Day 6. 2nd August, 2024

Day 6. 2^nd August, 2024

Kinlochleven → Meanach Bothy 12km (400m climb in 2km)

Cloudy / raining. 17ºC

Today was fairly straight forward. A STEEP climb out of Kinlochleven (3KM) then a hike along a loch (7KM) then a bit further along a track to an abandoned house beside a river (1.7KM). Cross the river (no bridge), then trudge through a bog (300m) to the bothy. Done!

Now for some detail. My plan was to follow the West Highland Way up hill till it met a road going off to the right, then I would follow this. Alas, my GPS had other ideas. It took me straight up the side of the very steep, very deep valley. It was very similar to a hike up a Korean mountain. Just STRAIGHT UP!

But I guess after 18 years of Korean hiking, I didn’t really have much trouble with this. And the views back down into Kinlochleven and out to the loch were breathtaking.

Kinlockleven down through the trees.

Looking down to Loch Leven and Kinlochleven.

At this stage the clouds were looming, but it was dry and I had a nice breeze at my back. I eventually made it up the steep part, out of the valley and the path joined the road I was initially planning to take. All up, I guess this route knocked off about 3 kilometres. I had only been hiking for about an hour, but already this was feeling very different to the West Highland Way. There was just no one else around… well, besides two other backpackers, but apparently they didn’t like company, because I almost caught up to them three times today and each time, they would pack up and bolt. But this left the track empty for me. Yay!

I finally came up enough that the track leveled off and for the majority of the hike, I walked along beside the loch. It was beautiful hiking but it was here that the rain caught up with me. It didn’t bother me at all though, as I’d been expecting it for the last 6 days and was prepared. To be honest, the 5 days of blue skies and sunshine (for the most part) was a gift I honestly didn’t expect in Scotland. But it seems Summer is over and it’s back to normal.

First glimpse of Loch Eilde Mor.
This was the larger loch that I followed most of the day.

Boat shed and boats at Loch Eilde Mor.

A beautiful ruin by the loch.

I think this might be a new bothy, but there's no info about it on the maps.
This was by Loch Eilde Beag, the smaller loch.

After about 7 kilometres of following a big, and then small loch, the track became a bit less well kept, with more and more puddles to skirt around. Eventually at 2pm, I came around a corner and Meanach Bothy came into sight.

The bothy is on the far side of a river, just next to the ruin in the foreground.

Just before you get there, you come down to the old ruins of a house. It must have been a beautiful two story building at some time, but the roof has long since fallen in and all the floors are gone. It’s just an empty shell beside the river now.

This ruin is apparently one of the most haunted places in Scotland. Personally, in the day time, I think it's one of the most tranquil places I've ever been.

Unfortunately, the bothy is on the other side of the river and no one has bothered to build a bridge. There is a shallower section right in front of the old ruin though, so I ditched my shoes and hung them to the outside of my backpack, and put on my water shoes (bought specifically for this section).

I slowly teetered my way across, midgies deciding this was the perfect time to attack my eyes and ears, just to throw me off balance. I slipped twice, once jamming my toes on a rock pretty badly, but thankfully, despite my heavy backpack trying to throw me off balance, I managed to keep my footing and got across dry.

The midgies were still going crazy and the bothy was only about 150 meters away, so I decided not to switch back to my boots. This turned out to be a very good decision, as about 120 of those 150 meters was just straight bog!

Virtually all the green you can see between me and the building is bog!

I finally made it to the bothy (the other two hikers seen today bolted as I was crossing the river) and I seem to have the place to myself. It is extremely basic. Just two rooms, a fire place in each and a large plank of wood as a bed in one. No water. No toilets. No lights or electricity. With very small windows and big thick walls, it’s quite dark inside, almost most spooky with the silence outside and all around, but somehow not. The bothy is like an old, comfortable, silent companion, just chillin with you in the mountains.

My bed for the night and the fireplace that has no wood. (Hard to find wood when there's no trees around!)

… So, just as I was writing this, I heard a call from outside. A Canadian lady has just come in out of the rain, so the place suddenly seems more alive.

Chillin at Meanach Bothy.
(My new Canadian friend kindly took these photos for me.)

We spent the evening chatting and enjoying the relative isolation. She is 65 and is hiking from the Orkney Islands, all the way down to the Scottish border, in a very random course. She’s trying her best to stay of the more popular and crowded trail, like the West Highland Way. Kinda puts my measly 95km hike into perspective.

Thankfully there were two rooms in the bothy though, cause I could hear her snoring through the wall from my room!