Mandy And JM - TGOC 2022: Day 1 - Loch an Eoin to Allt a’ Chonais

So, we are not sure if cuckoos are nocturnal or not, but the one that has been following us sure was!! I would love to know what was going on in his world that he needed to Cuckoo! literally every five seconds. If anybody knows, please comment. 🤪

We both had a warm, fairly restful sleep. We were up at 7:15, packed up and walking at 8:05. The weather looked to be really good and ended up being quite warm. I was In shorts and t-shirt, and Mandy in pants and t-shirt all day.
We gained lots of elevation over Bealach na Lice, and then Bealach Bàn.

Climbing Bealach Bàn

The scenery was unreal walking around several Munros - Maol Chearn Darg, Sgor Ruadh, Beinn Liath Mhor. Munros are British mountains with an elevation greater than 3000 ft = 914 m.

After the climbing was done we got a long descent all the way to Achnashellach Station. We stopped for some lunch about half way down - salami and cheese buns with English mustard.

Long Descent Ahead

Selfie Of The Day

As we got closer to the bottom we saw lots of hikers and mountain bikers either returning from or heading to the Munros. We had short conversations with most of them - it’s always nice to hear what everybody else is doing.

It felt good once we got down to Achnashellach to have some even terrain for a bit. The ground through the passes was quite rugged and technical which makes for tired legs and ankles. We stopped in at Gerry’s Hostel in Craig, hoping we might be able to buy a cold drink, but unfortunately we couldn’t find anybody there. We sat on the front lawn for a snack and drink of water before heading out for the last 5 km to our camp spot.

Now That’s a Bench!!

The 300 m ascent to finish our day at Allt a’ Chonais left us pretty tired. We were quite happy that we broke the day up by doing a little bit last night!!

Once we had everything set up we had a quick (because it was freezing!) refresh in the river. This was a very nice way to wash off some of the sweat from the day for a good night’s rest.
Mandy let me know today that she has decided this will be her last crossing.🤣 Joyce will be happy that she has come to her senses!!!!
It’s quite windy in the tent right now and we are hoping that it dies down soon. We are waiting for Peter and his boys, as we think they will be ending here today as well. It’s pretty special for me to be here tonight as we are in the same spot that Ben, his friend Zach, and I camped three years ago when we were heading to Cape Wrath. I’ve had a good time remembering that night, while Mandy and I are here making another memory right now.