Day 1 - Morar to Coire Dubh

What a day!!!  We could not have asked for a better day today.  Weather, health, scenery, food were all top notch!

We started the day fueling up with breakfast at the Morar Hotel.  It was buffet style but included all of the fixings for a full Scottish breakfast, including the black pudding.  We were also able to sneak out sufficient mayonnaise and mustard packs to keep our lunches yummy for the next few days.  We finished up eating, went and got our packs, and signed out for the challenge.  Yahoo!!

About To Take Our First Steps

For most of the day we walked along Loch Morar - the UK’s deepest loch at 310 m.  There is supposedly a loch monster, Morag,  living in the depths who is the second most written about monster after Nessie. We were not fortunate enough to see her today.  We were fortunate enough though to see four RAF fighter jets come roaring by us one after the other on a low level exercise through the glens.  What a rush!!!

When we eventually made it to Tarbet we ran into three Scottish gentlemen who provided us with a nice break and some entertaining conversation.  One of them was the caretaker of the estate, and the other two were his buddies.  They warned us that some lassies had come by earlier and that we should be careful up in the hills with them nearby.🤣 When we showed them our planned route over the ridge they told us nobody had ever done it before so good luck. 🤣 We know that isn’t actually true so we just laughed it off and headed on our way.

Approach To Tarbet

New Friends Reviewing And Approving Our Maps! 😆 (BJJ)

The next part of the walk was the most difficult part of the day for two reasons.  #1 - it was a very steep and rugged climb to gain the ridge.  The boys did well but I struggled towards the end.  #2 - our first tick infestation of the trip…. 🤮 On the upside we were well motivated to keep moving, and on the down side ticks!!!!

The reward for our hardships has been an amazing evening on an incredible ridge - Loch Morar to the south, and Loch Nevis, a huge sea loch, to the north.  The views have been spectacular, the weather sunny with a slight breeze.  Another of those moments that will be hard to ever forget, that is also very hard to describe. 😊

Putting Socks On After Post-Hike Lochan Swim!! (BJJ)

Dinner With A View

We are now in the tents hunkering down for the night.  The weather is clear, cooling off, and getting a little windy.  We will see what the night brings.  That’s about it for now.  Thanks again for reading and we will catch up as the service allows - we have no idea how we are still connected tonight in literally the middle of nowhere but that’s ok.

Note: Ben took many beautiful pictures today that I hope to upload when we get better service - stay tuned for updates

Dinner:

Spicy Mexican rice with one pack of cooked chicken Tikka each.

Dessert:

Cappuccinos for Ben and Sam, tea for JM, and two chocolate covered HobNobs each.  Yummmm!!

Health:
JM - Feeling old as usual
Ben - Slight soreness upper shoulder but nothing crazy
Sam - Cut foot during loch plunge, not thrilled about ticks

Day 1 Route - 16.9 km, 746 m ascent