A winter journey through the Dark Heart of the Highlands, blending the boundaries between an ancient past, the present, and the paranormal.
By Patricia Carvalho
For many of us, running is as much a spiritual ritual as it is a celebration of the privilege of movement and the joy of what our bodies and minds can achieve. But that’s not quite why this run came about; no, it was a very different kind of ritual that caught my interest and sent me on a quest for more.
It was late 2022 when I picked up The Echo, a magazine that comes free in the post and is mostly adverts with a few articles in between. On the last pages, an excerpt from a book caught my eye, with the words “The Kintail Coffin Road” jumping at me like wild Salmon leaping over a waterfall.
The article proceeded to recount stories of people of the past and their funeral processions that, at times, turned slightly chaotic and hilarious after too much whisky had inadvertently been consumed. As well as a certain spooky encounter that sent English mountaineer and botanist Frank Smythe, fast on his boots away from what he first thought was a pretty decent spot for lunch, shook up and with screams dinning in his ears.
“Wait, what?! Where is this?” I said out loud to myself as I read about the Kintail Coffin Road. And I immediately felt the urge to pour over a map, take hold of my whole being.
My curious little brain began tingling with the hunger to know more. My old soul, constantly tortured by its quest for deep meaning in just about everything, grew excited at the prospect of a new, adventurous journey of exploration. And there are ghosts, too?! Aw man, what a treat!
And that, my friends, is how I became mildly obsessed with the Kintail Coffin Route.
The Kintail Coffin Route
It runs 26 miles from Glen Strathfarrar to Pait on the South-West shore of Loch Monar, onwards to Iron Lodge and Carnach by Corrie nan Each, then climbing up the side of the eastern shoulder of Sgurr Sguman to cross the river above the Falls of Glomach, up to Bealach na Sroine and descend into Morvich where it ends at the graveyard at Clachan Duich, the ancient burial ground of the McRaes of Kintail.
I spent months researching for any information I could find about the route and its terrain, all the while learning the history of the places it travelled through.
I learned of the people who used it in life and in death, tales of whisky smuggling and vicious murder, the sacred funeral processions, 30-mile round trips to the nearest shop for tea and milk, the hard life of shepherds on the shores of Loch Monar, the Droves, gatherings, and shearings, the subsequent transformation of the land from sheep and cattle grazings to deer forests, the construction of the longest deer fence in Scotland, “The Great Fence,” or, how its peat bogs nearly defeated the regiment of men and horses of the Coldstream Guards during the royalist clans uprisings in 1654.
I learned how, eventually, the modern-day demands of an industrialised world brought with it the construction of the Affric Beauly Hydro Electric Scheme in the late 1950s - 60s, culminating with the building of the Monar Dam and the expansion of Loch Monar, changing life on these lands, and the route, forever.
The original coffin route, at its northern section, evolved over the centuries, and even before the flooding of the Loch shores, after the pony track from Strathfarrar, people were already taking a drier line over rough moorland a bit higher up instead of following the edge of the loch, to get to Pait. I will be taking this line as best as I can, with the exception of an initial diversion up to Monar Dam. This route avoids negotiating a potentially dangerous unabridged river crossing or disturbing the herds of deer grazing on the fertile flats of the River Farrar. Also, the Monar Dam is pretty cool, and I want to go there again!
But, the coffin route is only 26 miles so, where did the rest come from?
You see, I toiled with how I was going to get to the start, given that Glen Strathfarrar is a long private road surrounded by big hills and a whole logistical nightmare to get to if you don’t want endless miles on the road.
So, one lucky day, I learned about an old Drovers route that connected Poolewe in the north-west to the markets in the southern lands and, ah-ha! I got it!
This section runs from Cannich village, along a 10km road section to Liatrie in Glen Cannich, then up and over the rough and boggy ground of Bealach ‘a Bhaca, to Glen Strathfarrar, right to the start of the coffin route. Perfect!
Bealach ‘a Bhaca is another hidden historical gem; it was here that Prince Charlie hid and waited for the messengers he sent to Poolewe, only to then learn that the ship had sailed to France without him, forcing him to then seek refuge in a cave in Glen Strathfarrar. Is that enough history lesson for you? Ok, I’ll stop now.
One can say this is no ordinary running blog, if it’s a running blog at all, really!
Ok, so I now had a route that started in the village of Cannich, and I looove Cannich but, it didn’t work for me to start there (more logistical nonsense) so I decided to return to the Affric Kintail Way and run its first section from Drumnadrochit, ending with a nice rounded number of 100km in total (or there about!).
So the running part… the “why?”
More and more, I find myself feeling disconnected from most of my running peers, particularly as soon as the conversation goes into numbers, pace, miles, gear, PBs, and goals dependent on races. My brain dissociates, and I can’t get much excitement. There is nothing wrong with those motives, but for me, the beauty of running is going to places I’ve never been before and would probably never go otherwise. It’s learning about the land, and the details, researching the history, meeting the people and watching their ways of living, experiencing a world outside of my own, and existing in it momentarily.
I create a much deeper relationship with my surroundings, and as I move through the landscape I can transport myself to the times of the past, picture what it was like and understand why it is the way it is now.
Every step opens a portal into this realm of timeless imagination disposed of the constraints of metrics or expectations, blended with remnants of realities past and present. There is so much more freedom for the mind, with a deeper meaning and purpose that I can get lost and found in.
Running is the creative tool for this greater passion of mine - exploration.
What about the ghosts?
Every time I talked about this project with friends, I had the joy of casually dropping into the conversation the ghost stories of the coffin route and watching all sorts of reactions. From “ You don’t believe in that stuff, do you?” to “ That’s so scary!” and “Oh, that’s cool!”
Well, I don’t know if I believe it or not, but there are some very interesting theories related to the laws of thermodynamics and intelligent energy that make a lot of sense to me. Either way, well, I guess I might soon find out. However, one thing that I came to understand over the last few weeks of waiting for the right weather is that I am more afraid of falling into one of those bottomless peat bogs around Pait Lodge than of encountering a group of ragged, weary figures wandering along the way.
How you can follow and support me
During one of my recces, I had the pleasure of meeting a member of the Dundonnell Mountain Rescue Team which operates on the area and given the increase in challenging call outs I’ve decided to create a fundraising page to support the team. We never know when it will be us having to make that dreaded call, so if you can please donate and help the team to keep saving lives.
If you would like to follow my progress on the day please check my tracker here.
You can also follow me on Instagram @patriciacarvalhorunzz
Start - 1am Wednesday 10th (Tuesday night) from Loch Ness Bunk Inn in Lewiston/Drumnadrochit.
I will have no signal for most of it, but my dear friend Keith Mabbot is meeting me at the start, Liatrie (at 37km) with extra supplies, and at the end. He will post some updates while I'm out there.
Thanks for reading and for your support.
Have fun, stay safe and watch out for the hungry ghosts! ;)