Cape Wrath Trail: Part 7
Into the windy depths of the beautiful, wild, and rugged Fisherfield Forest - and a recipe for yummy healthy, dehydratable Palak Tofu
My Cape Wrath Trail journey continues into one of the most beautiful - and most remote - parts of Scotland, The Fisherfield Forest. A deservedly popular destination for hill walkers, though you’re unlikely to bump into anyone unless you pay a visit to Shenevall Bothy. Here’s my recap… catch up on the rest of the series here and if you enjoyed this post, give it a like or a comment which helps it get seen by more readers. Thanks!
Day 12: Kinlochewe to Strath na Sealga
24.8km | 602m ascent | 8h35m (including breaks)
Total mileage so far: 195km
Total ascent so far: 8,278
After an actual bonafide rest day in Kinlochewe (even with the amusing admin dramas) I was itching to get back out on the road. The next phase would take me from Sunday to Friday morning / afternoon, wherever I end up (Oykle Bridge or Inchnadamph is the plan). I had plenty of carefully planned and rationed provisions, fully charged electronics, and the mental expectation that that my bag would be hella heavy with five days worth of food.
I woke up in the rain so that meant I’d be carrying a wet tent too. And as it happened, a puddle infiltrated the tent porch area where I kept my pack, so that too was soaked. Oh well!
Fortunately the pack weight was manageable (and also everything fit with space to spare - so who knows why I chose to dorkily strap my crocs to the outside of my bag!).
This stage leads right into the heart of the Fisherfield Forest, well known for its epic route of five Munros (and one Corbett, hence the nickname, The Fisherfield 6) and also an idyllically located bothy, Shenevall, overlooking the mountains. Whether you’re going up the hills or not, it’s a beautiful place. Meandering rivers, waterfalls, tranquil lochs, 360 degree mountain view’s, and reasonably good stalkers paths to get you around.
The first road leads down a vehicle track for a while before diverting uphill along a smaller track. Things start to get exciting as the Fisherfield mountains start come into view. I did this same approach with Lucky last year and being back made me miss my little adventure hound! (You can read about another of our Fisherfield adventures in this post from 2020).
The path leads to Lochan Fada, a beautiful spot in its own right, before ascending over a bealach and around to the other side of the mountain range. As I walked, the wind started to pick up and by the time I reached the cairn in the middle of the bealach, I could barely stand upright - I even almost lost my hat!
I was at about 400m at this point and thought surely when I descended into the glen below that the wind would ease, but no. It only got worse. On the plus side, no midges. On the down side, it made the walking a mental challenge. I medicated with a couple episodes of Ologies (Sexology with Shannon Boodram and Gemology with Kelly Sitek) as I made my way towards Strath na Sealga and Sheneval bothy.
About 4km from the bothy, my feet and legs feeling tired, and my mental willpower waning, I came across the most idyllic camping spot. So that settled it. I dropped my bag and pitched my wet tent, which dried in minutes thanks to the wind, just in time for it to start raining again as I got inside! I half wondered if I should have pressed on to Shenevall bothy, but I erred on the side of solitude, picking this exposed spot rather than risking a people fest at one of the most popular Scottish bothies (more on this tomorrow).
I thought I’d have friends over for dinner, in a sense. Last May when Charlie and Aileen were here, Charlie made his signature Palak Tofu, an Indian-influenced tofu dish with a ton of spinach, tasty tofu, and cashews. Sort of like a saag tofu (instead of saag paneer). I had the idea that it would make a great dehydrated meal, so Charlie made it again, and this time I saved a bit to pop into the dehydrator. This was my meal of choice as I cozied in the tent out of the wind and rain. I scooped it up with some tortillas I had with me. Delicious!
And here is the recipe, courtesy of Charlie and the Food for Life Cookbook. Note, for a dehydrated meal, skip the whole roasting tofu part. Just take plain firm tofu, freeze it, then thaw it, cube it (small cubes!), and dehydrate it. Freezing tofu transforms it into something that actually dehydrates / rehydrates well. Make the rest of the recipe as is, dehydrate that on separate trays to the tofu, then mix it all together when it’s done and portion into individual servings.
And here’s the view from Shenevall bothy I missed this time, taken July 2020 - you gotta admit, it makes a nice picture! But on that occasion the bothy was very full, we we opted to camp nearby instead.
