Day 4 - Cannich to Drumnadrochit

Spent a rainy night at the campground in Cannich. Awoke a bit later this morning, 7:30 am. We decided to pack up our gear inside the campsite lounge to avoid a rainy pack up. It was so nice to sit on chairs inside a warm space and pack the gear. Chatted with a solo German trekker. We were easing into today after a long day on asphalt. We opted for coffee and tea at the cafe! A leisurely morning saw us start at 10 a.m., excited for the dirt Affric Kintail Way. But wait, what, what is happening???? Why is that road ahead??? Dang it!!! More asphalt. 🤦‍♀️. The walk must continue!!!

After about 12km of road we hit the dirt. Finally! Some crazy muddy sections but at least it was soft.

JM - Finally Off The Pavement!!

We stopped and chatted with a mom of five and her oldest - 17 yr old son. Had a nice chat about university, kids, adventures etc. Fifteen minutes later we were back to it. Saw some cyclists and runners and talked to a pair of young hikers from Germany on their way to Skye. The weather was sunny with light rain to start, the rain eased for beautiful breezy, sunny trekking weather. JM t-shirt, Mandy raincoat to ensure rain stayed at bay. Although we thought today would feel much shorter, the tough previous day made today challenging. 

Picnic Table Rest Stop!!

 

After huge climbs we FaceTimed a friend in Canada. I (Mandy) asked him to drop a pin as my last known location in case this route (planned by JM) gets much harder. JM is quite excited to walk the challenge that I map out next since I think it is so easy to choose light fluffy trails. 🤣🤣🤣🤣 

Beautiful Valley Views Approaching Drumnadrochit

The awaiting Bed and Breakfast spurred us onwards. The promise of a shower and bed were no match for sore feet. At the B and B our dirty clothes were washed, showers were had and a quick Co-op stop allowed for food re-supply.

Unfortunately JM has had about eight or nine ticks. Brutal. Brutal.
Tomorrow morning starts with a 3.5 km walk to the ferry to motor us across Loch Ness. We will meet our fellow Calgarian hikers- a reunion five years in the making! We will keep our eyes peeled for Nessie.

UPDATE - We forgot to mention that at about 11:00 this morning a British RAF Typhoon fighter jet came roaring by us at low elevation.  It gave us an immediate adrenaline boost and we were so pumped up by it.  Tonight we were reading the news and Mandy saw an article that said that the RAF scrambled the jets in response to four Russian aircraft approaching UK airspace. They were escorted away and never entered UK airspace.  Wow!!! So cool to have seen

RAF Typhoon (not the one we saw today)

Footnote - Burning 5000-6000 calories per day should and usually does results in weight loss.  For Mandy’s response to excessive exercise please see below:

Day 4 Route - 20.75 km, 475 m ascent

Day 3 - Glen Strathfarrar to Cannich Campground

JM has fallen quickly to sleep so I snagged the blog tonight.

After the tick infestation last night, our first priority was to shake out all gear again before packing up. My worst nightmares involve ticks. We probably killed about 50 ticks inside our tent- micro baby ticks too- gross. Our mistake- camping spot had longer grass and tick nests- obviously!!!
The trek down past Monar Lodge into Glen Strathfarrar looks like track on the map (=trail). We arrived to find it is all asphalt! Aggg. Road walking! Road walking sounds appealing because the ground is finally level; however, the harder surface leads to more wear and tear on the feet, knees, hips, well basically the whole body. The weather was cloudy with sun up ahead.
As we walked we realized we had seen very few cars. Two cyclists approached and explained the road is gated as there is hydro activity up the whole lake and only residents can get through. I mentioned if they saw a body lying on the road upon returning, to just call for help. We later learned the road does open to the public but not on Tuesdays. Jackpot! Great for walking.
The glen was spectacular. We saw approximately 100 or more deer- they are always tentative, I’m not sure how our walking pace could seem intimidating… We also saw two groups of wild goats! They look like the images of the Billy Goat Gruff. Very cool. There were all kinds of interesting birds too. The Glen is wooded the entire way- very unique to be in natural woodlands in Scotland. Lexi, I tried to snap some tree and plant pics just for you.

For Lexi

For Lexi 2

The feet were feeling the pavement but we kept on trekking. About 6 km from the end we spotted the cyclists returning. I quickly launched myself face first across the road. They loved it and stopped to chat for about 20 min. Everyone is so friendly. I had slyly righted myself as I forgot how hard it is to get up with a pack on your back. Lol.

At a resting point about 21 km in we needed to make a decision to stick to tomorrow’s original route on day 4, which included a 4km off trail portion or re-route to avoid the off trail.
After talking to some locals who advised it is all bog on the off trail section —> we re-routed. It has been wet here lately making off trail bog hiking about as enticing as a root canal.

Reroute Map Consultation

The re-route ended up adding quite a few km, after 33 km we walked into Cannich enroute to the campground. A 1.5 km addition led up to the local grocery store followed by the Ramsay Arms pub for nourishment. 

