Bridge of Orchy to Kinlocheven - 21.5 miles
I wake up feeling pretty ropey and wishing i'd had one glass of wine less, not good with the prospect of the day's walking looming ahead…first thoughts are that at least it's stopped raining and we are keeping our fingers crossed that it stays that way!
We manage a bit of breakfast and do the obligatory kit check before heading out over the bridge at 9am, once again in bright sunshine…a stark contrast from yesterday.
We stop for photos on the bridge before heading up over an easy ridge walk where the views open out all around us and every few steps is another photo opportunity, it really is stunning and we head down towards the Inveroran Hotel in the distance.
We head onto an old drove road gradually ascending to black mount and onto an open path with the mountains of Coire Bá bearing down on one side and the open expanse of Rannoch moor on the other. The views are absolutely breathtaking, i really can't describe how awe-inspiring it all is…and how small and insignificant you feel walking through it, the photographs do not do it justice at all, it was by far my favourite section of the entire walk.
Obviously we were really lucky that the rain held off and we got to experience all the beautiful views along the way. The walk itself was easy enough along a well marked path and we made good time of this 13 mile section to Kingshouse. We finally ate the last of the sandwiches we'd bought in Milngavie, turns our Chris' were out of date when we bought them…hope we don't live to regret it!
As soon as we crossed over the main road it not only started raining but also snowing too, so we've now had pretty much every type of weather on our trip so far, it's quickly on with the waterproofs and we're soon at the Kingshouse hotel where we stop for some soup and apple pie to set us up for the next 8.5 mile stage up over the alarmingly named Devil's staircase!
There are lots of deer outside the pub and more amazing views over to Glen Coe as we set off first of all on the path that runs alongside the busy main road, it's not actually too bad and the views all around are pretty distracting from the traffic noise. The path soon turns away from the road and starts the steady climb up to the highest point on the way.
The devil's staircase turns out to be nothing but a gradual climb and is a lot easier than the name would imply, we're up and over the pass in no time.
From here it's an easy walk along the path until we finally get our first sight of Kinlocheven down below us and from here it's a long descent down into the town.
I feel so much better today than I did yesterday while Chris says he found todays walk harder…i guess some days it just hits you more, it doesn't necessarily matter what the mileage is or even the terrain, some days you're just really really knackered!
The guidebook made us think Kinlocheven was going to be a really ugly industrial town, it was actually really pleasant and everyone was really friendly and welcoming.
We had to wait a while at the Blackwater campsite and hostel for someone to come and let us in, we were quite glad just to have a sit down to be honest! We were staying in a little camping pod which was fab and very cosy. We had a good feed at the Macdonald hotel pub, i'm so knackered i can't even finish my second glass of wine and we head back to our pod for an early night after an amazing days walking and looking forward to the finish in Fort William tomorrow!
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