As we walked towards the higher ground baring our way we knew that sooner or later we were in for some wet weather, it was in the air but did not dampen our spirit. Knowing that we had some climbing to do over the next couple of hours we were reluctant to put on the waterproofs, but sure enough the rain started as we were resting within sight of the Bothy at Bendronaig Lodge.

 

 

 

This was about two miles away and a few hundred feet below us. At this point we met a four walkers doing a circuit from, Achintee. Meeting someone turned out to be quite an event, apart from our arranged rendezvous we saw only nine walkers over the four days. Before we reached the bothy the heavens really opened and the rain stayed with us for the rest of the day, the leaden clouds covering the higher tops.

   
   
The bothy at Bendronaig  is in a lovely setting, a broad grassy plain crossed by the river (Black Water) has mountains all around. When approaching from the west the buildings look to be sheltered by a stand of pines. We were by now ready to find some shelter for ourselves having been on the way for several hours. The first of the buildings reached was securely locked, it had a recent coat of paint, at a guess it is a climbing hut for some organisation, or perhaps a shooting lodge. It looks to have a diesel generator in the outhouse judging by the exhaust pipe coming from the roof. Quite a tidy well cared for set up. A few yards beyond stands an old cottage which is open to walkers and served us very well.

There are several rooms, all unlocked, some equipped with old wire bed bases, just the job for an overnight stop. The rooms had been pasted with old newspapers as a lining for a wallpaper decoration, it was interesting to see where the wallpaper had been peeled away newspapers dated 1893 were exposed. A large room has a good fireplace intact and a few dry logs by the grate, tables and chairs, an old pressure stove, now defunct make up the rest of the inventory. We used the facilities to cook our main meal for the day, thus saving, us from the testing- task of cooking in a tent and avoiding the rain later in the day.

We stayed at Bendronaig for about two hours before setting- out to walk as far up the flank of Bienn Tharsuinn as was practical, thus giving us a good start to the trackless stretch over the Bealach Bhearnais next morning.

 

 

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