Day 2: Athnamulloch to River Doe

Taking on some Munros (Sail Chaorainn, Sgurr nan Conbhairean and Carn Ghluasaid) was the plan for this day, before finally ending up next to Loch Cluanie. Unfortunately a weather front had arrived and I couldn't see any of the tops.

Given this was my first challenge, I decided to go for the FWA through Cougie. I walked for a while with Rod along the side of the river. However, we eventually got a bit lost due to the poor signage and missing footpaths surrounding the hydro-electric power development site near the head of Loch Affric. We cut across a boggy field with no path (although there was a signpost, "To Cougie Lodge") before we bumped into Donna B. (?), Ian Harbert, Barbara Sanders, a younger couple (David and Aleks.?) and an older gentleman, who were also debating where the path was. Eventually we discovered it well hidden, leading steeply up from an access road before reaching the older track.

Path alongside head of Loch Affric.

Getting to Cougie was fairly straightfoward. However, there was a very rickety bridge over a burn midway along the route; the whole thing tilted to the side as you walked over.

Bacon sandwiches, tea and scones were gratefully received at Cougie. This was provided by a lady eight months pregnant. There was also an extremely friendly cat who decided to jump no my legs; apparently it liked my Mountain Equipment soft-shell trousers. An older man, in a military green shirt with a sewed-on Germany flag, kindly offered for us to hang-up our tent fly sheets to dry, while we ate.

My route plan from Cougie was perhaps a bit unconventional. I went southwest for about 8km before finally turning south to reach the River Doe. At one point, I saw a few people on horseback (pony-back?) to the north about half a kilometre away. I was surprised to be able to hear one of them shouting in a Scottish accent, "well that's not something you see often". Presumably, they were speaking about my unusual route from Cougie.

Following the path I encountered one or two herds of deer but they saw me quite far off and disappeared quickly.

Along track southwest of Cougie.


As I approached the River Doe, there was someone dressed mostly in black, with a heavy pack and walking poles, walking along the side of it, on an access road. However, I didn't get close enough to speak to them. I camped on a nice grass patch alongside the river. This was quite a hard afternoon, due to not seeing anyone else.

Approaching River Doe



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