s raining and there is no shelter. I head to the toilet block across the road (luckily open!), strip off the wet gear and pull out my waterproof socks. Feeling much more comfortable, I backtrack to the service station and settle in for some lunch, coffee and book reading.
What a relief to get into my room though and collapse onto the bed. I’m going to enjoy a shower, dinner and wine (and not necessarily in that order) immensely tonight.
This article was originally published on The Trek which can be found here
Tough day at the office it seems! Still, hang in there – the end is in sight!