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.

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.

Monday 3rd October 2022

We set the alarm for 6am so we could make an early start. We were still hoping there would be a hire car available in Fort William which we might just have time to collect after the end of the walk – this would mean we could continue on our original schedule; collecting it first thing tomorrow morning might be possible but far from easy and if there wasn’t a car available we were probably going to be heading home instead. Fort William is just over two hours away and the car hire closes at 17.00 and so the latest we dare leave it to depart from Fascadale is 15.00. Our route on paper is 15.8 miles (and will turn out be about 10% more) and so we needed to start walking by 7.30 latest.

We managed to leave at 7.15 as dawn was breaking. Fortunately the weather was holding for the time being so we walked as fast as we could. We had a six mile road walk to Ardnamurchan light house. It is the most westerly point of the British mainland being 23 miles further west than Land’s End and so has to be visited by any coast walker. The walk was quite easy going.

As we walked, we came across the Kilchoan Community Garden which is opposite the, now defunct, Sonachan Hotel. They had some polytunnels as well as some nicely cultivated beds. Despite the sign, the shop was not open.

At Achosnich we passed a cottage which had evidently discarded their oil heating and were using the old oil tank as a log store.

And we were delighted to see some Herwick sheep, albeit a long way from home they seemed to be thriving.

Just before we reached the lighthouse, Jill’s phone picked up enough of a signal to receive a message from Emily. She had spoken to the car hire firm who confirmed they had a car available and we could pick it up this afternoon as long as we got there before they shut at 5pm. That was a huge relief and, having messaged our thanks to Emily, we strode on with renewed impetus; we could rescue the walk after all.

The lighthouse is a popular tourist destination and so it even has traffic lights along a short narrow section of the approach road to control traffic entering the lighthouse grounds. There is also a tearoom and gift shop but that didn’t open until 10.00 and being only 9.15, we continued on our way. The lighthouse was built in 1849 by Alan Stevenson, it is 35metre high and is built of granite from Mull and remains its natural granite colour. We did have a mobile phone signal near the lighthouse so I arranged for the Volvo to be “recovered” to Carlisle Volvo while Jill put on her waterproof over trousers and rucksack covers as the weather was now deteriorating. I decided to give it a bit longer as I dislike walking in overtrousers.

The OS map shows a track close to the shore but this has been closed off with a high gate topped with barbed wire which we took to mean they don’t want any “right to roamers” here. A little further back up the road is a signposted path which crosses behind the caravan site to reach the shoreline track a little further on.

A good track follows up a passed an old shielling up a little pass to Portuairk. 

Portuairk has a sandy beach and a few houses and little else, not even a bench. So we found some large rocks near the foreshore and sat for a very quick break to have a hot drink and some shortbread before pressing on. A path goes from the village along the coast to Sanna. Leaving the village there is a river to cross which was simple enough because the tide was out it was easy to stepping stone it. On the other side there was a short stiff climb before dropping down to Sanna Bay.

Sanna has lovely, white sandy beach and even on a damp, windy Monday in October there were several cars in the carpark. In summer it must be packed.
From Sanna there are two possible routes; one is via the deserted village of Plocaig and then cutting across to join a track that crosses from Achnaha. The alternative is to walk to the track from Achnaha. The first option is shorter by a mile and a half and is closer to the coast but doesn’t actually have any views of the sea and there is no recognised path and it is liable be damp. Because we wanted to sure of finishing early we decided to walk the longer route for the security of being on a recognised path and because of its interesting course. The end of the Ardnamurchan peninsula is a long-extinct volcano.

Our walk from Sanna took us through the rim of the volcano to Achnaha and then we turned off the road onto a good track which follows the east side of the crater to the deserted village of Glendrian. Glendrian was never more than a very small collection of houses farming the immediate area around it. It was not cleared as part of the clearances but the residents gradually left until the last family departed in 1941.

It was a good, interesting walk on a very walkable track.

From Glendrian the path continues optimistically well but soon deteriorates as it crosses bog.

