Where were we: Cadderlie Bothy
Cadderlie Bothy
In a change to the norm Andy and Andy were keen to go to a bothy. It was the middle of winter. We had missed the opportunity to wild camp in the summer and we were keen to get together and have a good time. Andy Cowan had put in the work researching where to go and decided Cadderlie Bothy near Oban was the place to go. Both myself and Andy were keen. A bothy would be a nice change and would hopefully mean we could carry less stuff on the walk there. This wasn’t to be the case as we took so much wood for the fire!! We left at the unusually pleasant time of 9am. I have had a lifetime trying to talk the other two out of travelling at ungodly times in the early hours! But I think being fathers has normalised their sleeping times.
We enjoyed the run up and had a couple of beers to make the experience even more enjoyable. There is always a happy feeling of excitement during the journey in these trips and we had our usual stop at Linwood McDonalds for some triple egg mcsausages or something like that. We arrived at the carpark beside an old mine at 1230 and got loaded up for the final leg. We were well laden with wood and coal for the fire so we could make sure it stayed warm all night. It was a lovely walk along the side of Loch Etive. As we walked we kicked a tennis ball along. It seemed quite long but I think that was just due to the weight we were carrying. We had a laugh and a couple of rests along the way.
The bothy was beautifully clean and well stocked with wood that had been cut up. There were two rooms and we took the smaller one as we had heard the draw was better on the fire. God bless the Mountain Bothy Association and the people who had been there before us.
We had taken chairs and we sat outside in the bright afternoon sunshine. It was a cold and fresh day and we chilled out listening to the radio and drinking beers. We eventually got up and were throwing a ball around as we had another beer.
As the sun went away the temperature dropped below freezing and we moved inside to get a big fire going. Andy Cowan cooked is chilli dogs and they were delicious. To be fair to them they looked horrendous but were delicious which was the main thing.
It was in the middle of the 2022 World Cup and I had watched just about every game. We had hoped to get tonight’s game on our phones but the signal wouldn’t allow it. It was an incredible game with Argentina knocking the Netherlands out on penalties after a 2-2 draw. As we tried to keep up with the score and listened to the radio Andy Tait kept drifting off into a sleep. So to remedy this we decided to go a walk and tan some buckfast.
When we arrived back we had a game of scabby queen to keep Andy Tait awake! Eventually myself and Andy Cowan gave in in what seemed an impossible task and we all went to sleep at 11. I guess this is part of Dad life!!
Myself and Andy T were toasty but Andy C was cold. I was grateful for Andy T as he got up every couple of hours and restocked the the fire. It was still going well in the morning when we got up to a breakfast of bacon rolls and crisp rolls. Delicious.
As has become customary, Andy C got up spewed and went back to bed shivering in front of the fire. He was a little close as a spark came out and deflated his sleeping mat. In a heroic act he got up, found the glue and patches, repaired it, blew it up and went back to sleep in front of a roaring fire. The odds had been stacked against him for this.
Meanwhile, we hadn’t, only used our own wood and coal during the night but some that had been left so me and Andy T went out to find fallen wood. We cut it up and stacked it for the next people.
It was a nice morning and we got packed up. We were significantly lighter without the wood, coal and beer.
We had a pleasant walk back to the car and headed home to watch the next game in the World Cup.
