Sunday 25 May 2014

TGO Challenge Day 1 Sat 10th May

Kintail Lodge Hotel to Gleann Sithidh          22km - 1055m ascent - 771m descent.                                 Ok...so I was a late starter! Indeed only 4 folk had to sign out when I left the hotel. The weather was a bit grim to be honest as I set out for Strath Croe.

The well kept gardens of the Kintail Lodge.
A last look at the West Coast....well for about 250m until I walked beside Loch Duich into Strath Croe!

Approaching the Bealach na Sroine.
 Looking back West, Beinn Sgritheall peeping thro' the gap.
The rain had more or less stopped by now, shortly after this I met David Hale who had started in Dornie on Friday.

The Falls of Glomach...and damm fine they are too!
They were on my list of "ticks" which formed the basis of my route selection for the Challenge
I had met Peter Little (he's at the top of the falls if you look closely, handy for scale!) at the top of the falls, our paths would cross a couple more times over the next 10 days or so.

As I descended beside the roaring river I met Chris and Tony. We had a chat about the benefit of rain for good waterfalls. Although much of this water would have been snowmelt.
Quite a sight well worth seeing IMHO.

At the bottom of the gorge the view opened up revealing Glen Elchaig, a hidden gem all the better for having no public road up it.

It was a pleasant walk up the glen, I took the track past Iron Lodge to climb the zig-zags towards Mullerdoch.
The pointed hill Carnan Cruithneachd dominated the scene back down the glen beyond Loch na Leitrach.
The weather had improved greatly and was now quite warm.

Just before the col is Loch na Droma...I found a couple of  good spots to camp only to discover rotting deer carcass's nearby, so pressed on to the area I'd originally planned on stopping at.

Over the watershed already...downhill all the way to the North Sea!
Hardly I planned on climbing the wet pathless slope in the background on the Sunday, weather permitting!
So off across the wetness I strode to the promised green oasis beyond.

Which I found in the crook of the Abhainn Sithidh. The pitch was slightly slopey but was dry. I was thankful of a tent with a small footprint.
So that was Day 1....Weather had been more than acceptable  and all was going to plan.
More Please!!

10 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Cheers Martin, I wanted to make a route which included sights and places I'd not seen/been to over the years...at least as much as possible.

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  2. I'd better get cracking on my I account, I suppose :-)

    Nice start.

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  3. Looks like a great first day, cracking photo's, looking forward to more

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  4. Thanks Matt, I'm going to try and do a day a day (if you see what I mean) photos are taking ages to go thro and weed out. I don't envy all that editing you've got

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  5. Looks like some reasonable weather on day 1. Good pitch too.

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  6. I did well with the weather Alan, the pitch was a bit slopey. But the options were limited by the bog!

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  7. Imaginative start, Al; I've not seen anyone going down the Falls of Glomach before.
    :-)
    Cracking pictures, too.

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    1. Cheers Alan, almost everyone I met thought I was going the "wrong" way! I had a tick list of sights/hill that I wanted to include. I was inspired to think outside the box by your blog of last years Challenge with the crossing to Lismore etc.
      So thank you!
      By the way you said I'd have a ball and I did :-)

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