Day 12 - Wednesday 15th October 2014 Cold dreary start. Winter is here for sure. Legs and feet sore and its bitterly cold outside, making the thought of exiting my toasty sleeping bag all the more unappealing. I hope to god I dont have to jump in any lakes today. No Internet or phone signal so no idea what the total is up to. Ive had a solid amount of sleep having gone to bed at 6.30pm last night, even with the relentless close proximity stag chorus - so feeling pretty positive. However because (as usual) Im the last to rise Im playing catch up at getting kit stowed and sorted for the off - agreeing to do breakfast and coffee some distance in to our first climb so we can get cracking. Today we were promised a mega tough day with killer terrain and serious ups and downs. Luckily only 20KM but today and tomorrow will both be epics for sure. The wind was phenomenally strong and cold - buffeting us on our way up the first, and by far the highest, long ascent to the Bealach na h-Uidhe pass below the spectacular Glas Bheinn. We stopped to make coffee in a tiny gully in the Peter Andre which gave minimal protection from the wind so we all huddled round the gas stove using rucksacks as wind breaks. I drank a few cups of water from the stream next to us. Absolutely delicious. This high up theres certainly no need to use puri tabs. That cup of coffee was amazing. A much needed lift as well as a welcome hand warmer. Nurofen. Onwards. The views from the top should have been life changing but when we reached 600 meters we were in thick cloud that allowed us little more than twenty feet of visibility. Not ideal when youre having to pick your way down dicey steep slopes in such full on wind. Rucksacks act as a kind of sail in this wind - twisting you from side to side. Thank god for Shaznay. Eventually the clouds did begin to clear - actually it was more like we began to descend out of them and there we were looking at yet another awe inspiring range of mountains and our first proper glimpses of the Atlantic Ocean. We were eventually aiming for the Bothy at the end of Loch Gleann Dubh but first were coming down to another bothy at Loch Beag and the larger Loch Glencoul - all sea lochs. Two fighter jets screamed overhead at low level reminding us of the massive NATO exercise still going in at Cape Wrath. Wed obviously been keeping in contact with the MOD who currently thought they would be done some 24 hours before we got there - this Saturday. Down at the end of Loch Gleann Duhb we stopped at another bothy for lunch. The views were amazing now as the skies had cleared to blue and the sun reflected off the clear water. Seaweed in the Loch and clear views if the passage out to sea confirmed our near coastal position. A sharp and hard climb up from sea level to around 250 meters and we rounded the hills into the next valley where the GlendDu bothy awaited. In the end we pushed on past the bothy adding a few more K to our day - but no drama as this was shaving off ground we would have to cover tomorrow. We saw young seals playing in the seaweed and potentially a small otter cavorting with them while a huge mother seal lounged on a rock looking on with a watchful eye. We RVd with Graeme who had had a nightmare trying to find us. Poorly marked paths leaving him in precarious positions on thin cliff side tracks where his only choice was to gingerly reverse his was out and try another. Eventually after we did connect we went on to find an amazing camp location in a nearby forestry commission pine plantation. Massive fire. Recharge of batteries. We have three days left to go - till we reach the cape and the end of our life changing adventure. Tomorrow is - I hope - the last of the absolute killers at 33KM (now 30 as wed ended today walking the start of it). Were nearly at 6K GBP on the total which is great but Im lying here in my tent trying to think up a way of ramping it up. Ill be deflated if we dont hit the 7k target. Im sure we will - even if some comes in after we finish (local newspapers have said they will write big features on our return) but it would still be amazing to hit it ahead of reaching the cape. Graeme said were over 5700 anyway - which means big bum here has to get his pins out for another bit of swimming tomorrow. Im down with that. JUST PLEASE KEEP GIVING justgiving/capewrathtrail2014 Night night.
Posted on: Fri, 17 Oct 2014 08:55:46 +0000
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