Tuesday 4th October 2022
We were pretty exhausted after yesterday’s walk and long drive and so we allowed ourselves a lie-in until 6.30.
It had tipped with rain all night and the wind had been strong. It was still raining hard when we got up. The only glimmer of hope for the day was that all three of the weather apps we use, suggested the rain would die out by the end of the morning.
We only had to drive 7 miles to the start. We were in no hurry to get going but we did set off from the car at at 9.00. Needless to say we were in full waterproofs. As we left, a gamekeeper pulled up and asked where we were going. We explained our route and he said that was fine. He was about to go deer-stalking and wanted to know where on the hills we might be going to ensure he would not be stalking in the same area; we felt reassured we would not be in his sights.
We walked along the road to Achateny and took a track on the far side of the river which was something of a shortcut. The track was however completely waterlogged and the river was a raging torrent from the overnight rain. We came back to the road before Kilmore and followed it through Swordle to Ockle where the road ends.
Beyond Ockle athere is a good estate track for about a mile.
After that a narrow path continues up the brae, though it was running with rain water. Cliff stopped to put on his gaiters while Jill went on ahead.
The path is very obvious and so navigation is not a problem but it is narrow and the brae side is steep. With all the rain, the path was running like a stream and so our boots got very wet. We paused to look up at the mountains all around us and saw the unmistakable barn-door wings of an eagle flying over high above.
The path climbs steadily and then comes to a burn where it performs a dogleg. The burn was something of a challenge to cross because it was in spate. Jill put on her Feetz wellies and I waded across in my boots and gaiters. My right foot got wet because water came through where the Velcro fastens outwards on my gaiters and made a passage for the flow of the stream.
The burn was just too wide to jump and too fast-flowing to risk slipping over. Each step forward meant lifting a foot clear of the water so it didn’t get swept sideways.
Jill was about to take her wellies off and pack them away but I had walked ahead and found that fifty yards further on there was another burn to cross in similar fashion so I called back to tell her to leave them on. This time the direct route to the path on the far side had fast-flowing water running over the large rocks making them too treacherous to use as stepping stones and just behind them the water was pretty deep – there was also a steep drop just below the crossing point.
Jill scanned the burn upstream and thought it would be safer to cross a few yards further up where it was still possible to get out on to the bank on the opposite side. She went ahead and crossed without great difficulty and I followed.
The path continues to climb until it tops out, from where we could see to the headland of Rubha Aird Druimnich and look down on to an estate track that we would eventually join a mile further on.
The path then descends a little to cross a very marshy area for half a mile or so. Today the whole area was waterlogged and running with surface water which had nowhere to go.
After the marshy area, the path goes over a lip to descend along the side of a U-shaped valley which I assume must be glacial but it seemed rather abrupt and one sided for a typical glacial valley.
Soon the path joins a formal track and continues down hill towards Gortenfern. We avoided the track to Gortenfern itself because it would involve fording the river as it enters the sea which would not be very safe with the river so full. Then, much to our surprise, we came across another walker, the first person we had seen since the game keeper at the start. Indeed, apart from a runner we met yesterday, he was the first walker we have met this trip. We stopped to chat and found Mark knew a lot of the paths we had walked and would be walking on our next trip.
On the main track there is a bridge to cross the river and then a forestry track goes down to the white, sandy beach called Singing Sands. Singing Sands is so called because under the right circumstances of tide, humidity and temperature the wind make a sound as it blows across the beach. We were ready to stop for lunch so decided to take the side track to the beach, rather than press on through the forest, hoping there might be somewhere to sit.
We sat on the edge of the grassy bank at the top of the beach and ate our sandwiches. By now the sun had broken through and we had been drying out for the last couple of miles. The beach of Singing Sands is a very popular destination for those wanting short walk in the area; there were several other couples there.
After lunch we had a forestry track walk of 2 ½ miles mainly alongside Kentra Bay to the car park.
Then a couple of miles along the road to Acharacle and the car. We drove to the village shop and got a paper and then on to the café which, very sensibly, is open until 5pm where we enjoyed a pot of tea and cake. A brilliant end to a day’s walk.
Just Coasting 