Who doesn’t like a good pub at the end of a long day of walkng? For many of us it is the ultimate reward for a day in the hills, but what if the only way to reach the pub was a ferry or a solid fifteen miles of walking through some of the UK’s wildest landscapes? Then it would really be a well deserved pint. Gareth and his friends have come adventuring with Come walk with me UK before and I knew they had a thirst for both adventure and pints so this seemed like an ideal challenge for them. The reality of just how remote we would be going was emphasised to the team when after flying into Inverness and a night in Drumnadrochit we undertook the twenty two mile single track road through spectacular scenery to the walk’s start point at Kinloch Hourn, a tiny hamlet consisting of a B&B, a campsite and a tea rooms. We set off along a rocky path that contoured along the water’s edge through groves of Rhododendron and with spectacular views to remote properties perched right on the loch edge. A rainbow created a spectacular vista as we continued to climb up and down the undulating path that took us past some beautiful Scot’s Pines as we continued to our planned lunch stop outside the private bothy at Barisdale. It’s an incredible setting, a flat glen with a sandy beach, a big house with immaculate gardens and deer grazing around the margins of the campsite and we sat and ate our sandwiches revelling at being in the midst of such a wonderful landscape. The climb away from the bothy to Mam Barisdale is a tough one rising from sea level to around 470 metres, but the views in all directions were stunning. It was amazing to see mountain slopes in the UK containing mature forest, a remnant reminder of how much of our upland would have looked at one time. There were bluebells still dotted in amongst the bracken and Wheatears bobbing about between the rocks, the effort was rewarded with a look down the valley ahead to Loch an Dubh-Lochain and in the far distance the sea that showed us our ultimate destintion in Inverie.
Our descent from this highpoint was almost as challenging as the climb. The path was wet, at times bordering on the riverine. The ground around it was boggy, bridges had been washed out and progress was torturous in parts but we pressed on towards the loch where we were rewarded with a very close encounter with a herd of docile and characterful Highland Cows. One of the most noticable things about this walk is the lack of domestic livestock. A small flock of sheep in Barisdale and this herd of cows were all we saw on our thirty mile round trip. On reaching the loch the terrain flattened out and the path became a broad track which made walking the last few miles into Inverie a quicker process. We finally dropped down through some beautiful community woodland to the Long Beach campsite which was very busy with walkers and other outdoors folks. It has a great vista out over Inverie Bay and is ringed by high peaks popular with the Munro baggers we met along the way. The Old Forge proved to be a pub worth all the effort. The staff were brilliant, the beer cold and the atmosphere was great as locals and walkers mixed and mingled. Venison, Cullen Skink, fish and chips and haggis was consumed and a few wee drams were taken as a reward!
After a good sleep it was a beautiful morning and we brewed up taking in the unique position of the campsite and watching wading birds scurrying back and forth on the beach. The return route proved equally spectacular with the weather playing ball and the skies even bluer than they had been the previous day. We saw Jellyfish floating in the bay and a few of the more intrepid team members went for an ice bath style paddle at the end of the walk to help soothe the sore muscles. After completing such an epic trek it was back to Inverness for a well earned meal and a chance to pile on a few of the calories that we had burned on the walk. This is a serious challenge particularly when carrying a full pack with camping gear, but it’s an incredible landscape and finishes with a unique and brillaint pub. What’s not to like?
