West Highland Way With a 3 Year Old - Day 2 Trail Notes - Drymen to Balmaha Copy Copy Copy - Anna Hardie

day 3 trail notes | alltbeithe youth hostel to glen licht house

stats

weather:

wet & windy

accommodation:

bothy

planned mileage:

4 miles

actual mileage:

6.1 miles

little & i both had a pretty rough night in the tent - we were cold, the wind was battering the tent & the first rain in over 2 weeks was now coming down with all it's force. when we opened the tent we realised it had snowed on the peaks above us! a total shocker but answered the question of why we were so cold overnight.

little wasn't as eager for the days hiking because she was still cold & couldn't seem to shake it. i had stupidly taken off her thermals when getting her dressed & since she wasn't moving around much while i made breakfast & packed up, she got upset. i had put on all her warm layers, hat, gloves etc then we set off to attempt day 4.

not long into the morning we passed a lovely cyclist who was heading back towards glen affric after staying in camban bothy last night. he told us that it wasn't that busy but there was a few people there overnight but would probably be empty by the time we were passing. he had also mentioned that they had a fire on overnight & that he had left his excess logs for others to use, so a plan was struck up. we would make a beeline for the bothy, put on a wee fire to warm the girls, have a snack then continue on. both girls loved this plan & got their quick feet on.

we reached the bothy about an hour later, it's wee red roof a welcomed sight in the drizzle that that not long started. i can honestly say i've never opened a bothy door & experienced heat hitting me before, but it sure was a very welcomed feeling. the bothy was still warm from the previous night so there was no need to start another fire thankfully. the girls were soon stripping off their warm clothes & tucking into some snacks.

after about 30 minutes of downtime in there we decided it was time to continue on. the girls signed their names in the bothy book & off we continued. we had about 4 miles to do today so weren't in a big rush but the clouds looked like they had some rain ready so weren't eager to be hanging about too much.

the trail became so awe inspiring after this for me. the mountains just fully opened up all around us making us feel so tiny in comparison.

this day on the trail quickly became one of my favourite days out hiking ever, everything was so breathtaking. the mountains just fully opened up all around us making me feel so tiny & unimportant in comparison.

we had reached the point in the hike where we were thankfully done with most of the uphill hiking & had a few small inclines to go before we would make the descent into the glen below. we had just a few small river crossings & a waterfall to cross before that stage, which of course happened to time in perfectly to the massive rain clouds heading our way through the glen ahead. all the crossings are pretty exposed with big drops to the sides so we were eager to cross safely & quickly before the worst of the rain hit in case of any trouble. all good though, we crossed with no issues & the rain hit us soon after. i say rain, it was actually hail. huge, sore hailstones.

after we crossed the last waterfall we were now making the descent into the glen, seeing the bothy for the night making the this made hiking the last hour in the hail much more achievable. surprisingly, the girls weren't phased by the weather at all & were just enjoying the rocky terrain we were on.

coops wasn't too pleased as we spotted the herds of sheep surrounding the bothy meaning he was back onto the lead for the last 20 minutes of the day. he was soggy & wanted to be done for the day so going on the lead was like another blow for him. he wasn't best pleased!

upon reaching the hut we were greeted by what can only be described as the creepiest ceilings known to man kind. one room had red hand prints all over the ceiling, the other blue footprints. not what you expect to see in a dim lit room in the middle of nowhere. nightmare fuel for sure!

we had settled in, got the wet clothes off, dinner cooked & discussed the day we had just had. i think we all agreed it was our most enjoyable so far; the scenery spectacular, the girls in good form & a dry spot for the night to round it off.

the bedroom had a large crash mat the width of the room giving the 5 of us plenty space. the girls were pretty quick off to sleep & we weren't far behind them. nikki & i got the giggles though as we were constantly being interrupted by snoring on either side of us & just felt like we were having a proper wee sleepover together. we expected it to be cold overnight with no heating in the building but we kept the room pretty toasty with body heat & i had to come out of my sleeping bag liner at one point due to it. the wind was absolutely rattling through the steel roof, the rain pounding the windows & i was just thankful to be inside for the night. it would've been a rough night to be camping.