Day 3 - Monday 6th October 2014 Woke early in the comfortable room the three of us were sharing in the pub. Broken sleep due to the howling wind that tore through the valley all night and the furnace like radiators that I failed to work out how to turn off. I rose and made my first deposit of the trip. Most satisfying that the debut was on porcelain rather than en plein air on the side of a cliff. Breakfast was hearty. Black coffee, porridge and poached eggs on toast. Disappointed to find the night in the drying room sat upside down on a thick hot water pipe hadnt dried my boots thoroughly. Nevermind - well be submerged all day anyway. The wind was still howling outside with lashings of rain so it was full waterproofs and off we set along the busy road to our first climb. The rain seemed to come at us horizontally - literally whipping us into order. Pack feeling much more comfortable today. And generally feeling far more comfortable / upbeat. I was walking in the middle for the whole day pretty much - with guy in front and mat behind. Unfortunately for Mat the Scottish gale wasnt the only wind he was having to endure - but I like to think my accurate duplication of the smell of the Haggis Id eaten the night before was helping to enhance the authenticity of his Highlands experience. What followed was eight hours of high spirited trudging through what can only be described as a deluge pouring off the mountains to our side. River crossings were initially approached with delicate footwork - hopping from stone to stone - but towards the end of the day when the rivers became wider and wed all taken falls into bogs, filling our boots, wading across the shallowest looking parts became more frequent. A somber moment as we approached the most remote youth hostel in the UK (Allt Beithe) came when we noticed the remains of a crashed aeroplane scattered all around us. Later googling confirmed it was a Vickers Wellington MIC bomber that was on a night training flight from RAF Lossiemouth when a propellor became detached from the engine. The crew were unable to control the plane but managed to bail out before it crashed into the hill side. Its Never a question of keeping feet dry. Its a question of how long till the Gortex stops working. The rest of the day was a heads down onwards trudge towards our camping spot. The views all around were amazing. Especially when a corridor opened up to our left giving a sublime view toward the Falls of Glomach. Amazing. Awesome (hes at it again). The decent down into Carnach was treacherous. I would have taken a photo of my feet traversing a six inch wide ledge with a guaranteed dead option if you slipped - but I was too terrified and didnt have the balls to reach for my camera. At the bottom we looked back down the valley at Loch na Leitreach. Amazing. And then got to meet a number of highland cattle for the first time. A huge hairy creatures with massive horns. We met Graeme who came to join us in the landrover for a night camping in a excellent woodland spot hes found at the east end of the valley. Much merriment ensued around the campfire as we tried to dry ourselves out. Please keep donations coming justgiving/capewrathtrail2014
Posted on: Wed, 08 Oct 2014 06:43:07 +0000
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