Log No 98. Thu 1st Aug 2013 - Loch Morar to Arisaig, 17 miles (1528 miles walked)

It was wet and windy through the night and it continued that way first thing in the morning.

We managed to get the tents down during a dry moment and got going just after 08.00.

It looked like it was going to stay dry but I kept my waterproofs on since there was quite a bit of ferns along the footpath. I had been tick free yesterday for a change and hopefully would be today.

The good path became a track and then a road and shortly after passing by the houses that make up Bracara we took a signed footpath to Loch a' Bhada Dharaich, the first if three connected lochs.

The showers had started coming in now.

It wasn't much of a path, more like a cow trail, but at the end of the third loch it joined a gravelled path which went to the main road a mile south of Mallaig.

The rain seemed set in now but was mostly behind us as we went in to Mallaig.

Since our food had been rationed the last couple of days we had fish & chips in a restaurant and with a phone signal here I was able to put Tuesday's & Wednesday's logs on the website.

Mallaig has a Coop and a Spar and we went in both to get the best deals for restocking our rucsacs, it made a change to be spoilt for choice.

Leaving Mallaig at 14.00 just before the steam train returned to Ft William we stayed on the main road, bypassing Morar, until we turned off onto the coastal road B8008.

We certainly noticed the extra weight in the rucsacs.

This road twisted and turned and rose and fell for most of the 5 miles and had 8 campsites in that distance.

I had earmarked the fourth one for our stop today but as each one we passed said "Site Full" it did not look hopeful for us, and it wasn't.

With the rain still coming down the fifth and sixth sites were full and we were resigned to another wild camp.

The last 2 sites were a mile down a minor road, the first of these did have room but with no working showers, which we were sorely in need of, we may aswell wild camp.

We trudged into the last site at the end of the road at half past five and this, thankfully, also had enough space to squeeze in a bedraggled pair of hikers and it had showers.

While we were putting the tents up Graham & Jane, from the caravan opposite us, kindly made us a hot drink.

17 mostly wet miles, but we do have a phone signal.