After the pleasures of Fraoch Lodge B&B at Boat of Garten, I had a fairly easy day to Ryvoan bothy, via the Corbett summit of Meall a' Bhuachaille.
This site looks idyllic, but it was extremely noisy, so I'd recommend anyone who is comfortable with staying in a bothy to do so. If you get up in the middle of the night you might get a grandstand view.
If you prefer to camp, I suggest you continue to the site of Bynack Stable at NJ020104, where there's also a better water supply.
Here's my diary entry explaining the disturbed night. When I wrote it I'd never heard of a 'lek'.
3 am:
the black grouse are at it again, making a huge din, racing towards each other,
wings back, white tail feathers erect, hissing and gurgling a bit like the
sound of ping pong balls on the top of a slow fountain. I opened the tent and
watched for a while. We were completely surrounded by them, camped in the
middle of their arena. I had to stand up outside the tent before they flew off.
Back to bed. Five minutes and they were back, noisier than ever. This went on
for about two hours. At least I got to see a nice sunrise! Slept in until 7:30.
The cuckoos didn't start until 7 am, so there was a two hour gap between the
grouse and the cuckoos!
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