Day Fifty Five

Sunday 1 May 2011 – Muir of Ord to Garve

This was supposed to be a gentle warm-up for my nine-day trip to finish this end-to-end walk. But it didn’t quite work out like that. In a new record for me, I missed the first turning I was supposed to take in Muir of Ord, although this was soon corrected.

I walked along a pleasant country lane under a blue, cloudless sky. The temperature was ideal for walking, although it got a bit warm later (a b&b owner rightly told me off later in the week for saying it was too warm!). There was a gentle Easterly breeze, which persisted through the week, getting stronger.

I crossed the River Orrin, and turned West to walk alongside the river on an estate road. For the first half mile, I was by rapids, then I reached the Falls of Orrin, where the river crashed through a series of rocky pools. The road (just a track really) left the river to pass Fairburn House, a rather splendid 19^th Century pile which is now a nursing home. Roads led in all directions through the grounds.

The track I needed to take, through a forestry plantation, was the other side of a locked gate, but this was soon climbed. The track was easy to follow and firm underfoot. It emerged on to a lane.

My easy walk depended on an essential link – the crossing of a dam at the end of Loch Achonachie. This used to be no problem but, had I done my homework properly, I would have discovered that this is now barred by the water company for “operational security reasons”. What damage I could have done walking across between high fences I can’t imagine, but there it was, blocked. So I headed East along a lane to find the next bridge across the River Conon, adding two to three miles to my walk.

Still grumbling, I found a pleasant spot by the river for my lunch. Once over the bridge, I had to walk for a mile or so alongside the main A835 road, until I reached Contin. Here I visited the “last shop before Ullapool” for essential supplies of pop and ice cream.

Then I could escape the road for a much more peaceful walk through a forestry plantation, mostly on made-up forestry roads and sometimes on paths, all well-signposted. When I say that the roads were made-up, I don’t mean that they were tarmacked; rather, they were constructed on the lines of Roman roads, with a shale top, very nice to walk on.

The forest was not boring because there was a variety of trees, and there were plenty of views between the trees. I could see Loch na Croic, glittering and glimmering in the strong sunlight. At a fork, I took what turned out to be a new or (being) upgraded stretch of roadway, which was not quite ready for me. Every so often, I had to step over, or step into and out of, culverts where drainage pipes would later be laid – not an arduous necessity, but I did advise a cyclist I met later to take the other way.

Actually, I met a few people along this route; the other side of the valley from the road, with several bridges across, this is clearly a popular playground, and rightly so. I was now in Strath Garve, with Loch Garve to my left. The track never quite reached the banks of the loch, keeping just above them.

Descending gradually to the floor of the strath, I passed Strathgarve Lodge, a handsome house, like Fairburn House now a nursing home – they get nursed in some swanky-looking places round here!

A road on the left took me straight across the strath, and across the River Blackwater to Garve, where I was soon welcomed to my stop for the night, Birch Cottage (very welcoming, lovely evening meal, highly recommended).