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Just arrived to Ft Augustys after an epic 28km hike. Easy terrain but hard on the feet. Currently in the pub by the lochs inhaling beer and food. Our planned camp was outvoted in favor of a BnB stop 🙂

Tomorrow we head back to the mountains for a Munro or two then onto our wildcamp at Garva Bridge.

Lynn says ‘I’m not dead yet’ 🙂

The next leg of our trip started at 530am today. Up bright and early to see if the weather had improved. Yikes, there’s still snow and galeforce winds on the coast where we start. Luckily the genius folks at TGO make sure everyone has a foul weather alternate (FWA) route which we’ll no doubt take advantage off.

After a quick drive to Manchester airport we waited for our little turboprop service to Inverness. Then a quick stop for last minute items like extra thermals, extra large tent pegs (for the storm guy ropes I had the foresight to pack) and some fuel for our stoves. From Inverness we took the train to Kyle if Lochalsh before finally arriving in Dornie. The train was packed full of ‘challengers’ who all jumped off before we arrived in Dormie. Supposedly the train line was used to film Harry Potter on his way to Hogwart’s.

Dornie is a small village famed for Eileen Donal Castle of ‘Highlander’ fame. It’s very picturesque. Off out for some liquid food, real food then bed for an early start.

The weather here is BAD with heavy winds and rain. We’ll be taking our FWA route over the next three days to our B&B. Tomorrow we head for the Falls of Glomach and our first wildcamp.

The latest forecast for Thursday:
How windy? Southwesterly 40 to for periods 50 to locally 60mph gusts 90mph.
How cold? 900m: 0 or 1C, but will feel as cold as minus –16C directly in the wind. Strongest winds will be focussed in the afternoon.

Yikes… the weather for this weekend is looking pretty nasty. Gust up to 90 mph (and I’m not talking about my wife)…

https://www.mwis.org.uk/mountain/WH.PDF

There’s a nasty storm over Scotland right now – the above forecast is for Thursday but will ease off over the weekend.   Hopefully our new gear will keep us nice and warm…

N.

Just getting together the final bits and pieces of kit.   Our flight leaves Seattle at 6:50pm today.   We’ll spend a few days with family in Manchester before flying up to Inverness and then taking a train to our starting point in Dornie.

I added a few new pieces of kit for this trip.   With the weather likely to be wet, I focused on lots of warm clothing, good dry layer and a great “sleep system”.

I’ve previously blogged about my OR Celestial paclite jacket.   Here are some other editions to my kit list.

	Montbell Ultralight Down Jacket At a whopping 6.5oz, this jacket is offers an amazing weight to warmth ratio.    I plan on using this as warm layer around camp plus as an emergency layer under my jacket.
	Marmot Precip Pants These pants rock, I’ve had them for over a year; they’re super light (7oz) and take up almost no space in my pack.
	Roclite 318 GTX Just got these shoes a few weeks ago and they are really great.   Given that Scotland will be cold and wet, I’m hoping the addition of Goretex might keep my feet a little drier than usual.   At 11oz, they are about half the weight of my regular Soloman shoes.
	Thermarest Neoair Sleeping Pad The new Neoair from Thermarest has redefined “ultralight luxury”.  At 9oz for the small (which is a whopping 47” long) it’s more than half the weight of conventional pads. Brett has a review here.
	Western Mountaineering Megalite This bag is simply amazingly warm for the weight.   It’s 24oz and rated to 30F.   I’m a very warm sleeper and have slept naked in freezing temps without feeling cold.    On this trip I’m bringing along a silk liner just in case we get arctic winds for our hike.
	Six Moon’s Lunar Duo The LunarDuo is a great single wall two person tent.  It’s light at 39oz and has a great deal of floor space for two – 54” x 90”.   Weight is saved by the lack of an integrated pole system instead relying on hiking poles for support.
	ULA Conduit Backpack This is my favourite piece of kit – it’s super light at 17oz and is sooo comfortable.   Everthing about the pack has been well thought out including the side pockets which are reachable with ease even when the pack is on your back.
	Snopeak LiteMax This stove is small, super light (2oz) and works really well provided there’s no wind.  Like all canister stoves, gas can be a problem if the canister is too cold.  This is easily solved by sitting the can in cold water for a few minutes to “warm it up”.
	Katadyn Micropur Purification Tablets I no longer carry a water filter and instead use simple water purification tablets. No mess, simple and leave no nasty aftertaste.
	Easy Showily GPS Tracker This is a great little device that’ll record your trek as you hike along.   Works like a charm and is super simple to use. Brett has a nice review here.

I’ve been wondering what to take for brewing coffee on our trip.   I can attest that a good cup of coffee is a necessity for Lynn every morning.  I was planning on taking instant coffee such as Nescafe Espresso or similar.    While it has more than enough caffeine content, the flavor isn’t there.

So, what to do? While browsing my local REI for last minute goodies, I stumbled across the GSI Ultralight Javadrip.    At a measly 0.5oz it definitely doesn’t add any significant weight.   The price is great too at $10!   No more instant coffee, no more filters – now that’s not bad :-)   We gave the gizmo a trail run on Sunday and it works pretty well.

What’s the coffee of choice for the trip?  Deadman’s Reach by Raven’s brew in Alaska. The preferred brew to “jump start” your morning.  Available from your local Whole Thief.