BARRISDALE TO INVERIE

     Although it provides simple, basic and welcome accommodation, Barrisdale bothy has certain disadvantages - firstly, it occupies part of a converted farm building which also houses a noisy electric generator, secondly, it is very close to a enclosure where voluble farm dogs are penned, and lastly, it is too easily reached by sea. Is that a disadvantage? Yes it is. It means that it can be reached by canoe and that means it can be reached by someone with a canoe full of booze. Still you wonder if that is really a disadvantage. It is if you have had a tiring day, expect another in the morning and a party of booze-cruisers wants to carouse till late. Ear-plugs are an essential for a night's sleep at Barrisdale bothy.

[NOTE: (Added on 3rd Jan 2002) The stuff above refers to the summer of 1999. I am now informed that the dogs are no longer penned beside the bothy, that hydropower supplies the power most of the time and that visits from a flotilla of boozng canoeists is a rarity. That is good news. You may be more fortunate than I and be able to experience Barrisdale for what it ought to be - a haven of tranquility and really beautiful place.]

     The road to Inverie crosses the Mam Barrisdale, a pass of some 1500 feet. It is a fine pass, with a well defined watershed and extensive views of the road ahead, of the road travelled and of wild, rocky mountains all around.
     The path starts out from the bothy, crosses the same bridge as the Ladhar Bheinn path and then turns left. Soon it begins to climb. The gradient is constant and unrelenting. After a quarter mile or so, a side branch on the left, offers an easier gradient, but this temptation must be resisted for it leads only to Gleann Unadalain, the Mam Unadalain, and thence to a network of paths which weaves through the wild and remote lands to the East. These lead to Loch Quoich but do not connect to proper roads or habitation of any kind.
     There is no dubiety about the path over the Mam. It knows where it is going and it will lead you there with integrity provided you make due payment in sweat and effort. Beyond the watershed the surface degenerates somewhat, being, in places, excessively waterlogged but the steady downhill gradient and the view ahead, with Loch an Dubh Lochain glittering in sunlight in the near distance and glimpses of Loch Nevis in the far distance provide encouragement. By the lochan the path flattens and the gentle shoreline will suggest a pause to bathe sore feet.
     Before reaching the trees which surround Inverie the walker's attention will be captured by a small building on the left and perhaps half a mile from the road. In appearance it is unremarkable and almost invisible but it emits a strange raucous whining noise which fills the valley. An explanation for this incongruity, however, must wait until Inverie is achieved.
     The road, now broad and suitable for four-wheeled vehicles, dives into the trees to reach the shore of Loch Nevis and journey's end and whatever form of accommodation has been selected.

[MAP] | [PHOTO: Inverie Church]

Copyright © Hugh Noble, Sept 1999