At first I was afraid...

Second day instalment of the hiking  journal...

14/09/2015
Fort William-Cona Glen

I woke up at 4.30 am to the rocking of the train and tried to convince myself to go back to sleep.  I tried a drink of water, a brief read, counting sheep, a stealthy wank (even though Pete had moved out leaving me alone in the cabin the walls are paper thin) but nothing worked.  In the end I gave up and just lay there reading.  This is one of the bad things about depression, it totally messes with sleep at a time when the roborant of morpheus is something you direly need.
Eventually the stealthy noise of people waking started and I took the opportunity to sneak out for a dump before the rush started.  Back to the cabin, a wash in the sink and dressed, then lounged at my ease till breakfast arrived.
This turned up in a cardboard container that looked like two disposable hospital bedpans welded together but contained a passable mini fry up.  The tea arrived in kit form however.  How hard is it to put the teabag in? Eh?
We rolled into Fort William at 9.55 a.m. which was very civilised.  I was a little disoriented as to where the ferry left from to cross the loch, so I ended up missing the 10.20, which I could have got.

 This meant there was a 2 hr delay, so I nipped to Mountain Warehouse for some karabiners and a large dry-sack.  Then to Costa for a coffee and a stealthy charge of the electronics.  Due to Amazon fucking up I had only a kindle copy of the guide and was worried re charge.  I have an emergency recharge block though.


I eventually caught the 12.20.  It was just me and the ferryman, who looked like an 18 year old Tom Hardy.  Crossing Loch Shiel you get  good views of Ben Nevis.  On the other side there s a bus stop and two houses and a small, single track road.  Officially this is an A road.  Not much uses it.  The guide says follow this road until you hit the base of Cona Glen then hang a right.

The road reminds me of the ones in Cornwall in my youth.  Lined with mossy stones.  In fact the edge of the Loch is lined with typical western temperate rain forest, broadleaf trees, moss, ferns.  Anyone visiting Scotland hass to rememberit has an impresiive amount of water falling on it during the year.  Most of the traffic using this road is holiday related, such as cyclists or minibuses loaded up with rucksacks.

Speaking of which it took me a while to adjust my rucksack so that it was even vaguely comfortable.  Too many controls!  In the end I got it to sit up properly and adjust to my weird spine.  The road here was long and the tarmac hard, but the occasional stream crossing the road made up for it.  A few cyclists passed me, some several times.
I got into a rythmn quite well and pounded on, pausing every time i crossed a stream to check where I was.  Eventually I reached the base of Cona Glen, where you get this view over the loch...

 You hang a right up an uninspiring looking rough gravel track.  As you keep going it gets less and less developed and eventually feels rural again.  A cart track really.
Here two things asserted themselves.  One was a HUGE highland bull who stared evilly at me until I was out of sight.  the other was the midges.  They are voracious.  As soon as the breeze drops, or you walk slow enough they attack and they pack a punch.  Head net and DEET.  But DEET just stops them biting ( cannot blame them it tastes foul) they still crawl all over you.  worse still are the Keds.  I did not know what these were at first and so named them Brown Bitey Scuttlebastards. Lipoptena cervi in Latin.  But they have a fascinating life cycle.  They land on you, then shed their wings and scuttle into the nearest hairy bit.  most often the back of the neck.  They are very resistant to swatting, you have to roll them off to break their legs.

Anyway after a lovely stroll up the Glen it started westering and so I looked for a place to camp. In a riparian wood I found this.  I shall let the pictures speak.