East Highland Way: Day 5

Do geese ever sleep? There are hundreds honking away on the far side of the loch. Rudely awakened, I lie in the tent with a cup of tea, admiring the glassy surface of the water. Six geese swim past close to the shore, oblivious to my presence, followed by a pair of mergansers, before a swan swoops down and lands like a plane bouncing on a runway, sending sprays of white water into the air.

Loud laughter rings out from the activity centre. Surely it’s a little early for the kids? It’s the Loch Insh Dippers, a cold water swimming club. Time to get my clothes on before the women swim as far as my tent.

It’s a short walk today, allowing me time to visit the Frank Bruce Sculpture Trail. The sculptures are carved from the ancient Caledonian pines of Inshriach Forest and, as the artist intended, are returning to the land over time.

Several sculptures have fallen over, the figures sleeping peacefully, cloaked with moss.

Crossing the River Feshie, as it’s such a fine day and with time to kill, I abandon the official route along the forest road and choose a random path into the trees to see where it leads. Descending into a valley and finding myself in another activity centre, this is clearly the wrong way, requiring a little map work to rejoin the path.

Loch an Eilein is beautiful. There’s a ruined castle on a small island but it’s too dark to capture in a photo, facing into the sun.

I’m taking the overnight Caledonian Sleeper back to London, albeit in the seated coach, which will be interesting. So how did the trail compare with the West Highland Way (“WHW”)?

While nothing, understandably, matches the awe-inspiring Buachaille Etive Mor, they are equally beautiful. The main difference is the number of people. I did not meet another hiker on the entire trail, whereas this time last year there were already several hundred hikers on the WHW. Having to wild camp clearly deters a lot of people. The only real answer is to hike them both.

Walk distance: 10 miles.

Total distance: 82 miles.