TGO Challenge Day 3 Sunday 10 May

In fact, I probably would have had time last night to reach Kinbreak Bothy. Anyway, I made an early start. The river crossing across to the bothy was easy. Last time I did it, the water was much higher. As I arrived, Graham and Marion were just leaving. They said that they and just one other were at the bothy that night, far fewer than expected.

I stopped and had breakfast and coffee upstairs in the bothy, nicely sheltered from the wind and intermittent rain.

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Then down to the River Kingie for an easy crossing

Up then to join the track eastwards towards the forest in Glen Kingie.

Walking in the rain to the bridge at NN090998

Up ended trees

At the bridge at NH129000, I misread the map and my intended route. There is a new forestry road just after the bridge which I should have taken. My brain obviously wasn't engaged and I discounted the road as being the route to take. As a result, I fell back to a route taken on a previous Challenge which I knew was going to be tough, the intermittent wet and boggy path just to the south of the River Garry to Garrygualach, a very squelchy plod of about 4km. Even before I got on to the boggy bit, there was a battle to get through and round some felled trees.

Just before Garrygualach, I got to a bridge where there was a red barrier at both ends to discourage crossing it but it had to be done. Then it was a walk up a very wet and, at times, flooded track. Here, I met a German and a Chinese walking the Cape Wrath Trail (Fort William to Cape Wrath). We stopped to talk trail. The German seemed pretty well kitted out and prepared; the Chinese had forgotten to bring waterproof overtrousers and, altogether, looked a bit miserable.

Just past Greenfield, I encountered Liz and Susan (Susan just accompanying Liz for the first three days of the Challenge). They were just about to pitch by the side of the farm track. I went on the the wooden hut at NH230002 where I had stopped on another occasion. I pitched behind the hut as before. At the hut were Mark (who I had met at Mallaig) and Alex and Liz, both of whom are MBA volunteers doing the Challenge together for the first time. We ate together and the time passed very pleasantly with the rain falling outside.

29km walked; height ascended 715m; height descended 953m.