Driving home from Dumfries

After some negotiation the night before, we were up at 6.30, which hurt, but we managed to get on the road by 7, grabbing a cuppa downstairs in the hotel on the way.

Thankfully, the weather was much more pleasant today, and the road back to the motorway was long, but easy. We drove until Tebay services, arriving at 9am, and the breakfast there was more than worth the wait for sustenance.

We made a short stop at a services, but pushed on, munching on our Tebay chocolate ginger biscuits, and were home by 2pm.

Excursion to Doune, and leaving for Dumfries

This morning, most of the divers had a not particularly early start. The RHIB was going to pick them up from the beach, so that they could load the bulk of the luggage, and leave it in Susie's van in Mallaig.

I helped them carry bags down to the beach, and ran back to the Lodge's 4WD when Ben realised he'd left an empty bag in it. It was a completely still but grey morning, and the water of the loch was glassy.

I watched the overloaded RHIB motor away from the beach, and then walked back into the Lodge. I had a chat with Cori, and passed on a message from Ben to remind her to book a ferry. I left my packed bags in the living room so the bedrooms could be cleaned for the next cohort, made a sandwich for my day out, and set off walking to Doune.

My route was via a sealed road, so it wasn't hard going, but there were enough hills that I had to work for it. After the flatness of Inverie, the road climbed, past a small loch, and then it was up and down, and winding round, for nearly three miles. I finally saw the sign down to Doune ('Doune here'), and set off down the steep and muddy path.

Doune was very small, but very charming. There were no signposted buildings at all, but apparently there is a restaurant and a bunkhouse there too. I sat at a picnic bench and ate my sandwiches, watching the birds.

My feet and legs were quite sore, but I climbed back to the sealed road, and made good time back to Inverie, stopping at the facilities on the wharf. I kept on to the Lodge, had a bit of a sit-down, collected my bags, and walked back to the wharf to catch my ferry. I ended up cutting the time a little fine, but the boat was arriving as I walked towards it.

A lot of people got off the ferry, and a lot of cars parked on the wharf to meet them, but the boat going back to Mallaig was almost empty. I had a chat to one of the skippers, and then we set off.

The journey was once again pleasant, and we arrived in Mallaig, having to step over another ferry that was loading up. Christian wasn't there yet, so I walked to the road, and he drove past me and went into the ferry terminal. He changed, I got in the car, and we set off on the journey south.

The drive to Fort William was nice enough. The traffic in Fort William was again weirdly busy, and I was particularly impressed by the mountains ringing the town. One of them is Ben Nevis. Just huge.

We drove further south alongside Loch Eil for a long time, and then over the bridge at Ballachulish, through Crianlarich, and then alongside the neverending Loch Lomond.

We stopped for dinner at the Loch Lomond Arms in Luss. There was a wedding going on, but the restaurant was open to the public. We had some very tasty haggis, neeps, and tatties (which took a little longer than we intended), but got back on the road, had a bit of a detour through Glasgow, and then onto the M74.

It wasn't long before we exited towards Dumfries to stop for the night. It seemed to take ages. It was late and dark and wet, and even when we found civilisation, we seemed to drive for ages to the Holiday Inn in the south of the city.

It was so full that there were no legitimate places to park the car, but we improvised. Still, it was warm and dry, and Christian had used his points to get an executive room on the ground floor. It was nice, but a bit tired.

We had showers, and went to bed at about 11pm.

Excursion to Folach falls and Mam Li

I had breakfast with the divers at about 8am, and then they headed off for the day. I was ready soon after, and walked into Inverie to begin my adventure. I began by buying supplies of crisps and chocolate to go with my sandwiches and camelbak water.

I then went to the ranger's office to check my thinking on attempting to walk to Mam Li today, and whether I'd get through a river crossing tomorrow on the Airor Circuit. She thought it would be OK.

I set off on my way at about 10.30, but saw that the RHIB hadn't yet left the wharf. So I walked out and offered my help to load, and zipped May into her drysuit. I took some amusing photos as they left, and some dramatic ones as they disappeared again a backdrop of mountain.

I turned my steps away from the loch, and headed up the hill to the left of Inverie. A couple cycling overtook me, but then the hill got too much for the woman, and she got off to walk. We had a quick chat about the bleeding heart flowers.

