KINLOCHHOURN TO BARRISDALE

     A really great path takes you through terrain which would be impenetrable without it. A really great path is narrow but clear. It never vanishes into the hillside. A really great path is varied with lots of little surprises and wonderful views. And it is not too easy. For all those reasons, this path, from Kinlochhourn to Barrisdale, is a really great path.
     Loch Hourn is a true fjord. The waters are to our right are dark and deep. The hillside to our left is steep. At one point the path becomes a rocky ledge on the sloping nose of cliff. At another it crosses narrow duck-boarding with the loch water directly below. Here and there, it climbs away from the water to a height of three hundred feet or more. These are tiring ascents, made more daunting by the fact that from the top of one rise you can see the path going all the way down to the water again and then, a mile or so further on, climbing all the way back up.
     Midges. If there is no wind, they are fierce hereabouts. And when they are, the idea of taking a rest will be uninviting unless you are suitably equipped with cream or a midge-hood (or both).
     The first of the two shielings by the water's edge is Scarry and it is reached quite quickly. Runival is beyond one of those "humps". It sits quietly in a secluded meadow in the shade of a mature Scots Pine. Further on, the path runs for some distance by the water's edge where quiet spots invite you to rest. Sit there by the shore and look out across the dark water. Keep very quiet. Do you see that gentle oleaginous swirl of water? Watch closely as it approaches. The bulge of water comes right up to the semi-submerged rocks ten feet from your boots. See the inquisitive nose? The whiskers? The pert little eyes looking straight into yours. And then the water swirls again, in expanding circles and the otter is gone.
     The third steep brings you to a high point where you turn a corner and see, for the first time, the open area of the outer loch, the islands and the mountains beyond Barrisdale. Ladhar Bheinn (pronounced Laar-ven) dominates. Of all the places in Scotland (with the possible exception the Cuillins in Skye) this is the closest to the ice-age. It requires little imagination to see the ice-fronts debouching into ice-littered water and the seracs spewing in a time-frozen cataract out of Coire Dhorrcail. No ice now, only a long straight sand-bar and, at low tide, acres of pale sand.
     From that high view-point, descend to the shore line to join a good estate road. It is flat and more or less straight and runs for a mile or so along the shore to Barrisdale where there is a bothy and a camp-site. The relative tedium of the path on that last mile is relieved by the scenery and by the Arctic Terns. Like white Swallows with black caps, they shriek harshly and dive-bomb to chase intruders from their nesting colony. From Kinlochhourn to Barrisdale is seven miles. It doesn't sound much but by the time you reach the bothy, your legs will be aware that they have been working. The bothy costs 2 pounds per night. In very dry weather the water supply dries up. At other times (which is most of the time) it provides all the basic essentials of life. A roof, a tap, a loo, a bench to sleep on, a seat to sit on and a table to cook on. Everything else must be carried in - and taken away again for there is no council rubbish collection at Barrisdale. The owner of the estate has provided the bothy for our use and we should be very grateful to him. And we would be, if it was not so obvious from the peremptory tone of the instructions pinned to the walls that he is, himself, pretty overwhelmed by his own generosity. Copyright © Hugh Noble, Sept 1999