Members Attending

Druim Bothy in Knoydart had only hosted one previous club meet, back in May 2016.  It’s an excellent hut, a private bothy let by the estate, in a very impressive, elevated position 4km from Inverie on the way to Mam Barrisdale.

There aren’t too many of the club’s meets that require a boat to reach them and, although there are ways to reach this one on foot, they are long and significantly undulating, so it’s nice to let the boat take the strain now and again.  So it was, on this occasion, that all of the party made their way across on different boats … and different days.

Most, with the exception of Bill and Lorn, had taken bikes in with them.

The bothy was booked from Friday to Monday, with most staying for the duration.  Three nights weren’t enough for Raymond and James though, who sailed across on Thursday for an extra night.   
And, while everyone else took the boat both across and back, Bill arrived by boat but left on foot, making a pilgrimage to Skye, taking in a bivi on the South Glen Shiel ridge along the way.

Members Attending

Jim Aire; Bill Dallas; Raymond Evenden; James Duncan Fraser; George Henderson; Susan Henderson; Louise McCulloch; Lorn Smith.

Friday

With the advance party having arrived the night before and established themselves in the hut, Friday was for the most part, spent getting the remainder over to Inverie, gathering in Mallaig for the Western Isles Cruises’ Knoydart Ferry.  It’s a stunning crossing to Inverie where, apart from the scenery, there’s always a chance of wildlife sightings in the water, as well as birds of prey and seabirds above it.

As luck would have it, The Old Forge pub in Inverie had recently re-opened after a lengthy closure and period of uncertainty.  Now in the hands of the community, it is to be refurbished, hopefully securing a long and successful future for it.  

Most of the group made the trip across the water early in the day, with Jim and Lorn on the last crossing of the afternoon, though Lorn had probably set off before all of them to, as a training ride for the Norseman event three weeks from now, cycle from home to the ferry.

Jim had kindly taken Lorn’s weekend gear in his car and they were to rendezvous at Mallaig later in the afternoon.  The morning weather was, to put it mildly, pretty unkind and after almost 4 hours of relentless, torrential rain, Lorn reached Tyndrum and spent the next 90 minutes in front of the fire in the Real Food Café trying to get warm, dry his clothing out and refuelling with a full breakfast and several hot drinks.  Thankfully, by the time he got going again, the sun had come out and it would remain warm and dry from then on.  Making an unnecessary coffee/cake stop at Ardgour after crossing the Corran Narrows was probably his undoing as it was now very tight for making the ferry and, after a quick chat with Jim at Loch Eil, they agreed to meet at Arisaig instead, thereby ensuring there was no risk of missing the boat, ultimately arriving in good time (thanks to Jimmy and the Broom Wagon!).

Having crossed earlier in the day and aided by their mountain bikes, George and Susan were able to transport their gear to the bothy, where they hooked-up with James and Raymond before striking up Gleann Meadail to tackle Meall Bhuidhe in an anti-clockwise direction. 

They returned to the bothy, catching up with Bill and Louise there.  Bill had left his van on Skye and took the ferry to Mallaig before he and Louise hopped aboard the boat for Inverie, Bill’s plan being to walk back to Skye after the weekend.

James and Raymond “kindly” cycled back down to Inverie with their bikes to help Jim and Lorn with their gear/supplies.  It was pure coincidence that they were able to partake in a few libations at The Old Forge while on this mercy mission.  To be fair, before the return to the bothy, Jim and Lorn joined them in the charitable task of helping The Old Forge get back on its feet!  Afterwards, Jim, James and Raymond (with Lorn’s food & drink in his panniers) mounted their bikes and headed back up the track to the bothy, encountering some highland cattle blocking the track along the way, while Lorn followed on foot having spent enough time in the saddle today (plus he didn’t have a mountain bike with him!).

With everyone assembled back at the bothy, plans were cast for Saturday.

Saturday

George and Susan were first to set off after breakfast, once again using the bikes to get the up towards Mam Barrisdale, dumping them in the undergrowth before the gradient ramped up and the track narrowed and softened-up (the track that is, not G&S!).  They completed a circuit of the Munro, Luinne Bheinn, and Sgurr a’Choire-bheithe, a Corbett just below Munro height. 