JM - Mutton Hot Pot

Mandy - Fish And Chips

Sticky Toffee Pudding - Two Spoons

Limping back to the campground held the promise of flat, tick free ground and showers. We were also able to FaceTime Sammy on his 17th bday. 

Three days done and 87 km walked. Tomorrow is a hotel night- laundry and luxury. 20 km of trail will lead us to Drumnadrochit.
I have felt at times that JM may be trying to kill me but then I remember he is walking the route too.🤪
Amazing scenery and weather today. Bodies are paying the price but will re-charge with sleep.

Blisters- Mandy’s pinky toes bad- one blood blister now. JM using preventative measures to keep threatening ones at bay.
JM left knee very sore. Hard to stick KT tape to his hairy legs!

Day 3 Route - 32.75 km, 340 m ascent

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🤣

The Great Tick Extermination Of TGOC 2022

Dinner: Shepherds Pie(backpacker version) Tea/Coffe, Belvita chocolate chip bars

Dinner Shot

Health update:

JM - knee was still sore in morning but held up well throughout the day
Mandy - three blisters two manageable, one a concern.

Day 2 Route - 27.5 km, 690 m ascent

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.

Allt a’ Chonais Camp Spot - Part 2!!

That’s it for now. Good night and thanks for reading!!

Dinner: Cheese and mushroom risotto - yummy delicious!! Tea/coffee and Biscoff cookies for dessert

Health update:
Mandy -1 blister
JM - Sore knee on long descent but better once we stopped for the night

Day 1 Route - 25.25 km, 1070 m ascent

Day 0 - Torridon to Loch an Eoin

Sorry for the delay in getting these posts up. We are currently on Day 4 and will have service for the rest of the evening. I’m hoping to get 4 posts up. We took notes in the tent every night.

Our bags finally arrived!! We headed back to the airport this morning with mixed emotions , and some nerves, hoping our bags would arrive. After a bit of waiting the baggage agents finally brought them out, a little worse for wear (my front mesh pouch was completely ripped), but there nonetheless.
We hopped a bus back to Glasgow to get the first train possible to Inverness. The train was delayed en-route, but having become accustomed to nothing going right the last few days, we didn’t sweat it.
When we got to Inverness we hopped off, found the closest grocery store for supplies, then hopped in our taxi to Torridon. The ~100 km drive through the mountains revealed what we would be hiking through for the next few days. The driver was super-friendly and we had a great time talking about all of the hot-topics: football (Hearts are his favourite), politics (Boris and Nicola are numpties), Banff (would be his dream vacation)
We got to the hostel around 17:00. Ruth signed us out on the challenger’s log. We saw that our friend Peter from Sundre who we had met during TGOC 2017 was due to leave tomorrow so we asked if he had checked in. He hadn’t yet, so hopefully we see him out on the trail in the next few days. We took a few minutes getting changed, getting our gear sorted, and were ready to head out - 4 days late.

Signed Out and Ready To Go!

It was only 17:30. We had decided earlier in the day to get a couple hours of hiking in to take the edge of the first full day of hiking tomorrow. It did not take long to get into the wilderness - about 15 minutes and we were in the mountains. Spectacular!!!!

Looking Back To Loch Torridon

We heard our first cuckoo only 1 km in!!!! And he must have followed us all the way to our camp spot because we still heard him after dinner.🤣
The scenery has been stunning right from the start, and I could not imagine a more picturesque camp spot. The weather was sunny, breezy, with intermittent clouds.

First Camp Spot

For those following on a map, we stopped at Loch an Eoin, under Maol Chéan Dearg -it is so beautiful here, and we are finally feeling happy after the past four days of chaos!
Shoes: Mandy - wet, JM - so far so good

Mandy’s Sock Drying Station 🤣

Dinner: rice pilaf and coconut rice, lemon chicken skewers. Dairy Milk mini cake rolls for dessert. Tea, coffee.

We are in the tent for the night at 21:10. The cuckoo must be saying good night to us. I am not sure why he keeps repeating himself though...

Rest Day 3 🤬😱😡

Well, another day of disappointments has gone by. We woke with much anticipation that our packs would finally be here, but within 30 seconds of walking into the airport we saw that WS30 from Halifax had been cancelled. Noooooooooooo!!!!!!! Feeling stunned, I went to find somebody to talk to. At that point I honesty felt that I could have cried, I was so frustrated. While I believe the staff at the airport honestly wanted to help us, I don’t think they were actually capable of it. Telling us where they thought our bags were, or when they might get here does not help at this point. Helping us would be coming up with a solution to get them here faster, or having an actual responsible human with the power to do something call us, or confirming that our packs were 100% ready to be put on tonight’s flight in Halifax. As for WestJet.... I don’t even know where to start. Their response (more like complete lack of response) has been atrocious. By design, it is virtually impossible to contact somebody who knows something or can do something. We received zero calls or updates from them throughout all of this, which from a customer point of view only magnified the issue. I can honestly say I will try to avoid ever using them again, not out of spite, but simply because I believe that they really don’t care about people.
After sitting at the Starbucks with our 15£ voucher for three hours feeling stunned and dejected, and not knowing what to do, we booked into another hotel and headed back into downtown Glasgow for the afternoon for an early check-in and a few more episodes of Law And Order.
Here are the things that helped get us through today:
1. Our good friend Audrey from home made the brilliant suggestion that we just get on with the walk “Naked And Affraid” style. 🤣
2. This meme was sent to us by our other good friend Sarah from Ontario. We got a lot of miles and laughs out of it as we used it over and over. Try it, and we promise you won’t be able to stop. 😂