They kept on, and I kept on. The terrain flattened out, and the walking was very pleasant. Before long, I turned right at the Folach Gate, and the path went downhill and started to get a big wet. Before long, I was following a creek, and before much longer, I was at the bridge.

The ranger had warned me that there were trackers out for the stags, and I asked them if I was going to be in their way. They said no, and helped to point me on my way. I got to the far side of the bridge, and walked past a couple putting gaiters on. It was only when they spoke to me that I realised they were the same couple who'd been cycling.

They were heading up Meall Coire, or perhaps Beinn na Caillich (I didn't catch the name they were calling it), and we were heading in the same direction for a short time. The ground on the other side of the bridge was hopelessly boggy, and I began to wish I had brought gaiters with me after all.

They pointed me in the direction of the falls, and headed up the hill. I followed the creek upwards. The falls were nice, but not spectactular. I stopped to have some food here.

I continued up the hill, finding it necessary to start looking at the OS map to ensure I was still on the path. There was a stepping stones crossing of the river that I struggled with a little, but I got across. The path got less and less well defined.

I was determined to get to Mam Li proper and be able to see over the edge into Loch Hourn. So I kept walking up the hill, making sure periodically that I was on the right side of the river.

After a while, I lost the path altogether as the ground started to climb, and started losing my feet in boggy holes. Still that view over the top eluded me. I kept doggedly on, and it got really quite steep. Then I came upon a small loch. That wasn't part of the plan. I sat for a rest, and got the OS map out again, and had my sandwich.

It became apparent at this point that I'd been wading on beyond the path, and that the ranger's brochure lied - you can't see over the edge to Loch Hourn. It was disappointing, but it was getting late, and I didn't want to get lost in the dark - especially as I hadn't let the divers know exactly where I was going.

So I headed downhill again. Knowing that there was no path, and being able to see where I needed to get to, made the descent much easier. I followed the river again for a time, crossed the stepping stones, went past the falls, and over the boggy path to the bridge. At the bridge I sat and had another short break.

From there, the walk back to Inverie was easy. It felt long, but much of it was downhill. I got back to the Lodge at about 5.30. The divers were not yet back. My fitbit told me that I had done over 38,000 steps or 26 miles. It certainly felt like it. My feet and legs were pretty sore and tired.

The divers came back, sporting a bag of freshly gathered scallops. Neil spent ages cleaning and preparing them. He and May made a delicious starter with the scallops, and Christian and others made a main meal of smoked salmon and pasta. The whole thing was lovely.

Afterwards, I washed up and we relaxed. The others went to the pub, but Christian and I gave it a miss. Before bed, we did as much packing as we could. It wasn't a late night.

Short walks around Inverie and curry

The divers were up and off before I got up this morning, so without anyone around to guide me on what was what, I had some breakfast, got ready to go outside, and took myself down to the ranger's office to get some maps.

The shop was full of interesting crafts and maps and histories, and venison, but no one in evidence when I wanted to actually buy the maps. I finally found someone to give some money to, and started on the 'Knoydart in a Knutshell' walk, which was due to take around two hours.

I headed up the hill, past A-frame houses, and logging operations and cleared forest. I turned right, but before long the path was closed. So I went back the way I came, went along the bottom and back up the path I was supposed to come down. I ran into the tape from the other direction, and picked up the path from where I should have been. It felt like rainforest here.

I continued back towards the lodge, but kept on up the hill towards the White Gate, where I turned right through the gate, and downhill following the stream through dense woods and . It was muddy but beautiful. After a while, the path widened and straightened out and went past the old sawmill.

At the bottom, I turned left and went past the Lodge and kept going past the bunkhouse to the bridge. I didn't read the instructions on the leaflet properly, and so immediately set off beside the river through the grass. The landscape was different here - like meadows, gentle and beautiful.

I followed the path around, getting wet trouser cuffs, fought through some gorse, and made friends with a horse. After a short dip to the water where some boats were moored, the path came out on the main beach. It was fine silvery sand, with lots of seaweed and driftwood on it. There was a camping ground alongside, and an amenities block with grass growing on its roof.

At the end of the beach, I walked up the lane beside Inverie House, and back into the garden behind the Lodge. I had some lunch and waited for the divers to get back. They got back fairly early (apart from Susie, Mark, and Colin, who'd gone to get fills for the cylinders), and we had a laid-back afternoon.

