Sallochy to Bienglas Farm

Thick gray clouds greeted me as I exited my tent in the morning. With a couple of bars of cell signal, I opened up the weather app to see if any rain was due in the near future. Sure enough, there it was: rain due in 30 minutes. I opted to skip cooking breakfast, and just chowed down on some protein bars as I packed up and hit the trail with my rain jacket on.

Sure enough, about 30-40 minutes later the first rain drops started to fall. That's ok though, I thought, I've got a waterproof backpack and a good rain jacket to keep me dry. Just as a precuation I had also put on my polyester joggers (which were not waterproof) in order to provide some sort of rain protection as I hiked. The shoes were another story, sure they would get wet but they would also dry out quickly, if given the opportunity to do so.

The trail hugged the coastline of the Loc for the most part, mixed with multiple detours into the surrounding green woods, but the waters were always somewhat visible. The rain was really starting to come down now, and it was only 8am. I passed an iconic red telephone booth in front of a bed and breakfast place. It smelled like they were serving but I wasn't hungry and wasn't defeated by the rain just yet.

Clouds started to cling to the sides of the hills surrounding the waters. While most of the trail today was a dirt path, there were plenty of rocks strewn about it. Some small, some large, but all of them in within my way of walking, and all of them slippery from the rain. Good thing these Altra trail runners had good grip!

I ran into a pair of mountain goats just chilling by the water under some trees, waiting out the rain, unbothered. I dared not get too close because you never know how a wild animal is going to react, and as soon as they caught sight of me I decided that it was time to move on.

Small wooden bridges with railings crossed the more rugged areas of the trail, especially over freshly flowing rivers and waterfalls. The area surrounding the trail was full of bright green foliage, and colorful wildflowers. The trail meandered through open clearings towards mornings end, removing what little protection there was from the trees.

Moss-covered stones of old ruins popped up here and there along the way, but there were no signs to indicate if they were of importance or not. Doesn't matter to me, all historical/old things are cool-looking. I'd guess these particular ones had been here for a while, given how much dirt and whatnot had accumulated within.

About an hour later I came upon a massive waterfall that ran next to a hotel, and luckily it was open for business. A welcomed respite from the ran, with somewhere warm and dry where my things could dry off, hopefully. While they were open for business, the kitchen was not, and all they had to offer was water, juice, and coffee, plus some small pastries from the previous day. What a let-down. My feet were thankful though for the rest and fresh pair of socks though. I wasn't prepared for this much rain, and apparently (according to the locals at the hotel) that this is the norm in Scotland. I should have done better research. I rested for maybe an hour before continuing on.

The trail led away from the hotel road and back along the lake, through a rocky and slippery mess. The designers of the trail must have thought people would enjoy sliding, crouching, and hopping from rock to rock. Not much fun in the rain though. I nearly slipped a handful of times, and had to go slow in order to avoid slipping in more dangerous areas. Luckily these section didn't last for too long before the trail was back to a flat path. However the flat trail was now a river.

On and on I marched through the steady downpour of rain, wading through wet and muddy trail conditions. At one point the water flowing over the trail crested over the tops of my shoes, thoroughly soaking them through and through. About an hour later I came to a free place to spend the night: a hut with beds, fireplace, and lines to hang wet clothing. It was awfully cold in there, and I seriously thought about staying since I was so wet and just wanted to dry out. But as I sat there and contemplated going, the rain waters started to overflow the threshold at the door, and were slowly flooding the floor of the place. Needless to say, I opted to keep going, especially since there was no one else there and I would have been cold and alone all night.

I pushed onwards towards Bienglas Farm, my original destination for the day. By about 4 pm, or two hours since I left the hut, I arrived. I'm so glad I didn't stay at that hut a while back. It's not really a farm, persay. Or at l east, not today it isn't, but might have been at one point. This place had hot showers, a restaurant serving hot meals, and a washing/drying machine for clothes!

Picking a spot for my tent was tricky, since most of the grounds were flooded, or on a slope, but I found a spot under a broad tree with thick leaves. I asked the person who had also set their tent up there if it was ok that I joined them, and they said yes of course. I set up my tent, grabbed dry clothes, and set off for the showers.

After a much need hot shower (of which I probably stayed in longer than I should have and used up way to much hot water), I went to the restaurant to get some hot food, and then off to the washing/drying machines for my laundry. With nothing left to do, and a non-existent desire to hang out in my tent in the cold wet air, I found a table in the restaruant and set up shop. A few other hikers joined me, as space as limited, and we conversed for most of the evening, and even split the laundry fee between us.

Given all that had happened today with being soaked from the rain, I had decided to book a hotel for the next day. I usually don't give up this quickly, but something about the weather and the loneliness of the trail made me want some modern creature-comforts.

I turned in around 9pm, looking forward to the dry big warm bed of a hotel the next day.