Log No 107. Sat 10th Aug 2013 - Fiunary to Glensanda, 18 miles (1671 miles walked)

It was a fine start to the day as I watched the CalMac ferry from Oban sail up the Sound of Mull with Ben More, Mull's only munro, capped with cloud.

Back on the road we passed a horse sculpture made out of bits of trees.

Our first stop was the Lochaline Stores to buy enough food for 2 days and after filling our rucsacs again we took the track up the side of Loch Aline.

Going round the head of the loch we went by Ardtornish House then through the Estate buildings onto the track along Rannoch River.

The map only showed a path but it was actually a very good track and we made good progress although we were somewhat confused when we unexpectedly came to a loch in only half a mile. There was nothing on the map and we realised the Estate had dammed the river, presumably to create a more permanent water source.

The track stopped at Loch Tearnait but a trace of a path continued up the glen.

An old building by the side of this loch had been converted into a bothy but it was far too early to stop.

Like a lot of the footpaths through the hills lately it didn't seem used and we lost it among all the deer trails.

Once again it was slow going over the rough ground and ferns as we made our own way up by the stream to eventually pick up a more defined path up past Caol Lochan and then down Glen Sanda.

The weather couldn't make up its mind what to do and the waterproofs were on and off numerous times, unfortunately, every time we stopped the midges descended on us like there was no tomorrow.

It was 17.00 by the time we got down to the quarry at Glensanda and we were both feeling tired but we pressed on.

There was a remote building shown on the map next to the path and I would have put money on it that it would be a bothy. It was still an hour away but we had to check it out, I wouldn't want to walk by it in the morning and discover we had missed out on a comfortable night.

As we were going along the quarry 2 works land rovers turned up to check us out, they weren't keen on us walking along the track and wanted to give us a lift to where the path started. We turned down the lift and they considered escorting us past their works but obviously decided we were harmless and left us to it.

The path started out very rough through steep ground and head high ferns but once past the small headland the land levelled out near the shore and we could walk on the stony shore.

I would have lost my money as the building was just a ruin but there was plenty of good ground for camping.

18 varied miles, tough going at times.