Broadford to Kinloid

The target for today was the campsite at Kinloid, which is very quiet at this time of year. You can hear the Hogwarts Express quite close and deer are often visible from the campsite.

This comfortable distance allowed some visiting time. I did not look up the Armadale-Mallaig ferry times because the service was disrupted both by the ferries available and the manpower to run them. Fortunately, the ferry was about to leave just as I arrived and a CalMac boat attendant held my bike as I went into the office to purchase a ticket. It was even better than that – by the time I returned with my ticket he had wheeled the bike onto the ferry and parked it.

I knew that there was no food available near Kinloid Farm so decided to dine out and stock up in Mallaig. Prawns at the Tea Garden Cafe were as tasty as I have experienced. Koniu, who had been backpacking with a very heavy load to enable a week’s exploration of the wilder and more isolated parts of the highlands joined me and revealed an unusual “career path”. He had found programming/IT easy and made more money than he knew what to do with, finding the job soulless. Squatting and living on very little made a complete change, and now he makes a living as a boat electrician. I got the impression that he now lives on a canal boat near London.

Koniu was heading on a ferry from Mallaig to a remote spot. I see that Western Isles Cruises operate a daily ferry service from Mallaig to Inverie (about 9km E and 2km N of Mallaig in Knoydart) and to Tarbet (about 11 km E and 4 km S of Mallaig in North Morar on the banks of Loch Nevis.

Koniu showed me on his map the location of a bothy where the main part was locked but it sounded like skills as a squatter might have helped making use of a side building. See tomorrow’s account for how this prompted a surprise for me.

Up the stairs at the cafe is a small backpackers’ hostel which was well occupied in weather that was not bad. Some might take advantage of it to take refuge from severe weather if camping became miserable.

As it turned out I was the only camper at Kinloid Farm although with plenty of grass and two toilets and shower each for males and females its capacity is fine and I was told last year it is only in the height of the season that it is fully booked.