Dunns On Tour

  Well that was a brute of a walk! The summit is just out of sight beyond the left hand peak above.  I had selected it on the basis that it was a climb, and we haven’t done one of those this week. The weather was set fair, which the book stipulated, and all we have to do tomorrow is drive home. That being said, the contour lines on the map were so close together that you needed a magnifying glass to see any gaps. In other words, stupidly steep. Plus we were starting virtually at sea level, so we had the full 3,000 ft/915m to contend with. I was 80% certain that it would be too much for me as my muscles were still sore from Wednesday, but if you don’t challenge yourself, how do you know what you can do? So off we headed to Skye again on a beautiful sunny morning, parking at the head of Loch Slapin to begin our walk. Initially it was pleasant - a gentle, undulating path up through heather alongside a burn which reminded us of the famous Fairy Pools elsewhere on the island. Then ...

Gratuitous photo of Eilean Donan is from yesterday’s drive back along Loch Duich. Today, it has rained heavily and continuously throughout, making it a perfect opportunity for muscle recovery and indoor pursuits. And a short blog with little descriptive power. We did manage a stroll to the village stores, clad from head to toe in waterproofs, to stock up on essential provisions and the makings of lunch. At around 5pm, the clouds lifted, allowing us a second sortie to explore a bit more of Plockton, venturing onto the pier and pontoon (which instantly made Em feel seasick). Em is in charge of choosing tomorrow’s final walk, with a declared motive of physical self-preservation. She is keenly studying the guidebook as I write. Naturally I will overrule her choice. Joff x

  An epic walk today. 17 miles, 9 hours, 43,700 steps. Every single one of which we are now feeling! We started out by parking at Morvich, where we started yesterday’s walk, but this time we had arranged for a cab to collect us and deliver us half an hour down the road at Cluanie. The earlier drizzle faded away and we set off in sunshine, climbing gently on a firm track up Caorann Mor. The scenery just got better and better, with the valley opening up, revealing yet more snowy peaks on either side and off in the distance. Our elation at the sheer beauty and grandeur of our surroundings was soon tempered somewhat by our unceremonious entry into bog land, fed by innumerable burns. We slogged through it for several miles. It was exhausting and not fun, but the views made up for it. At some point we both realised that we had almost as much bog inside our boots as there was outside, and took a little less care placing our feet. Still, there’s bog, and then there’s very deep bog, so we s...

  Bagpipes and drum’n bass was the atmospheric soundtrack accompanying our drive out to Morvich, courtesy of an old Martyn Bennett album “Bothy Culture” dug out of the recesses of my iPod (groovy 1990s tartan techno, if you are not familiar with this artist/ genre). We laced on our boots, still cold and damp from yesterday, and set off up a good quality track leading through a series of gated deer enclosures and then eventually bearing into a lovely valley, Gleann Choinneachain. Trips off the tongue. This was a gentle but steady climb, and we worked up quite a sweat as the wind dropped and the sun came out for a sustained period, daring us to peel off the layers and face instant metereological retribution. The aim had been to get up to the high pass, which beckoned seductively up ahead, and gain a view over to the    mountain ranges and lochs beyond.  The guidebook warned that the river would need to be forded at some point in order to reach the final stretch to the ...

  The forecast was for a day of ‘light showers’ and a ‘moderate breeze’. It didn’t really feel like that! Nonetheless, we scorned a day of sitting in the cottage. The low clouds mean that there’s really no point in climbing, and the flatter walks closest to us are aimed at people who don’t really want to walk, being very short and easy. So we opted for a drive over to Skye, starting in Kilmarie. I say ‘In’ but there’s at best two or three houses. The drive was under one of those light showers. Luckily the ‘shower’ bit is true, though it went on for quite a while. I declined starting out under a heavy downpour. Him indoors had said the same back at the cottage, but when it came to it was very keen to get soaked asap.  Not happening. So we practised being patient, and once the downpour had slowed to a genuinely light sprinkle, off we went on the track to Camasunary. In 1997, which is when we were last on Skye, we did an entirely different walk which brought us to this spectacula...

The village of Plockton looks pretty idyllic when the sun is shining, with its neat cottages hugging the harbour and small inlets changing shape with the tides. With the weather outlook getting worse through the day, and needing to shake off the cobwebs after our long drive yesterday, we opted for a low-level morning stroll for our  outing. We didn’t tarry over breakfast, and took a scenic drive around Loch Carron and over the Applecross peninsula to the remote community of Shieldaig. This was apparently once a training base for seamen being sent to fight in the war against Napoleon. The short coastal walk took us round a rugged headland, where we were able to get good views over to Torridon, its characteristically bleak Munros enveloped in swirling mist and cloud.  We managed to duck into Shieldaig hotel’s brightly appointed restaurant for lunch, taking welcome cover as the rain became persistently heavy.  Em demolished a stack of scallops in creamy sauce, while I tucked...

  Anyone who’s been in these parts will instantly recognise Eilean Donan, above, with a lovely moody sky. Google maps did not lie - it took us 11 hours to get here, and that’s without stopping for anything other than a tank of petrol, a pee and a takeaway tea. It was pretty painless though. We were on the road by 5.45am, and got to Glasgow at midday. And we have had ALL the weather. Well, apart from snow. We were lucky to hit Glen Coe when it wasn’t absolutely throwing it down with rain, and that bit of the journey took my breath away all over again. Plockton is uncharacteristically pretty for a Scottish village. It’s basically a long row of former fisher folk cottages - now a National Trust conservation village - along the waterfront, which is an inlet of Loch Carron. Here’s the view from our wee cottage… We’re looking across to the Applecross peninsula. The cottage is on the basic side, but lots of natural light, and we managed to dodge the horizontal showers long enough to do a ...