Loch Einich

Today we hiked and biked out to Loch Einich after another night of insomnia, I had to fulfill my promise to the teen of an adventure. This route starts from Loch Eilein taking you through Gleann Einich following the Am Beanaidh through the Glen up to the loch. I wanted to give up within the first 10 minutes due to the heat and just couldn’t get my breathing right, after taking my inhaler it settled. On we went passing through the purple heather clashing with the big blue skies in gusts of wind. The further we went the more crazy the wind got and we ended up walking more with the bikes to Loch Einich with 40mph gusts, I missed a path off the track which meant we gained too much height and climbed a few contours

The track finally rejoined the path along the river with a steep descent and we had to cross a few wide fords which were amusing, not! Wet feet had not been the plan today At this point James really started to struggle and the track is quite rough and arduous going in gale force winds, I persevered and kept going as I had finally glimpsed the bloody loch. Finally there the wind was even more crazy blowing ebb off the water and waves crashing the shore, we were standing below some of the Cairngorm giants, a sight of amazement having climbed some of these in the past and seeing the loch from a different perspective

We managed to cycle back in 1.5 hours with the wind blowing us back with still a few gusts, having taken nearly three to get there. 16 miles, my first time back out on the bike in over 6 years on rough trails, walked through 8 rivers, 10 bumble bees chasing me (apparently they like purple and blue stripes) and doing the ladies in the wind was definitely character building. James said Mum we have done easier Munros

I totally underestimated how the day would go, and although I was fully prepared with kit, today was the hardest thing I’ve done in a very long time. And I’m extremely proud of myself because we totally smashed it!