TGO Challenge 2012: Day 1 Lochailort to Corriehully bothy

Distance: 25km Ascent 1400m

As I woke up at 5am for some unknown reason I decided to wander down to the jetty and dip my feet in the water before breakfast.

Jetty at Lochailort

Unfortunately the weather didn't like my plan and I was soaked when I arrived back at the hotel! After a very good breakfast I signed out and set off along the road. After a couple of kms I set off up the path up Allt na Criche.

Allt na Criche

 At the top of the bealach the path became indistinct. I was trying to stay relatively high to avoid Prince Charlie's cave but end up coming down a steep slope a little to far north. After crossing the bridge I stopped with other challenges for a spot of lunch. I then set off along the north shore of Loch Beonaid. Despite the path shown on the map there was very little sign of any on the ground. The going was tough as I climbed and descended to avoid crags that dropped into the loch.

Loch Beonaid

Crags above Loch Beonaid

 As a result I did not make it to Kinloch Beonaid until 3! I knew I did not have time to complete the munros I'd planned and would struggled to make my planned camp on my FWA. I decided to head along my FWA but stop at Coirre Hully Bothy where I could continue along my planned route the following day. 

I waded the river to join Glen Donn. The route was hard going as there was no path until the final stretch. However the route was beautiful and felt very remote.

Waterfall in Glen Donn

View back to Loch Beonaid

Glen Donn

Glen Donn

 I finally arrived at the the bothy at 6:10 where I met Jim and Geoff who had also left Lochailort that morning. We were later joined by fellow challengers Nik, Kay and Graham as well as a sizeable number of non challengers. The bothy has a significant number of tents around it that night! The evening was very sociable!