Try It And You Won’t  Be Able To Stop Either

3. We went for dinner at Pizza Punks Glasgow. The pizzas were delicious, and the service was excellent. Amanda - Salt & Chilli, think chicken korma, peppers, onions, fior de latte. JM - Build Your Own, goat cheese, olive, mushrooms, spicy pepperoni, caramelized pineapple. Yummmmmmmm!!!  We highly recommend it!

YUMMY!!!!! 🤤

We are getting ready to call it a night, and head back to the airport tomorrow morning first thing. If our bags are there we will be traveling all day to our start point. If not, our window of opportunity will be firmly closed and we will be doing everything we can to get put back onto a flight home. We’ll see what happens...

Thanks to everybody who have reached out with ideas, and words of encouragement and support. It has really helped, and we are thankful for your kindness.
Stay tuned for updates.....

Rest Day 2 🤣🤣

We woke up after a great sleep at Joyce and Allan’s to a delicious breakfast of fruit, cereal, yoghurt, toast with all the toppings (including some delicious honey from Allan’s father’s stockpile), tea, and coffee. We had mentioned that we might stop off at the Wallace monument in Stirling on the way back to Glasgow. Joyce and Allan very generously offered to drop us off there. We took them up on it, though had we known just how far it was from their place, we might not have. It was very kind of them to drive us that far on their very busy day. At the monument car park they sent us off with a warm goodbye before heading back home. We miss them already....

Selfie At Wallace Monument

The Wallace Monument is a 67 metre tower on the shoulder of the Abbey Craig, a hilltop overlooking Stirling in Scotland. It commemorates Sir William Wallace, a 13th- and 14th-century Scottish hero. Wallace was a Scottish knight who became one of the main leaders during the First War of Scottish Independence.  We started the walk up the Abbey Craig trail, which has several informative stops describing Scottish history. The monument itself is a beautiful stone structure situated in a gorgeous location. We started up the spiral staircase which was quite narrow and windy. Thankfully there were three exhibition rooms within the body of the tower where we could stop, catch our breath, and learn a bit more about Sir William Wallace. Two hundred and sixty-four stairs later we made it to the observation deck which has stunning 360-degree views of the area. From that vantage point it was clear to us why Wallace used that spot to keep an eye out for the English, and how it would have helped the Scots win the battle of Stirling Bridge. After taking in the views, and snapping a few pictures we headed back down, and walked a few kilometres down to the Stirling train station for the ride back to Glasgow.

Fun On the Way Up Abbey Craigs

On Top Of Abbey Craig At The Bottom Of Wallace Monument

Wallace Monument Stairwell

View Towards Blairdenon Hill From The Top Of Wallace Monument

As we headed back to Glasgow for the evening the reality of our predicament started to creep back in to our consciousness. We started reaching back out to the airport and to Westjet to ensure our packs would be arriving tomorrow, and that we could pick them up as soon as they arrive. One of the most frustrating parts of this has been the lack of human contact with the parties responsible. The absence of care and regret for the effects of their mistakes on other people’s lives is staggering. The strategy to make it virtually impossible to get answers or resolution is more than infuriating. After several hours of unanswered calls, and computer-generated responses I decided to head to the airport to see if I could get anybody to talk to me. After a few inquiries I did manage to find an employee who works for the company at the airport that handles missing luggage. He was actually willing to help us, and will be meeting us in the morning around 8:30 when the packs are scheduled to arrive. I was very thankful for his help, and provided the packs arrive, we could be back in business early tomorrow. Worst case would be the packs are not on the flight, and our trip is dead in the water. Obviously I am hoping for the former...
When I got back from the airport we headed out for dinner at a pub just up the road. We both ordered steak pie with mash, and it was delicious!! 

Yummy Steak Pie!!

David McKellar At MacSorley’s Pub - Glasgow

As we finished up a musician hit the stage, so I ordered a Guiness, and we stayed and enjoyed his first set which included The Rolling Stones, The Eagles, Jason Mraz, Ed Sheeran, Prince, to name a few. It was an eclectic mix, and it was very enjoyable!
We are now back at the hotel, watching some TV, and anxiously awaiting whatever tomorrow brings. There are too many scenarios to list here but the best case one would have us getting to Torridon tomorrow afternoon, and potentially getting a couple hours of walking behind us. If there is no update tomorrow, this is what has happened. If not, I will post another update in the evening. Thank you all for the messages of support we have been receiving, and for all of your positive thoughts these past few days. They have all been very much appreciated!!