The path then  turns north west to pass through Bealach Mor in the northern rim of the crater. We struggled to find the path which should be on the west bank of the stream and so we followed the east side and rejoined the proper path at the ford. By now, the rain had arrived and  the wind had got up as well. This was not quite the walking I had promised Jill. At least we were crossing this area now before the worst of the deluge – it would have been a lot more difficult in the later storm conditions and failing light.

Once through the bealach, the path turns north-east but the path was far from well defined. There were various streams to cross and unfortunately Jill went into a water-filled peat channel up to her knee and I had to help pull her out. Jill had been wearing walking shoes since she first joined me on this walk and had only very recently found a pair of walking boots that were comfortable. She was wearing them on days when we knew the terrain would be difficult underfoot and had opted to wear walking shoes today as I had suggested the route was mostly along a track even if it might not be much more than a path in places. Sadly it was not even a path in quite a lot of places but she was philosophical about it and pointed out she would rather it was her shoes that filled with wet mud as she definitely needed her boots for tomorrow’s walk and they would not have dried out in time.

We continued along the rather variable path guided by my GPS

The rain got harder and the wind strengthened and we just plodded on as quickly as we could. At last we came over a ridge and Fascadale lay in the valley below us. We had to descend steeply to cross the river. The map shows a footbridge but there is no longer even the vestige of a foot bridge. The river was wide but very shallow and, as Jill already had shoes full of mud and water, we splashed across and came the car.
We were at the car by 14.05 which was pretty remarkable given the weather and the state of the walking for the last couple of miles.

For the benefit of other coast walkers I think another time I would take the shorter cross country route via Plocaig since the route from Glendrian through Bealach Mor is not at all easy or quick if the conditions are poor.

After changing footwear, we set off for the two hour drive to Fort William. We made it for 16.30 and having collected the car we started the drive back to Acharacle where we would leave the hire car ready at the end of tomorrow’s walk. The weather was abysmal with high winds and torrential rain.

We got back to the studio flat by 19:30  It seemed like a very long day but we were now back on track..

Sunday 2nd October 2022

We are keen to finish walking at least to Kilchoan but the reason we brought the Volvo with us is because there are simply no public transport options nor taxi firms covering this area; if we can’t come up with an alternative, we may simply have to go home. Now we are down to one car, our former relaxed logistics have hit the buffers and the only option on a Sunday is to hope we can hitch a lift. On the basis that it is easier for just one of us, without a rucksack, to get a lift and there would be more vehicles on the road in the afternoon than first thing on a Sunday morning, we decided to drive back to the start of the walk at Laga. With very limited parking options, we left the car parked in the same place where the Volvo had “died” yesterday – and hoped we were not tempting fate. We were walking by 8.30 and the plan was to walk fairly fast to give maximum time to get a lift back to retrieve the car. 

The walk along the road is quite pleasant with mature natural woodland beside the road and intermittent views along Loch Sunart.

We came to the Ardnamurchan distillery which is quite a new one – one of many small distilleries trying to find a niche in the market place. Just along the road was the Ardnamurchan Natural History Visitor Centre where we had stopped for coffee back in 2009 on the day we cycled from Kilchoan to Glenuig. Sadly, today, we were too early as the café would not be open for another twenty minutes – and so we just kept walking.

At Ardslignish the way along the coast is barred by the mass of Ben Hiant which, though only 528m, forces the road inland along the edge of a wide valley with very steep sides. It is known locally as the “drop”. The single track road is protected with crash barriers.

The views are spectacular. At the top of the valley the road goes over a pass to loop around Beinn nan Losgann before turning to descend to the coast. There is an alternative route by following a path between Ben Hiant and Beinnnan Losgan. This would be the more direct route but involved a bit more climbing over rougher terrain and some doubtful paths to find. Given we were trying to finish as early as possible, on balance we thought we might be quicker going along the road even though it was 2 miles further. It is a pleasant walk, effectively crossing the peninsula and then returning.  The cows we had found blocking the road when we driven along it earlier were grazing along the verge and watched us pass.

There were good views across Loch Mudle and out to the Sound of Arisaig and the islands of Muck, Eigg and Rum.

