Run around Loch Affric

I and my son, Craig went out for a wonderful run yesterday in the beautiful Glen Affric. We did a circuit following the track and path around Loch Affric, starting from the end of the public road.

The route is about 18km/11 miles, about half on forestry track, half on very rough, boggy and rocky track/path.

We did the circuit anti-clockwise, ie started by following the track/path on the north side and returned by the easier route on the south side of the loch. The track on the north is pretty wet in places and crosses several small burns (and one larger one) by several fords. Starting our run on this side meant I had wet feet for almost the whole two hours, but left the easier track for later when we were tiring.

We had chosen a lovely crisp autumnal day with the temperature rising to about 7°C in the direct sun. We took about 2 hours 20 mins, but that included lots of short pauses for photos, one stop to eat some trail mix after one hour, and a longer stop to negotiate a burn crossing. In the photos this burn appears to be about a couple of metres wide, but was about four metres across and up to mid-shin depth. After trying, and failing, with several stepping stone options, I resorted to walking through the ankle deep water, but even then I slipped on one stone and put my hand down to save myself – with my gloves on! When will I remember to remove my gloves before river crossings? Craig managed to get across with dry feet – and dry hands!

See more photos on Flickr set