MY WALKING WORLD David Preston

Knoydart - Backpacking from Inverie to Glenfinnan 18/05/10 to 20/05/10

One of my favourite places is the Knoydart in Scotland. This peninsula in the West Highlands opposite the Isle of Skye is cut of from the UK mainland roads network, Frequently described as "Europe's last wilderness" the area is home to a great variety of birds and mammals, Golden Eagles and  Sea Eagles inhabit the area together with deer and many other wild creatures. The starting point for the walk is the small village of Inverie which is home to Britain's remotest pub the Old Forge well worth a visit for the real ales, excellent food and folk music. There is also a tearoom, shop, village hall and accommodation including a camp site and bunkhouse. I arrived at 1100hrs on the morning ferry from Mallaig and being early in day I was unable to sample the Old Forge.

My plan was to walk across the Knoydart and eventually arrive at the main road in the village of Glenfinnian, a distance of just under 30 miles, being alone I decided not to climb any of the surrounding mountains, I just wanted to follow the track and enjoy the superb scenery and the peace and tranquility of the area. The first days walk would take me from Inverie to Sourlies where there is a bothy but I intended to camp, the distance was around 9 miles, the second day would take me another 9 miles over to Strathan where I would camp. The final day would take me to Glenfinnian and the main road where I would catch a train back to Mallaig. Being a mature person, or to put more accurately a pensioner weight was crucial as I occasionally suffer from a back (disc) problem. Therefore I weighed everything down to the last gram to ensure I was carrying as little as possible. I normally use a Vango Sprite 200 which is just right for me but weighs around 2600 grams but with the idea of weight saving I bought myself a new small tent  the - Gelert Solo which weighs 1500grams - £26.00 and found it good value for money- if I was a younger man I would be buying a Terra Nova or a Hilliberg but at my age £300 is not sensible, anyway the grandchildren can have the Solo when I have finished with it, so its not wasted, it would cost me that for a nights bed and breakfast. More about the tent at the bottom of the page.

Mallaig Backpackers Hostel

After my stay here I can recommend it, clean accommodation and friendly staff

The Ferry to Inverie

Bruce Watts Sea Cruises

Knoydart in the distance

The sign post in Inverie

This sign says it all to me, Take care, be sensible and be properly equipped and I am proud to say I crossed the Knoydart.

The Old Forge Inverie

Britain's remotest pub

The view across the Loch from Inverie

Looking back to Inverie

The gateway to paradise

 Looking back to the sea

Looking ahead to the Monument erected by Lord Brockett

Looking ahead, the track straight ahead goes to Mam Barisdale, the track I will be taking cuts off towards the valley on the right

Bridge over the Inverie River 

Looking up Gleann Meadail

Looking back to the bridge over the River

Heading up to the pass

 Mam Meadail

On the pass looking down to the valley with the River Carnach flowing down

The ruins at Carnoch with Loch Nevis in the distance

The Carnoch ruins and Mam Meadail pass behind

 I had just descended from the pass

The bridge over the River Carnach

There is a warning sign stating this bridge is unsafe so I crossed carefully

Looking along the shore of Loch Nevis

My tent the Gelert Solo

Looking back at Sourlies Bothy after I set off the next morning

There was a small stream coming down the hill behind the Bothy - Walkers were using this as a water supply - I boiled mine well just in case

Low cloud today

The pass is out of sight and over the ridge

 Bealach an Lagain Duibh

The bridge over the Finiskaig River

Looking back along the Finiskaig River

The highest point

 Bealach an Lagain Duibh - its all downhill on the other side to Strathan

Myself in Glen Dessarry

Strathan ahead - the white cottage appears to be a holiday cottage - well kept but no-one living there

My path led off through the trees on the left

The cairn on the pass

 Bealach Chaoainn

The way ahead

Near the end of the walk

Low cloud  still around

The end of the walk and what a fantastic experience

I enjoyed it so much I would like to come back sometime in the future and do it all again

This was a fantastic experience and something I wish I had done many years ago, I put a lot of planning into this walk and everything went according to plan. I got a great deal of satisfaction from crossing this remote area of the Knoydart on my own, although I did meet other walkers on my trip, probably about a dozen. To explore this remote area is a privilege and I am looking forward to a return visit.

The only thing I would probably do differently would be to take a slightly larger tent, The Gelert Solo weighs around 1600 grams and it performed well, remained dry inside and I would use it again for overnight trips, the only drawback was its low internal height and I found it impossible for instance to perform a simple task such as changing my shirt in the tent ready for sleeping, you have to get out of the tent to do this and if its raining it rather defeats the object of trying to keep dry. The Gelert Solo was well made, kept me dry and was excellent value for money. If you replaced the tent pegs with Titanium you could reduce the weight even more, however these pegs cost more than the tent. But I still intend to invest in some lightweight pegs. My other tent the Vango TSB Micro 200 which weighs 2600 grams might benefit from the lighter pegs as this has the headroom that I need.

I carried enough food and water and a full list of my equipment is below for anyone who may be interested, I do not claim to be an expert on this type of backpacking and I am gaining experience all the time. The only thing I am certain of is I enjoyed the experience immensely. The weather plays a significant part in a walk like this and I experienced good weather most of the time with a little drizzle during day three and some overnight rain.

All the route was on the Ordnance Survey Explorer 398 at a scale of 1:25000 however I printed of the whole route using Streetmap and I found this invaluable

Equipment List

A few useful links