No 391 - TGOC 2015 - Part 3

This is the day when the weather changed and we all decided to choose a shorter route which would allow us to dry out at the end of the day. Andy arrives at Kinlochleven and makes a short cut for the hotel for an extended stay as you'll hear. Rose, I, Lee and Tony walk away from the Great Glen Hostel in the same miserable weather along the old rail track to the Laggan swing bridge. Once there Tony informs us that there is the Thistle Cafe just up the road and we head there hoping they don't mind soggy walkers. We were greeted by a very generous host, who helped us dump our wet gear and had tea and toast on the table before we sat down! Wonderful lifting of spirits and the 4 huge Full Scottish Breakfasts did a lot to help too! After that we decided to take out foul weather route and head to St Augustus to dry out. At the start of Day 5 Rose and I head for Glen Buck. It was a long walk up to the reservoir and the weather was wet, cold and snowy in places as you can see. However once over the top and off the hard core track, the walk was the usual boggy, stoney variety as we headed down to Stonelarig. Although things had brightened up by then, there was a wind picking up and we joined Robin Evans up the gully to hunt for a suitable spot. Although it was good underfoot, the wind picked up to an estimated 50mph and I had to reinforce the end pole and put large stones on the pegs to give us confidence the tent wouldn't flap loose during the night. Sadly due to the weather we couldn't cook, so it was a joyous meal of cold pasty, biscuits and chocolate.