We had a great stay at Kinlochewe Hotel and leave via Kinlochewe Stores where, even on a Sunday, we can get all we need to stock up. We take the A833 then take an unclassified road to Incheril. From there, a wide track takes us up into the hills: the Heights of Kinlochewe.
We follow along the Gleann na Muice and eventually reach Lochan Fada, which is unusual in that it has three outflow streams. We also get great views of Slioch (the spear).
There is no path on the map from Lochan Fada, but there is a faint trace on the ground and again a few discrete cairns at critical points. When we get to the top, however, there are massive pest hags and any vestige of a path disappears. We pick our way through the bog to reach a river in Coire Mhic Fhearchair. The river has cut a steep-sided gorge and we are too low to cross safely, so walk up to find a more amenable crossing spot. We reach a large, dry slab in the middle of the river. The sun is shining and so we stop for lunch. For the first time in weeks, we see a kestrel hovering in the sky. Bizarrely in this remote terrain, I receive a WhatsApp from my sister Janet, who has on the Isle of Wight!
We refill our water bottles, then go on our way to cross the Bealach na Croise. We continue to wend our way down the valley, which is much more open than I expected, to Loch an Nid. We turn into the next, much more enclosed valley, and keep picking our way through the path and bog. It's tough going and, even though the valley opens up a little, is hard work.
Finally, we cross a marsh and river tributary into Strath na Sealga. This glen is hallowed ground for walkers, seen in every guidebook and pored over endlessly as it is the gateway to several Munros (Scottish mountains over 3,000 feet), and in particular, An Teallach (the forge).
Strath na Sealga itself is quite open and has an incongruous patch of grass with deciduous trees at its head. Families used to live up here on subsistence farming two hundred years ago but no longer. Shenaval bothy is one of the houses where they used to live. We also see some beautiful deep red cows grazing close to the river. Finally, as the light is fading, we catch sight of the bothy. Rich thinks it looks deserted, but there is a thin wisp of smoke rising from the chimney. We are following in the footsteps of our new king, as he spent a night at Shenaval while at school in Gordonstoun.
We open the bothy door to find five other walkers there, but there is room for us as well. An engineer from Anglesey, who has been Munro bagging over the last two days, carried up the wood for the welcoming fire. We settle in for our first ever bothy night, complete with deer outside. We have walked over 800 miles to get here
Total distance so far: 804 miles
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