Christian had a shower, and then we went on a short walk retracing my steps that day, and we discovered the stags beyond the bridge. It was incredible to see such big beautiful animals with very little fear. We carried on around the meadow to the beach, intending to check out the wildlife hide. In the end, it was really only a crawl space, and it wasn't the right time for otters or much other wildlife. We watched some birds, and took some photos before heading back again.

Back at the Lodge, I did some cross-stitch, and Ben and others made some curry. The cylinder fillers came back, and we sat down to a truly delicious collection of curries. Mmmm.

We didn't have a particularly late night.

London to Glasgow to Fort William to Mallaig to Inverie

I had stayed in London, near Euston, the night before, after having met up with the lovely Rach. So my alarm went off at 4.30 (ouch), and I got myself up and out the door and across the road to the station. I had made myself flapjacks, and so just needed to grab a cup of tea (thankfully two shops were already open) and I was ready to board my 5.30 train.

As seems the norm for me, there was someone sitting in my seat, but it was facing backwards, despite my specific request for a forward facing seat. We agreed that I would sit opposite, but that she would move if someone else came along. No one else did.

The journey to Glasgow was fairly uninteresting, and I had to fight to stop feeling sick in the stupid pendolino train. We pulled into Glasgow on time, and I began by setting off in search of Sauchiehall St, and the Waterstone's where I'd ordered an OS map of Knoydart (all the while keeping an eye out for Queen St station).

I headed east on Gordon St, immediately appreciating the enormous stone buildings and shop fronts, and then north on Buchanan (the mall), passing Queen St on the way. (Damn, I could have made the change in 20 minutes had I got the later train.) I then headed west on Sauchiehall St, got some cash out (forgot I'd be getting Scottish pounds), found Waterstone's, got my map, and kept walking west to Douglas St, and then walked south down the hill to the river. There were some very interesting architectural oddities on this route.

I walked along the river for a while, and then back to Buchanan St. Claire had recommended going into Princes Square shopping centre, and so I did. It was very posh, with polished wood and shiny railings. I didn't stay long.

I walked the short distance north to Queen St station, and got some lunch in Sainsbury's just outside. I was early, and the platform hadn't been called. I spoke to Steve on the phone, then got a confusing message on the board for a Fort William train, but not a Mallaig. I asked someone, and they said that Fort William to Mallaig leg had been cancelled, and that a bus replacement service would run to Mallaig from Fort William. Great. That was going to be the best part of the journey.

I boarded the train, and found my seat, despite a horribly confusing system of Fs and Bs after seat numbers, meaning forwards and backwards, opposite a nice young man. The journey was slow, but very scenic in places. I ate my lunch, and bought a cup of tea en route. The train split at Crianlarich. The conductor made it known that the train to Mallaig was cancelled because of a section of track washed away in the big rains two days previously (which Christian had told me about). I felt less annoyed at the inconvenience.

At Fort William, which looked a lot more interesting than I expected it to, with huge mountains ringing the town, we were ferried to two coaches (and I risked stopping to buy some water on the way), and seated without much fuss. We left quickly, and got onto the road, through some unexpectedly busy traffic. I got the front seat, as most people got off at the first few stops to Banavie. The journey was nice, but nowhere near as nice as the rail line would have been. I took some photos out the window.

We got to Mallaig slightly ahead of schedule, and I found the office for the Knoydart ferry and bought my ticket, and used the toilet. I went down to the dock and the boat, and they helped me on board, asking whether I was Angela. I sat on a bench next to some Dutch/Scandinavian people, and the boat, after waiting for a larger ferry to pass in front, began the half hour journey to Inverie.

The water was fairly flat, and the journey was picturesque. Before long, we pulled in to the wharf at Inverie, and I saw Christian waiting for me. We disembarked, and ambled along the beautiful shore to the Old Forge. The divers were finishing their post-dive beers.

We had a dinner booking at the pub, and so had a quick visit to the lodge before heading back for food. The lodge was big and comfortable, and was a slightly longer walk from the pub than I expected.

Back at the pub, Christian and I ordered scallops for a starter, but they didn't have any. So we had langoustine instead. They were nice, but a real faff to get into. I had mussels for main, and Christian had beef. The mussels were delicious, and the biggest and fattest I'd ever seen. As tempting as the desserts were, we gave them a miss. For an out-of-the-way pub, it has an extremely gourmet outlook.

Christian was very tired, and so we said our goodbyes and headed back to the lodge and to bed. It was about 9.30.