Kilfinnan - accommodation
We arrived at our next base camp, we thought in Spean Bridge, as that was the "address town", however it turned out to be miles from Spean Bridge, and was literally in the middle of nowhere, on the shore of Loch Lochy. We were staying in a lovely lodge, with a small decked area under the overhang of the lodge. This meant we could sit and have a cuppa (beer) on the deck even when it was raining, which fortunately, wasn't often.
It became our favourite spot to have breakfast and chill out in the early evening after our exertions of the day!
On our first evening my wife noticed something "wrong" with the waters of the Loch. Neither of us thought to get out the binoculars we had brought with us for such an occasion, but even with the naked eye we could see fish jumping out of the water. Well I'm no ichthyologist (fish biologist), but I am sure they were salmon heading up the Loch. This was the only day we saw the big fish, but there were other occasions when we saw silver shimmering patches heading up the Loch late evening, but without the jumping, so likely smaller fish.
We had been advised by our hosts that Pine Martens visit the site and are partial to peanut butter. We put some out first night, on the feeding platform, unfortunately it rained that night, and by morning the peanut butter had gone. We weren't sure if it had been washed away, or gobbled up!
We continued to put peanut butter out daily, and it kept going, but we didn't see what was taking it, until my wife and granddaughter both saw a Pine Marten, climb the fence to get to the feeding platform, which was empty, and then heading off. We belatedly put some peanut butter out, but he had gone for the evening - so too did the tasty snack, when we weren't looking.
On our last day at the lodge we got forced in as the wind had got up, meaning the rain was hitting the decked area. It seemed to be so windy that the chairs outside were moving! Nope, it was a Pine Marten, who had come up to our window to see where his daily treat had got to. Again, from the decking, he went up to the feeding platform and I managed to catch a quick photo of him as he left.
Little treats like this made this location and accommodation perfect for us and would highly recommend for anyone who wants peace and quiet and a feeling of solitude!