Day 5: Edge of Monadhliaths to Coignafearn Ruins

I felt fairly OK after waking up near the weir and packing up my tent. The weather was still a bit breezy and overcast but I made reasonable progress through the remaining parts of the wind farm.

View of wind farm along track

Going past Carn a Saobhaidhe along the Allt a' Ghille, I did eventually find the "lunch hut" about 3km from my overnight camp. Had I known where it was, I think I would have made the effort - it was quite clean inside and plenty of space.

After a bit of clomping through a boggy area, I found the Allt Odhar where it intersected with some smaller burns. Quite a nice spot for a break.

Following the Allt Odhar east

After what seemed like quite a long time, using the hare tracks alongside the river, I eventually met with the track which lead past the newer Coignafearn Lodge building after a mile or two. Following this northeast an extra two miles, alongside the Findhorn river, led me to the older lodge; a courtyard-shaped building, which appeared to still be occupied. The weather was brightening up at this point.

Approaching Coignafearn Lodge
Coignafearn (old lodge)

The final part of this day's effort led me to a bridge, just north of my planned camp in the Ruins of Coignafearn. At this point, I was ushered into a caravan (with a sign saying TGOC outside) by an older gentleman who said he was helping out with the TGO.

While it was unclear if he had done the challenge himself, he seemed to know a lot about it (recalling names and numbers of challengers in years gone by). After giving everyone coffee and offering bread and ham, he asked me and two younger American men (Matt and Jason?) who were there for our numbers, so he could tick them off - I think maybe he was a "challenger spotter" - rather like a "train spotter"? Not sure. The Americans said they would go on to Red Roof Bothy that day, which seemed a nice idea but I couldn't face another 10k over rough ground.

UPDATE: Others have confirmed the gentleman is Ian Shiel, a veteran challenger who was helping out by phoning in challenger numbers! Thank you Ian!

It was a short walk over the bridge to the ruins. Initially I tried to set up camp in the woods but I decided against it in case a tree fell over in the high winds. In the end I set my tent up in shelter behind one of the remaining parts of the ruined building - it was actually quite early and I was the first there. Later on, I met with three Belgians; Marc, Gaetan and Guy and an English guy, called Mervyn who seemed interested in my Big Agnes tent (as they are not usually for sale in the UK).

Initial camp site in a wood clearing.

Revised camp site, behind a ruined wall.



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