L2L Day 79 Dalmally to Taynuilt - 8 miles

Last Autumn, when planning the route I was convinced that though there was no clear walking route between Dalmally and Taynuilt I decided to park the problem and naively hoped a solution would present itself - even if it meant catching the train for a few miles.

Even Emma raised her eyebrows when she'd heard of our intended route and expressed concern at the narrowness of the valley to take both the road and the railway and the absence of a path.

It was only yesterday evening that Sally discovered that Dalmally is on Saint Conan's Pilgrimage route to Iona and with 1126m Ben Cruachan bearing down on us we started planning how we could walk over the saddle to the East of the peak and drop down to Taynuilt  avoiding the road and rail altogether. There were tracks to the North and South but with the middle section of the route described as 'challenging', it was all going to depend on the weather.

We woke to persistent rain and the Mountain weather forecast was for a cloud base at 600m ie lower than our intended route. It didn't take much for us to abort our adventurousness and resort to Plan A.

Over breakfast we met Liz, Vince and Sarah from Chichester. We were convinced we'd maybe met previously at West Dean where Sarah is currently studying for her Diploma.

With a promise they'd come to see us during the Arundel Festival we set off for Taynuilt in the rain, enjoying the quietness of the backroad to commune with the other animals in the rain but even then a few cars and a farmer stopped to say hello and chat. Wonderful.

We climbed up a farm track to see the Monument to Duncan Maclaren - imposing against the backdrop of the mountains.

We continued our walk to the Lochawe Hotel where after a coffee we waited in the midges for the 13:07 train.

At Taynuilt, we walked down to the Pier and watched the camouflaged plovers 

in the hope of seeing the otter that we were told frequents the wall

before returning past Graham's -  the only food shop in Taynuilt to buy our provisions for tomorrow's breakfast.

On the road on our way up to our accommodation, we noticed a squashed velvet covered, metal purse. It looked as though it contained something but had clearly been driven over repeatedly. At our accommodation, we prised it open with a spoon to discover pairs of pearl and enamelled earings

that we decided we'd return to the local shop in the morning in the hope they might be returned to their rightful owner.

A rainy day all day but a treasure trove to finish!!

Our accommodation was a mile outside Taynuilt but didnt do evening meals so our hosts offered to give us a lift back to the pub - the only place for miles that did food. No sooner had they dropped us and driven off, we saw a sign on the pub door saying that the kitchens were closed and that no food would be available tonight. Fortunately, a mad dash to the local shop before they closed at 6 ensured we could have a pizza and a bottle of wine back in our room.