At the top of the pass, a couple of cars passed us, one with two kayaks strapped to the roof. They stopped at the car park just ahead and we realised four of the people who got out were those who had given Jill a lift in their camper van to Strontian yesterday. We stopped briefly to chat and they asked if the car was fixed to which we replied “No” and explained we were still in limbo, not sure if we would be able to continue beyond Kilchoan or not. We thanked them again for their help and pressed on along the road.

The road descends steadily to Kilchoan. The rutting season is almost upon us and the bucks were bellowing on the hillside and the does were forming into harems waiting for “service” to begin.

We were back at the studio flat  by about 13.10. Jill suggested she should try hitching a lift back to Laga from just outside as drivers might feel more inclined to stop for a lone female. If no lift came along after about half an hour, there would be just enough time for me to walk back to retrieve the car, hitching as I went.

Our host was busy cleaning the pod next to the flat that they also let out and so we went and enquired about any local taxi or private hire or even bike hire. There is none but since they were going to collect their son from somewhere in the direction of Strontian, they thought they could make room for one of us in their car – and so we gratefully accepted a lift for an hour hence, which meant neither of us had to try hitching and we had time to eat our lunch.

We had had no confirmation of the hire car booking for Monday morning so had ruled out driving two hours to Fort William for when the hire firm opened at 8am. I had sent an email saying that as we had not had a confirmation, we would not be there for an 8.15 pick up and would try ringing them in the morning to find out if a car was available.

Jill and I discussed our options for tomorrow. With only one car, our original plan to drive round to leave one car at the end of the walk at Fascadale did not work. However, since I was now getting a lift back to Laga and had time on my side, instead of bringing the car back to Kilchoan, I could drive to Fascadale and leave the car at the end of tomorrow’s walk. I could then walk back the seven miles to Kilchoan trying to hitch a lift as I went. Jill said it was ridiculous to think I would need to walk the whole way as any passing car was bound to stop for me – especially if I stood in the middle of the road to flag them down.

The lift back to collect the car seems simple until, as we approached the aforementioned “drop”, cars were filling all the passing places as far as the eye could see and nothing  was moving. The cause was an ambulance blocking the road as they scooped up a motorcyclist who had somehow come off his bike without “the help” of another vehicle. This all took ages and we were stuck for about an hour during which time I found out lots about out host who is a keen runner and had run from Kilchoan to Fort William, that is 3 marathon’s worth.

When things started to move the ambulance came in our direction and passed us to find a location where they could transfer the casualty to an air ambulance. This meant we could move forwards and I was soon being dropped back at the car. Now it was 15.45 and I was well aware that, if I didn’t get a lift, I still had a seven mile walk to do which would take a couple of hours. I set off back in the direction of Kilchoan and Fascadale and became increasingly concerned at the absence of traffic heading towards me. Eventually I turned the corner and could see blue flashing lights of a police car blocking the road and an air ambulance standing on the single track road with rotors stopped.

There was nothing to do but wait for the casualty to be transferred and the helicopter to fly away. I got talking to the couple in the car behind me. They were on their way to Portuairk where they are staying for a few days. The conversation rambled on and finally as we were about to get back in our cars the woman looked knowingly at me and asked my profession, having already decided I was a doctor; as, it turns out, is her husband.

Once the road was clear, I headed for Fascadale and arrived at 16:45, a lot later than expected when I initially thought of this plan. I left the car and messaged Jill to give her an ETA of 7pm. That gave me 2hrs 15mins for seven miles. The walk was quite simple. I had about four miles to walk generally uphill to the main road and then three miles down to Kilchoan but I hoped I might get a lift. I can walk quite fast but I had to carry my heavy walking boots which had been left in the car boot and which I need for tomorrow. Fortunately I had a shopping bag to put them in. 

