Day 2, Dulnain bothy no. 1 to Dulnain bothy no. 3 (10km)
The weather overnight was ferociously windy with driving rain. In the warmth of the bothy, we were glad we had decided not to camp. While the weather eased in the early morning, it didn’t really let up until mid-morning, so we had a delayed start.
Leaving the bothy
The photos for the next two days were taken on my iPhone inside a waterproof case, so the quality is a bit sub-standard. In the light of the weather and the late start, we decided to have a leisurely walk down the River Dulnain to bothy no. 3. Despite the relatively short distance, it was a superb walk. I’ll let the photos speak for themselves.
Hopefully the pictures give a good impression of what it was like. We stopped for lunch at Dulnain bothy no. 2, which was the least impressive of the bothies we visited. Along the way we encountered the skeleton of a deer and bleached remains of juniper bushes. There were a number of really good places to camp (saved in the memory banks for future reference).
The real sadness was two huge masts for measuring wind speed. These were stark reminders of the threat of a massive wind farm at Allt Duine. If it is built, it will totally destroy the wilderness feel of the area. I’m glad that we walked down the Dulnain before this monstrosity is built. I only hope the planning permission will be turned down.
Rather than push on to the Red Bothy, we decided to camp on the flat ground outside bothy no. 3. It was a good chance for both Alan and I to play around with our Trailstars. I decided that I would take the experiment one stage further and cook in my Trailstar, while Alan and Andy went inside the bothy to cook.
When I had finished, I too went inside, to find a roaring fire from some dried juniper wood that had been stored at the back of the bothy. We had a fine bothy evening, but juniper wood burns quickly, so we turned in relatively early. By this time the wind had freshened again and it was starting to rain. Despite this, I had a good night’s sleep.
blogpackinglight 
The scenery there is stunning. It has a wild quality to it that can be hard to find South of the border. I can’t believe they are considering building wind farms there
There is a remoteness that you only get in Scotland. Unfortunately the dash for wind is being driven by an urban elite with no appreciation for wild land. They are backing the wrong technology as well. The advances in solar panel technology mean that wind power is already becoming uneconomic compared with solar.
A nice route, I may well walk it later in the year (autumn perhaps). I suppose your thoughts on the Trailstar will follow …
I’ll do a gear round up later.
Good stuff đŸ™‚
Looks like a cracking trip so far Robin, good to know that the Dulnain provides a good and wild walk. Roll on part 3 please!
I was very impressed. I’ll be there on the Challenge but I might try to go back in the autumn as well.
Nowt wrong with them pics Robin.
Thanks. Not quite as good as my “proper” camera but the iPhone is waterproof in its Lifeproof case.