Crossing the Belach Bernaise

I woke about six on next morning and un zipped the door to see a blue sky above the mountains, but cloud that was drifting across was now being blown from the east, the wind had swung 180 degrees in the night. Did this mean the weather‑ of yesterday was to come back today ?

We were on the move by about half past eight, it was easy walking upward along the stalkers path, pausing now and again to watch the deer on the slopes above us. As expected the path came to an abrupt end marked by a small Cairn on a rock. This would be a good guide for anyone coming from the other direction. For us it indicated the start of a difficult mile up to Bealach Bhernais. it's easy to see why their is no sign of a track, there is no obvious contour to follow, nothing definite to aim for.
The terrain is a, jumble of ups & downs, it’s hard to know whether to try to walk in a direct line to the pass, or whether to try and skirt the hillocks and ridges that bar the way. As we progressed slowly upwards it started to rain, gently at first, but by the time we reached the top it was a real downpour again.
Once at the top of the pass we could easily see the line of the track down the other side, it was a glistening silvery thread telling us that the water was using it as an escape route down to the river Chonais.
We splashed our way down about two miles to the river, this then presented another problem, we wanted to cross but did not fancy the walk downstream to the bridge, however we managed to find a point where the river had a stony island thus dividing its flow. Here we crossed without too much trouble and scrambled up the bank onto a good Land rover track which allowed us the luxury of a good stride out for the two miles to the buildings marked on the map as Glenuaig Lodge.

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