Hiking to the most remote pub on mainland Britain!

So, as many of you may have seen I went on a pretty cool adventure on my holidays with Doug and Alison! We get two weeks off work in July and we wanted an adventure. This was quite a last minute plan, being as indecisive as I am and having the WHOLE of Scotland to explore I was finding it hard to choose but one week before the weather was looking good so we took the plunge and decided to take the hike to the most remote pub on mainland Britain.

This pub is The Old Forge, Inverie.

This pub is the most remote because it’s either a 25km hike in or a 30 minute ferry from Mallaig! We obviously chose to hike because, I love a challenge and there is nothing I love more than being in the middle of no where on a hill.

I was very excited, a little bit nervous because it was supposed to be HOT and HILLY and I hadn’t hiked with all my gear on my back for an overnight camp since Dofe when I was about 15! But WE DID IT and it was hands down one of the best weekends.

So lets break it down:

We packed our bags, very big bags full of all the gear one might need in case we encountered some freak Scottish weather (which wouldn’t be uncommon) I’m talking puffa coat and lots of layers packed for the forecasted 29 degree weekend! Better to be safe than sorry.

I set off to collect the hire care at 8am…. this took a lot longer than anticipated and we had to be in Fort William but 1.45 to get a taxi to the start. So I was rather stressed, yes we were 30 mins late but the world didn’t end and it was all fine!

We swiftly set off to Kinloch Hourn, the start of the hike which took around 2hrs to get to from Fort William. I chugged some water, had a power nap on the way up but woke up to some pretty spectacular views.

And there we were, at the start of an adventure-I don’t think any of us knew what to expect but we were off. The sun was shining and we walked along Loch Hourn (a sea loch) all the way to our camping spot. I think the first day was my favourite, there is something so special about being next to the sea.

The hike was around 10km, which doesn’t sound like much but with heavy bags, lots of ups and downs and the heat it was pretty tough. We took a lot of breaks, filled our bottles up from streams (some of us caught a few fish… cough cough Doug) admired the views and I couldn’t quite believe how lucky we were with the weather and having the trail all to ourselves. We saw maybe three people who were walking back to the start.

It was coming up to 8pm and we were waiting to see the bothy around the corner which marked the end of day 1 but it took a little while longer until we knew we were very nearly there. We hiked down into Barrisdale and were treated to the most beautiful sunset at the beach, you can see all the way across to Skye from here! We needed a swim to cool off so we went straight in. The sea was so calm, clear, full of shells and was just what we needed.

Refreshed we grabbed our stuff and walked round the corner to Barrisadle Bothy, we thought the bothy would be full at this time of night (10pm) but a lot of people had chosen to camp as it was so warm. It was late, we were tired and still had to cook dinner so we set up in one of the rooms.

I was happy to tick sleeping in a bothy off my list, but I think I had perhaps romantasised the idea… it very warm and stuffy (my sleeping bag was sticking to me) but we got through the night, maybe not the best sleep but that’s to be expected! We woke up early, but apparently everyone else at the camp woke up earlier and we were pretty much the last ones left! Had a quick breakfast before day 2.

Day two was a bit brutal initially, I had just started my period that morning and we had 3km of incline to start the day but I cannot explain how happy being out on the hills makes me. I get this feeling of freedom, it’s maybe one of the only times my brain shuts off and I stopped overthinking and just get to be. I find I crave quiet on these walks, don’t get me wrong we chatted a lot and I love having company but I also really appreciate these moments of quiet on the hills and with another 15km day ahead there was time for a bit of everything.

3km in and we reached the top and got a great view over to Inverie, spotted a loch and it was unspoken that we were going in! A little pit stop for a lot of snacks and a swim was very welcome. We were so close to the end we could almost taste the pints.

Finally we made it to Inverie and we decided to set up camp next the Loch Nevis before walking to the pub bag free and god it felt good! The Old Forge is such a beautiful wee spot, right next to the water, a few pints as the sun started to set before a fat fish and chips inside.

One of the most magical weekends with such wonderful people! I’d do it all over again and again!