CWT5

I first came to Kinlochewe in 1987, on a post-finals cycle tour of the west coast of Scotland. It had been such a blisteringly hot day that I'd had to swim in Loch a'Croisig to cool down, and when I arrived in Kinlochewe I was really hungry, and still had to get to Torridon Youth Hostel. Thankfully Kinlochewe Stores was open and I took my tea - which included a whole U-shaped sausage - down the road to the Beinn Eighe Nature Trail. There I discovered the extreme beauty of an ancient Caledonian pine forest and took a photo looking across it and Loch Maree to the sunlit Heights of Kinlochewe. I've been in love with the area ever since. Within a year, having moved to Scotland for graduate study, I was working on the Beinn Eighe Mountain Trail, and climbed the mountain [see extra] at the end of the week. Another year and I was here with A and we climbed it together. When it comes to Scottish landscapes, for me Torridon is the finest [The Black Cuillin of Skye are finer still, but unrepresentative of Scotland, in my view.]

Although I've ventured south of Loch Maree many times, tomorrow I'll make my first foray to the north, into the fabled (treeless) Fisherfield Forest. The forecast isn't great, but I have a plan.

As for today's walk from Maol Bhuidhe bothy to Strathcarron, the less said the better. Indeed, the best quality moment relates to Bendronaig bothy having a toilet. The weather was dull and I had to traverse the area despoiled by access roads for the Attadale hydro scheme. I was glad to take the train and coach to Kinlochewe.