The walk went well; getting a lift didn’t. No cars passed me on the road from Fascadale to the junction and on the main road just four vehicles passed me – all coming towards me – and the two vehicles that passed in my direction were both just as I was arriving at Kilchoan. The first was our host and his wife who collected their son from wherever and another car with a female driver. I did not even try to hitch since I was only 400 yards from the studio flat. Instead I sent Jill a message to put the kettle on. She had put the afternoon to good use, sorting out our gear, preparing supper, washing a couple of walking shirts and doing sandwiches for Monday.

The result of today’s very protracted afternoon is that, as long as we start early and walk reasonably fast, we can do tomorrow’s walk as planned and, if the car hire firm has a car available, drive straight from the end of the walk to Fort William and get there to pick it up just before they close at 5pm. It also means we will hopefully finish walking before the worst of the storm. What we probably won’t be able to do is to ring the car hire office when they open at 8am as we’ll be at the remote end of Ardnamurchan without a phone signal.
Emily had been following events since the Volvo breakdown and was keen to help. She suggested Jill sent her the details of the online booking and said she would try ringing them at about 8.30 when they would have had time to check their bookings and read our email. If they hadn’t got a car, she would ring other firms for us to try to find one; she knew we really wanted to complete the remoter sections of Ardnamurchan and Knoydart this year to give us an easier section for resuming next year. So we crossed our fingers and got everything ready for an early start in the morning.

Saturday 1st October 2022

We started the day with a drive back to Strontian. I filled up with fuel and Jill got some food and a paper in the shop. We started walking at 9.30. It was difficult to decide whether to put waterproof trousers on. We decided against but twenty minutes later we paused under a tree whilst we put them on.

It was just a road walk today. Though there were a few cars, it was pretty quiet. Showers came and went as we progressed along Loch Sunart spotting the little settlements and big houses on the far side that we had walked past on the last day of our last walking session.

We managed to time a coffee stop at a Forestry picnic table just when the sun came through; it was a pleasant break. Just a few minutes after we had finished another sharp shower doused us.

Generally we had a good views across Loch Sunart in between the trees. We passed a man putting up a forestry fence singled-handedly. Well, he did have his very friendly, spaniel puppy with him.

At Salen we called in to the Jetty Stores for some more provisions which we could easily carry with us back to the car. It is a nice little shop and it also serves coffee.

Jill had noticed another picnic table west of Salen when we drove to the start of the walk and it proved to be in just the right place for our lunch break; we sat in the October sun enjoying the view over the loch.

Lunch done and we had a couple of hours to the end of the walk. The walk was really quite enjoyable with mature Caledonian forest bordering the loch even if there were forestry plantations higher up.

We arrived back at car by 15.50 and were looking forward to a leisurely drive back to collect the Subaru. Unfortunately the Volvo would not start; it would not start for Jill and neither would it start for me. There was nothing I could do and so it was a job for the RAC. Of course there was no phone signal. In the end I went to a cottage where some French holiday-makers were unloading their things from a people carrier. I asked if their holiday cottage had WiFi and they said it did (have “wee fee”) and were happy for me to log in and call the RAC. The call was answered by an automated message which said I had to log my breakdown on-line. I managed to do that and received a standard text to say they would get to us – in four hours.

I returned to Jill who had managed to find a spot just along from the car where she had enough signal to message our daughter, Emily, to let her know our predicament and use What3words to get a precise location for the car in case that proved useful. We decided to flag down the next vehicle and ask for a lift for Jill back to the Subaru at Strontian while I would wait for the RAC. At least that way we would have some transport. The first vehicle was a camper van with kayaks strapped to the roof and four folk inside who not much younger than us and were happy to help. They offered Jill the only available seat, perched on the kit box in the back which she gratefully accepted.

Fortunately the RAC contract out their breakdowns in the Highlands and a local garage in Acharacle rang to say they would be with me in half an hour. As seems to be the case these days, there was very little he could do at the roadside. The diagnostics computer showed no error codes but when he disconnected one of the fuel injectors there was no fuel getting through. He suspected a faulty fuel pump but said his garage wouldn’t be able to fix it for about 3 weeks. So I emptied all the things we needed from the car into a bag (fortunately there was not much having been left there overnight) and he then loaded the car onto his truck. I will arrange for it to be recovered to Carlisle Volvo where it has previously been serviced.

