Journal: |
The Crask Inn owner agreed to a relatively early breakfast and I
ate at 7:30am and was walking by 8:30am on a very blustery and wet
morning. The forecast wasn't good and I had prepared myself
for a day of wetness. The early route was along a little-used
farm path up to Bealach Easach, a low pass which would be my last of
the trip. The undergrowth was wet and soon so were my socks
and boots. There was a lot of low cloud and the wind was
blowing me about a bit, but it wasn't too bad and I could see a
reasonable distance.
The other side of the pass descended more steeply through a
craggy sort of ravine down to Loch a'Bhealaich, which had a lot of
white caps. The path improved as I got lower and the rest of
the morning involved travelling alongside one loch after another
with moderately high mountains on either side. I couldn't see
the highest peaks, but the guide book says I'm also passing my last
Munro (3000+ft mountain) today and my last loch of the trip.
The further I went, the more the valley opened out and it became
quite a boring walk along a gravel road that I could see stretching
far out in front of me. The scenery was pretty enough, but
more low-key and because I could see so far ahead, there was no
change to create interest. However, I was making reasonable
time and reached a road around 5pm in what was now quite pleasant
weather. There was very little traffic, but I had about 10km
to walk, passing through the tiny village of Kinbrace (no pub, no
shop) on the way. The day finished with a few kilometres of
difficult cross-country until I reached Knockfin, the site of a
village abandoned during the Scottish clearances in the 19th
century. I found a nice spot to camp by a small stream and
quickly set up and had a wash in the stream whilst being tormented
by midges. I hastily retreated to my tent and ate and found I
had wireless internet coverage so spent the evening catching up on
diary and email. I travelled a bit further today than was
required and am setting myself up for an easy day on Saturday and
then my last day on Sunday.
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