Backpacking Loch Dochard. Day.2

 Friday June 14th.

I was having a poor sleep due to the deflated mat problems. My back was aching.

I was woken up by Sheila, she was already up and trying to get me to get up and see the sunrise. It was 4.02am. I said no chance or something like that but the constant chatter eventually wore me down, so I looked out of the tent door and said "oh yes, very nice"'. It wasn't a good sunrise but it was a lovely morning.

Mist was drifting across the Loch, sometimes it was a thick fog bank then a ghostly mist. It was lovely to see and it certainly made up for the walk in yesterday in the rain.

We watched the ever changing scene and heard the strange call of Loons somewhere in the mist. It really was a magical time and I was glad I did get up in the end.  

Eventually the mist started to clear as the sun rose, we were treated to amazing cloud inversions. We must have said Wow fifty times. If you don't backpack then it would be difficult to see views like this.

I went to fill the water bottles from our little beach, there was a patch of flattened grass about 2 metres in diameter that wasn't there when we went to sleep. Then I noticed deer tracks in the sand that also were not there last night. A deer must have slept about 40ft away from us and we heard nothing except a dog fox barking.

I made porridge for breakfast which had been prepared at home containing Psyllium husk, chia seeds a little salt and a little sugar and after a welcome coffee we started packing up.. The tent was quite wet so it was sponged down to remove as much water as possible. I find the Spunj brand ideal for this job. They are fantastically absorbent.

After checking our pitch that we had left no trace but flattened grass we started off back to Inveroran.

My first sight of the sunrise from the tent door.

The morning was quickly turning into a stunner with blue skies and no need for waterproofs. Such a contrast from yesterday and what a beautiful place.

When we gained the height at the watershed we stopped for a while to take in the beauty. The air was still and warm. We could hear the birds in the forestry to our right and the sound of a waterfall to our left. How good does it get. We were filled with nostalgia, so happy to be here but so sad to be walking out.

Looking East

Looking West.

We arrived at the wobbly bridge and this time took it to follow a good path although very boggy in places to a high stile into the forestry. Once in the forest the path becomes much better and it is a better route than we took on the inward walk.

At the end of the forestry another stile is climbed leading back to the river. We found a very shallow spot just slightly up stream so we didn't need to use the stepping stones this time.

The beauty of this return journey was just so fantastic. No words are necessary.

Just as we approached the Clashgour hut we passed the first person we had seen. Another backpacker, he wasn't the chatty type. Hardly said hello. On a day like this we wasn't bothered. We did pass another person, a lady with her dog who did have a little chat with us. She was going to bag Stob Ghabhar and possibly Sron a Ghearrain, both over 900 metres.

View from the bridge near Forest Lodge.

Our camp spot for the night would be beside the river next to the bridge at Inveroran. This is now a popular spot with West Highland Way campers and the glampers from what we saw.

The amount of rubbish here was a disgrace. We picked up a whole bin bag full of "crap" including tent poles, tent bags, beer bottles and tops, compeed cases and litter of many descriptions. People who had open fires had just left the rest of half burned wood and even fence posts.

We tided up the site completely which took us half an hour and then put the rubbish in the large bin at the Inveroran hotel. Only then did we pitch our tent and fortunately we were neighbour free all night.

The site at Inveroran after the clean up.

The meal we had in the hotel was absolutely superb. One of the nicest meals I have had anywhere. 

We really enjoyed our couple of hours here chatting to bikers and hikers from abroad. One couple had made the mistake of booking the wrong Kingshouse for their next section of the way. To get a taxi to the wrong place and back was going to cost them £180 and a room at the right Kingshouse was going to cost £360.  How does a room cost £360! for one night excluding breakfast? What do you get there that you don't get at the Premier Inn for less than £100? (Apart from the view). It's crazy. I suppose it is supply and demand and of course to keep out Riff and Raff.

Anyway, post rant, while we were enjoying the hotel the heavens opened. The rain was absolutely torrential, the gutters were flowing like waterfalls and you couldn't see far out of the windows. I thought the tent might get washed away but it coped like it was designed to do.

What a fantastic day we had.