I rode in the cab with him until we met Jill coming the other way when I “jumped ship” and Jill and I drove back to Kilchoan with heavy hearts wondering what we could do. It was late on Saturday afternoon.

Back at Kilchoan, Jill started looking online for potential car hire and found that Loch Shiel garage who collected the Volvo had hire cars. I rang the pick-up truck driver to enquire but he said they were all booked for next week. Tomorrow being Sunday did not bode well for getting a replacement set of wheels.

Jill felt that we should pursue all possible options to enable us to continue the walk given we had accommodation and ferry trips booked ahead and if we abandoned the walk now, we might not get chance to try again until the spring when the weather this far north might still make things difficult over the remote peninsulas. A hire car seemed the best solution so she continued searching online and found a car-hire firm in Fort William which allowed online booking. We made a booking for picking up a car first thing Monday morning and got our check code from the DVLA then awaited a booking confirmation. It would mean a very early start (leaving at 6am) to get to and from Fort William, leave a car at Fascadale, then walk the 17 miles from Kilchoan. To make life more difficult, another low was moving in and heavy rain was forecast from late morning all afternoon and the final few miles of the walk were on an indistinct path across boggy ground. We needed to finish before the light failed.

Friday 30th September 2022

Today is the first day of our last session for this year. We have decided that, as the nights are drawing in fast and dawn is reluctant to leave her bed in the morning, that we will finish in mid-October and resume the coast of Scotland in the spring when the days are long enough for us to walk a reasonable distance without the risk of finishing over uncertain terrain in the dark. It is a long to drive all the way to the Northwest highlands and I don’t like driving at the best of times.

Today we drove to Strontian from Cumbria. The weather was abysmal; the wind got up and heavy rain lashed us all morning. As we drove through Glencoe, we could hardly see anything. Despondent walkers were waiting at pickup points. The river was a boiling torrent of white water. I was concerned that the Corran ferry might be cancelled but by the time we got there the wind had dropped and the rain had eased off. There was no queue for the ferry and so we were soon across and got to Strontian at about 14:00. We left the Volvo at the car park near the centre of the village and drove back to the lay-by the other side of Loch Sunart and parked the other car where we had left it last time.

We set off with full waterproofs on but, as it turned out, in the 1¾ hours it took us to walk back to the car, it remained dry and we even had some sunshine.

The walk was not especially interesting being entirely along the road. However the weather had left its legacy. All the mountain streams were in spate with white water streaming down the mountain side. The air was beautifully clear and when the sun came out the scenery looked bright and fresh – almost as if it had been hosed clean.

The village of Strontian gives its name to the element Strontium which was discovered here in 1780. Formerly Strontium was used extensively in cathode ray tubes but that use has all but ceased.

We were back at the Volvo by 16.20 and set off to retrieve the other car. We will leave the Volvo at the end of tomorrow’s walk as we drive past on our way to our studio flat in Kilchoan which is our base for the next five nights.

Tuesday 11th October 2022

Today was set to be a challenging day. Jill had set her heart on getting to Kyle of Lochalsh to finish this walking session and what will probably be our last session in Scotland for this year. To achieve this we had to pack up at the self-catering bungalow in Glenelg, drive one car to Kyle of Lochalsh and then return to Shiel Bridge and walk fourteen miles to Kyle of Lochalsh and then drive 300 miles, via Fort William to return the hire car, back to Cumbria.

We are pretty efficient at getting packed up and so we managed to get the cars parked and start walking by about 9.00; we hoped we could finish walking by 1.30. Today’s walk was to be entirely a road walk since the A87 runs along the coast the whole way. The A87 is a very fast road and especially at this time of the year when there are very few holiday-makers left to clog up the roads. The road becomes the preserve of locals and HGV drivers who know the road and take advantage of its graceful curves and straights and are not interested at gawping at the scenery, not that there was much to gawp at today.

We set off with high-vis tops on and our red warning lamps ready to use. Jill has a cycle rear-lamp and was using it on a strap on her arm and I have a head torch with a red light on the back.

