COILLE MIORGIL to ALTBETHIE. Once again the rain had cleared by the time we packed our gear, and were on the way, but of course the tents had to be rolled up wet again. As we were sorting out our gear an estate car drew up on the road beyond our campsite, I realised this could be our chance to get some help with the dog. I explained our predicament to the couple in the car, we did not want to take the dog over the high tops into the Glen Shell area, but he seemed set to stay with us. The chap agreed to take him in his car to Coille Mhorgil and see if any locals new his owner, although he, himself thought it likely that he had been abandoned. Later as we were on the move we met the couple again and they told us the dog was in good hands and was to be taken to the Tomdoun hotel as it may be known there. It is a shame if he has not been claimed as he was a fine dog, a gun dog of some sort, well trained, very fit and full of life
We made good progress along to the Quoich dam and decided to take a break but after a few minutes the midges drove us on our way, The views to the west along the lock were superb but as the day wore on, once again the clouds gathered and before we reached the bridge spanning the northern arm of the loch the rains started. We clambered down the embankment of the bridge to be out of the wind, and made ourselves comfortable while we had our lunch, the rain had relented so we had a good rest before turning to face north.
Altbeithe (three buildings) could be seen at the end of the northern arm of the loch. A locked gate and a 'Private' sign warned us that we were now crossing onto a private estate.
We climbed the gate and walked down the rough track towards the herd of cows that we could see about half a mile ahead. The herd was well spread out over a further half mile but most were on our track. We shooed the cows and calves from the track some were a little reluctant to move, but non quite as reluctant to the large white bull that we eventually reached. He stood four square and facing us, despite the usual arm waving and encouraging noise that we made he showed no sign of 'moving over a bit'. Bulls with cows are said to be quite safe, but when this chap started to paw the ground and dip his head I decided that discretion was the better part of valour. We tried to make a detour above the track that he occupied, this was steep rough ground and before we could make progress past them the old bull decided to move his family in the same direction. This was of course just what we did not want. Fortunately after a minute or so they came to a stop. We skirted up and round a wood which was at the side of the track, Here we met a herd of deer which moved quickly up the hillside when they saw us. Once we were out of their sight the problem bovines forgot all about us. but rounding the wood was hard work as it had involved a steep climb.
Back on the track we crossed a rickety bridge over the river Quoich and wandered up to Altbeithe house hoping that It was unlocked as by now it was raining hard and we were looking forward to a rest out of the wet. The main house was locked and on looking through the windows we could see that It was well furnished, it looked as though it was regularly used for sporting purposes. .
We did find shelter in one of the outbuildings, inside It was equipped with saws, scales, hoists etc obviously used for butchering deer after a kill. On one wall was a display of jaw bones of various sizes, A hose pipe was permanently connected to a tap to enable the place to be flushed out, the floor was well drained to a channel outside. Although it was not very comfortable we sat for a while on a strange cradle like bench, this it seems is where the unfortunate beasts would lie while being butchered. Outside the weather sounded terrible, we were in a building with louvered sides covered on the inside with fly screens, this seemed to amplify the sound of the rain, after a while we realised some of the sounds we could hear were coming from a burn close by. Although it was raining heavily we decided to press on for the other mile or so to the area near the ruin in glen Quoich indicated on the 0. 5 map
Outside, the track up the glen was quite easy to follow although it was awash with water streaming off the hillside and making its way down to the river. The light was poor but we could see the ruin from some way off. We decided to pitch camp as soon as we found somewhere dry and level. It looked as though it may be a difficult task, but we managed to find a patch of springy turf close to the stream which ran close to the ruin. We pitched camp in a real downpour, so once again we were zipped in early and went to sleep with the rain beating a tattoo on the tents.

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