TGO Challenge Day 4 Monday 11 May

From the hut, I took the track immediately heading south. It was flooded at times but I was getting used to this.

I came to where I needed to branch off at NN226983, my first crossing of the day.

Then, for 2.5km, I followed a Scottish Rights of Way Society waymarked path through a firebreak in the forest. It was very wet underfoot and raining on and off but I was able to make a stop for breakfast after a couple of hours in between showers.

The forest came to an end and the path continued across heather moorland. It was rough and the path kept disappearing but it was more or less following a straight line.

I had intended to cut across to the ruin at Fedden but it looked boggy and I couldn't make out the ruin in the rain so I kept to the path I was on, following it around the foot of Sron a Choire Ghairbh and over the bealach to drop down towards Loch Lochy.

Not everyone survives this journey 

It was a tough ascent to the bealach and, as I went over the top, there were hail stones, thunder and lightning. Not a time to hang around. There was then a long descent to the forest above Loch Lochy. I passed by a bank of snow on the way down.

I stopped for lunch where I emerged on to a cycle trail. I wanted to drop down to the Great Glen Way. The only trail to it was going out of my way by a couple of km so I slid (literally) down into the strip of closely planted forest and followed as straight a line as I could for maybe 3/4km until I dropped down on to the Great Glen Way. It was boggy at times and I and my pack were covered with pine needles and odd bits of branch. Well worth doing though.

Once on the Great Glen Way, it was just a case of one foot in front of the other down to Clunes and then following the road by Bunarkaig to Gairlochy

where I had booked in to Gairlochy Holiday Park.  Here, I had a resupply parcel waiting and I was able to shower and dry out my sleeping bag in the tumble dryer there. The only other Challenger here was Simon from Aberdeen. I pitched with a view of Ben Nevis.

28km walked; height ascended 902m; height descended 1,047m.