Fortunately for most of the way there is a reasonable grassy verge next to the steel crash barrier and in some places there is a footpath. Even so, we did not feel entirely at our ease on the strip of grass between the crash barrier and the lorries thundering along at 60mph. The verge is quite un-even and is punctuated by gullies to take surface water off the road that can make the unwary walker take a tumble.

Because we had added a couple of miles into yesterday’s walk, we were actually starting from St. Dubhthac’s Church today. The first village we came to was Inverinate where there is a Jet filling station. As we passed, a voice called out and Mark, the walker we have crossed paths with twice before, was there filling up his car. It seemed odd that in a remote corner of Scotland we should cross paths with the same person three times over. Equally it must be true that, in a remote corner of Scotland where there are very few people, if you cross paths with anyone it is quite likely to someone with whom you have already crossed paths. Now that is a question for “More or Less”.

It was not actually raining most of the time but the air was damp and the cloud was right down so we could only see across the loch occasionally and so there was nothing to distract us from walking. We did keep our eye on the water’s edge just in case we should see an otter, but beside a busy, fast road did not seem to be otter heaven.

We came to Donnie, home of what I should think is the most photographed and most painted castle in Scotland. Eilean Donan is, of course, impressive sitting on a tiny island in Loch Duich and connected to the mainland by an eye-catching stone bridge. We wondered about getting a swift coffee at the visitor centre there. However, such is the tourist pull of the castle that as you approach you leave the delightful, low-key, anything goes, highlands and are rudely awakened by twenty-first century commercialism. The neatly-hedged parking area provides space for a large number of cars and coaches  for which they have to buy a parking ticket and even at 10.00 on a damp Tuesday in mid-October there was a security man directing traffic to appropriate parking slots. Foreign legions were descending from coaches and camper vans and making their way to the toilets, the tearoom and some even paying to going into the castle. Others lined the bank of the loch to get the classic photo of the castle.

As you will probably have guessed we wasted no time in moving on. Fortunately, just round the corner, we found a bus shelter with a proper level bench where we had coffee from our flasks and a piece of Jill’s fruit cake.

There is a causeway and bridge over the mouth of Loch Long (which incidentally is not very long at all and I guess its name derives from something else. The Gaelic “long” means ship and so that might be relevant) and on the other side we took the old road short cut through the village of Ardelve. This is closer to the sea but more importantly we had seen a sign to Manuela’s Wee Bakery and the thought of an almond croissant or some other delicacy was too much to resist. But resistance was futile or at least unnecessary because the Wee Bakery was closed due to Covid.

The next place we came to was Balmacara which is really an estate that extends all the way to the edge of Kyle of Lochalsh and comprises a number of small settlements. I had hoped to get a paper at the Spar shop but they were sold out of the Times.

On the shore of Lochalsh is the impressive Balmacara House, built around 1801, but now owned, along with the Balmacara Estate by the National Trust for Scotland who lease the house to the MOD who use it as a training base for divers.

The rain came and went but never went for long enough to justify taking off our waterproofs. As usual, we crossed the road every so often to walk along whichever side felt safer, with better chance of being seen or a wider, level verge to walk on. Most of the vehicles moved out to pass us but occasionally an HGV would thunder past at close quarters and create enough air movement to risk knocking us off balance.

Soon after Balmacara, Kyle of Localsh came into our view along with the Skye Bridge which fired us up to get to the end.

Having reached Kyle of Lochalsh, we drove back to the excellent café at Balmacara Square before collecting the Subaru from Shiel Bridge and heading for Fort William. Having left the hire car there, we were driving together, for a change, through the highlands. We made it to Moffat by 20.10 where I had booked a table for us at the Star Hotel. We eventually got back to Cumbria at about 22.15.

We were tired but also felt very pleased and satisfied to have completed this section of the walk in spite of so many difficulties: logistical, meteorological and physical. The sometimes pathless and difficult off-road terrain made for slower going at times but in spite of this we still seem to maintain a predictably good average speed which should help when I start planning how to schedule the rest of our walk.