The tops were clagged-in this morning, with a little precipitation, which was the same for Bill, Jim, Lorn and Louise who set off on foot shortly afterwards, opting for a circuitous, clockwise route over Luinne Bheinn and Meall Bhuidhe via Mam Barrisdale and returning via Druim Righheanaich, to bring them back to the bothy.  A bit of a damp misty trudge for all with the clag well down on the tops, though it wasn’t cold at all and positively roasting in the glens.

With an extra day on this trip, James and Raymond opted for an easier day and chose a coastal cycle over hills today, paying a visit to an old acquaintance along the way.  Once again, it was sheer happenstance that enabled them to partake once more in the The Old Forge’s wares!  Lorn and Jim joined them once off the hill (Louise having lent Lorn her bike, Monty!).

As they were about to leave the pub, Fraz grabbed a guitar off the wall … and thrust it into Raymond’s hands, demanding a tune.  Semi-reluctantly, Raymond knocked out a fine rendition of Fisherman’s Blues that pricked-up the ears of those inside, before returning the guitar to its place on the wall and they all got on the bikes.  Jim was on his brand-new bike, having taken the plunge after the pedal incident at Achnasheen earlier in the year.

Some of the troops opted for a bathe in the burn outside the bothy and the evening’s festivities saw a glass smashed on the floor that may well later have contributed to the demise of Jim’s sleeping mat.

Meanwhile, the others were stirring, with the plan for Bill, Louise, Jim, Raymond and James to scale Ladhar Bheinn, with George and Susan this time opting for the coastal cycle.  Those who scaled Ladhar Bheinn, doing so via a long, circuitous route enjoyed far better conditions than the previous day.  It’s such a fine hill and location that it deserves a decent day.  Naturally, this circuit took the party back through Inverie and, you’ve guessed it, The Old Forge!

Lorn was finally rescued by his good lady, having originally arranged to meet at Tyndrum, she showed some mercy and got him at Bridge of Orchy.  Having enjoyed the cycle to that point, he was officially burst!  Earlier in the day, near Glenfinnan, he’d pulled over into a layby on the opposite side of the road, to allow a line of traffic that had gathered behind him in a lengthy set of roadworks to pass.  As he readied himself to re-cross the road from the layby, once the traffic had cleared, a local lady coming the other way rolled down her window to inform him that “we drive on the left in this country!?”  Nodding and smiling, he didn’t have the energy to debate the matter

Back in Inverie, in another stroke of good fortune, while enjoying a beer that evening, a ceilidh broke out at The Old Forge … Knoydart in a (k)nutshell!  Luckily the troops were on hand, as always, to throw themselves wholly and unselfishly into the festivities!!  After a memorable evening, some of the party once again made their way back to the bothy on foot, a 4km hike, leaving Fraz to finish his drink and follow by bike.  Fraz half expected to catch and pass everyone but saw no-one on route and, on his return to the bothy, the others asked if he’d seen Jim, he hadn’t.

Jim, fuelled by whatever is in the water at The Old Forge, had decided to run back to the bothy in the gloaming and left the others in his wake.  Unfortunately, as he was able to confirm when he eventually re-appeared back at the bothy almost half an hour after Fraz, he’d taken the wrong track on the way back, became lost in the dark and, with no head torch, clambered his way back over some fairly rough and inhospitable ground and was lucky not to be in hospital after landing in a ditch!  Muddy, bloodied and battered, he eventually found his way back to the welcoming confines of the bothy.  The wooden compass is in the post!

Monday

The rest of the party set about restoring the bothy to the condition it was in prior to arrival and getting down to Inverie in plenty of time for the first boat, which would return them to Mallaig and their cars, for the drive South and East.

Bill however, would be walking out to the North, over Mam Barrisdale (again!), down to Barrisdale Bay and out along the Kinloch Hourn track, always a challenging but stunningly beautiful hike on its own.  However, that was only a taster of what was to come as he continued his long solo backpack walk out to bivi overnight on the South Glen Shiel ridge and ultimately carried on back to Skye the following morning, where he was reunited with his van.