Diabaig to Craig Bothy

Travelling by car the relative short but dramatic journey from Annat to Lower Diabaig which sits on the Northern shore of Loch Torridon  NG797602

Our journey by car took us over Bellach na Gaothie, which has stunning views, but unsuitable for caravans, for obvious reasons, extremely steep gradients in places.

There is free parking along by the pier, which will also show the hills for our outward journey.

From the shoreline heading due north backup the road, which had just been driven down, you walk as the road bends keep heading north west, where the track replaces the road NG790605
by a farmhouse there are signs for the footpath through a gate.

Soon you are in open and flat ground with views of Loch Torridon to your left and open land as far as the eye can see to your right.

The three of us move on crossing the occasional footbridge over the numerous burns, this walk suits us, flat open and solitude. Blue our German Shepherd always remains alert, and on an extending lead, just in case deer or sheep should make an appearance.

We were hoping to see seals or otters in the waters below, but the path was too far inland, and the waters below were quite a way down.

After a couple of hours walking due North, we reached a body of water Lochan Dubh  NG775635
The weather had began to change, showers and winds were now coming off the sea, but onward we went, shortly after passing the Lochan the terrain began to drop, and below us we could see our goal the Bothy at Craig NG775638

The Bothy was built in the 1900's and was the home of a Shepherd and his family, in 1935 it was acquired by the Youth Hostel Association until 2003, in 2006 the Mountain Bothy Association restored to its current condition.

For us "Townies" it was a bit eerie walking around inside, but a welcome break from the rain, the loo is set at the back of the property, outside entrance only, where flushing is done by utilising the bucket provided and the amply filled water butt, used to collect the rain water, in times of drought there is always waters of the nearby Eas na Gaibhre.

Looking out to sea, the weather was closing in some more, we decided that it may be best to return back to Diabaig, after a last look back at the Bothy

Down came the rain, and up picked the winds and the rain was no longer falling it was horizontal, very unpleasant indeed, but as quick as it would arrive it would equally quickly disappear, but not without a good drenching first.

Blue becomes very alert, there is nothing there we assure him, a few minutes later a herd of deer raise their heads above a mound, and speedily move off, quickly out of sight.

Then it rained again, not sure if we have ever been exposed to such rain, Blue is doing his best to shelter underneath us, until it finally abates.

Finally we arrive back on the shore of Loch Diabaig, strangely dry considering all the rain we had travelled through, either our gear is very good or we just dried out quickly in the sea breeze.

There are no facilities to speak of in this little bay, famously filmed as the hostelry resided in by Ted Danson in the film Loch Ness, actually about 80 miles from this spot.

It has a small pier with a stone built building at the end, with some cages for a fish farm in the bay.

The most iconic view for us was the Shipwreck only a stones throw from the shoreline.

Our walk was 3hour and 50 minutes covering a round trip of about 5 1/2 miles 

Best described as a coastal hill walk that began and ended dry, with a damp patch in the middle (sarcasm)

Blue returned with us to Annat where he was comforted by his wee friend "Kong Cozie"