Day 2 Allt a’ Chonais to Glen Strathfarrar

Last night was the windiest night we have ever experienced!! I wasn’t sure if we would wake up in the Land of Oz or not. 😂 We actually thought that the tent was going to be ripped to shreds as some of the gusts were collapsing the poles in on top of us. When we got up everything was intact, except for the central tent pole which has a new bend in it, making it look more like a piece of spaghetti than the central structural member of the tent.
As we headed out this morning we looked for signs of Peter and sons along the river, but no luck. We did end up passing one hiker about 500 m into our day. He was on the Cape Wrath Trail. His comment regarding last night’s wind was, “What was that????” 🤣 We didn’t know it at that time, but he would be the last person we saw today. It may have been the path (or lack of path) we took, or it may have been the in-your-face wind and rain. Or both.

Glean Fhiodhaig

About 5 km into the hike we stopped at Glenuaig Lodge - I think it must be a fishing/hunting lodge. It looked very nice and cozy inside, but unfortunately nobody was there to ask us in for tea and cake. The owners have set up a small shack near with bunk bed, heater, and lights for any hikers who need refuge. It might have been good for us last night!!🤪

The trail was on and off along River Meig and over to Loch Monar - mostly off. The footing was again quite technical for most of the day. Amanda had two wipeouts which helped reinforce the “Last Crossing” theme of the trip. 🤣 We used some advice given to us by Iain from Cougie during TGOC 2017, when discussing some pathless section we were unsure about. He told us sticking close to the banks of rivers or burns is usually good as the deer and other animals have worn down a solid path that makes walking significantly easier. This advice served us well then, and also again today. Thank you, Iain from Cougie!!
It was very windy against us as we walked up Gleann Fhiodhaig, but I was sure that would change as we headed over the pass to Loch Monar. Nope. I guess the wind blows in your face whichever direction you choose to walk in Scotland...
Mandy found a good spot to cross River Meig, which could have been a big change in route had we not been able to. We had to stop to put on river shoes, which is why the skies opened up right at that moment.😁

Successful River Crossing Selfie

Once across the Meig we had our big climb for the day, up Torran Ceann Liath, and down Coire Fionnarach. Eventually Loch Monar came into sight then grew and grew. It is ~11 km long end-to-end, with one lodge on the East end. It was a very peaceful and beautiful sight. We did both notice that the path along the Loch was very coastal-like in that it looks flat on the map, but in reality was full of many ups and downs smaller than the contours of the map. This probably added 300 m ascent in the 5 km section.

Monar Lodge is at the end of the loch. It is part of a beautiful estate full of exotic looking Scots pines, and other trees. It seems they have the entire loch to themselves. I am not sure what goes on there but there is a family living there, and they must have a very peaceful life with all that scenery to themselves.

East End Of Loch Monar

We pitched up at the entrance to Glen Strathfarrar, which we will spend most of the day walking through tomorrow.

IMPORTANT UPDATE- Our original spot beside river in some longer grass turned out to be a huge mistake. We were just enjoying our tea/coffee and snacks when we noticed some very small micro-ticks on my feet. YIKES!!! After finding dozens of them in the tent and on our gear, we decided to switch camp spots to a shorter grass spot we saw earlier and do a full tick decontamination. Every piece of gear including the tent was shaken in the wind to try and remove any ticks, then an extra hour of hunt and destroy in the tent, and I think we are at a point where we can at least try and sleep..
There is much less wind tonight so we are hoping for something more peaceful than last night - if we can forget about the ticks! 🤮
It’s safe to say that this is still Mandy’s last crossing🤣