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| Moody mountains from Meall na h- Eilde to Meall na Teanga |
Some hills are better to look from than to look at. That was the case with these two corbetts that sit above Loch Arkaig. I walked up Glen Cia-aig from the car park at the end of the dark mile. Like many glens in the highlands there has been a hugely intrusive access road built up to the intake point for a new hydro scheme. It is the impact of the roads and the buried pipelines that has despoiled the glens not the intakes, which are usually modest structures. The day was mainly one of grey skies with a couple of light showers. The climb up from the intake to Meallna h-Eilde had all the ingredients that make you think twice about hill walking. A steep unrelenting slope through deep grass and heather, the only consolation was the abundance of blaeberries providing some super food snacking.
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| The new road up Glen with Meall na h-Eilde on the left |
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| Water intake on Glen Cia-aig |
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| View from Meallna h-Eilde down Glen with Ben Nevis prominent |
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| Geal Charn and Knoydart beyond from Meall na h-Eilde |
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| Ghlas Bheinn with Aonachs and Ben Nevis in distance |
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| Summit of Geal Charn, wind farm beyond Loch Lochy |
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| Over Loch Arkaig to the Glenfinnan munros |
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| Loch Arkaig |
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| Loch Arkaig thistles |
Ascent: 1011 metres
Distance: 19 kilometres
Time: 5 hours 14 minutes
Meall na h-Eilde 838m 2hrs 19mins
Geal Charn 801m 3hrs 20mins
I had driven up in the morning, a 3 hour drive with a stop for some supplies at Fort William, so it was 11:30am before I began the walk. It is over twenty year since I walked up Glen Cia-aig on the way to the two munros west of Loch Lochy. It was a pleasant footpath then but is now the sort of highway you expect to see in the rocky mountains. A road with switchbacks has been constructed to access the hydro scheme and the glen looks devastated. Higher up the glen a footpath/cycle path has been roughly dropped into the churned ground but it still needs a top surface, unlike the road, which is wide, flat and smooth. It is a long 5 kilometres up to the start of the climb and then 500 metres of ascent up rough deep vegetation. I crossed the burn and headed directly for the summit instead of climbing to Bealach an Easain. As an exercise in masochism it has few peers.
As the summit approached and the gradient eased, a large herd of deer scarpered off to the north west. The summit was a loose collection of rocks and a couple of iron fence posts. The views were good to the east where Sron a' Choire Ghairbh and Meall na Teanga were moody looking munros etched against the grey skies. To the south the glen was a green haven with the conifers hiding the roads and in the distance Ben Nevis stood guard. I ate some food and began the next leg.
There is an easy descent to the next bealach below the unpronounceable Meall Coire nan Saobhaidh. The deer were watching me from the summit so I decided to cut under this hill and contoured round to Bealach Carn na h Urchairs. It was quite easy going and the 160 metre climb to the rounded summit of Geal Charn had a faint path to help progress. Geal Charn may be an unassuming hill but what a wonderful vantage point. Knoydart, the Loch Quoich hills, the massive wind farm above Loch Garry, the moody couple to the east, Ben Nevis and the Grey Corries were all visible. I lingered at the trig point absorbing one of the very best 360° horizons.
The descent was relatively easy a steady slope to the south east until I reached the old stalker's path. I heard the yelps of some birds above and was surprised to watch a couple of eagles as they climbed majestically upwards and then began a glide south towards Loch Arkaig at a speed that was astonishing. The views from here over Loch Arkaig were also splendid with the range of mountains north of Glenfinnan providing a blue serated edge against the dark skies. Eventually the path reached another hydro scheme and the last couple of kilometres were down yet another newly built road. I used to baulk at roads into the hills built to gain access to shooting butts with European money. They were mere B roads compared to the hydro roads. At least the latter are supporting sustainable energy supplies, although they do seem to be excessively engineered. Hopefully the vegetation will return in a few years and hide the impact of the construction work that has included a lot of blasting and extraction of sand and gravel.
The path and road follow the Allt Dubh, which flows into Loch Arkaig and there is then a 3 kilometre walk back to the dark mile alongside the loch. It was a tranquil afternoon with not a whisper of wind. The fish were rising and the waters were shimmering as the sun made its first appearance of the day. The drive back from the dark mile through Achnacarry and along the shores of Loch Lochy passes some very expensive new house building. It is a quiet location with wonderful views of the loch but lacking the evening sun, I dread to think what the midge count must be. I headed for Spean Bridge for an early tea before heading to the foot of the grey corries where I would walk into the Lairig Leacach bothy and camp for the night.
I had driven up in the morning, a 3 hour drive with a stop for some supplies at Fort William, so it was 11:30am before I began the walk. It is over twenty year since I walked up Glen Cia-aig on the way to the two munros west of Loch Lochy. It was a pleasant footpath then but is now the sort of highway you expect to see in the rocky mountains. A road with switchbacks has been constructed to access the hydro scheme and the glen looks devastated. Higher up the glen a footpath/cycle path has been roughly dropped into the churned ground but it still needs a top surface, unlike the road, which is wide, flat and smooth. It is a long 5 kilometres up to the start of the climb and then 500 metres of ascent up rough deep vegetation. I crossed the burn and headed directly for the summit instead of climbing to Bealach an Easain. As an exercise in masochism it has few peers.
As the summit approached and the gradient eased, a large herd of deer scarpered off to the north west. The summit was a loose collection of rocks and a couple of iron fence posts. The views were good to the east where Sron a' Choire Ghairbh and Meall na Teanga were moody looking munros etched against the grey skies. To the south the glen was a green haven with the conifers hiding the roads and in the distance Ben Nevis stood guard. I ate some food and began the next leg.
There is an easy descent to the next bealach below the unpronounceable Meall Coire nan Saobhaidh. The deer were watching me from the summit so I decided to cut under this hill and contoured round to Bealach Carn na h Urchairs. It was quite easy going and the 160 metre climb to the rounded summit of Geal Charn had a faint path to help progress. Geal Charn may be an unassuming hill but what a wonderful vantage point. Knoydart, the Loch Quoich hills, the massive wind farm above Loch Garry, the moody couple to the east, Ben Nevis and the Grey Corries were all visible. I lingered at the trig point absorbing one of the very best 360° horizons.
The descent was relatively easy a steady slope to the south east until I reached the old stalker's path. I heard the yelps of some birds above and was surprised to watch a couple of eagles as they climbed majestically upwards and then began a glide south towards Loch Arkaig at a speed that was astonishing. The views from here over Loch Arkaig were also splendid with the range of mountains north of Glenfinnan providing a blue serated edge against the dark skies. Eventually the path reached another hydro scheme and the last couple of kilometres were down yet another newly built road. I used to baulk at roads into the hills built to gain access to shooting butts with European money. They were mere B roads compared to the hydro roads. At least the latter are supporting sustainable energy supplies, although they do seem to be excessively engineered. Hopefully the vegetation will return in a few years and hide the impact of the construction work that has included a lot of blasting and extraction of sand and gravel.
The path and road follow the Allt Dubh, which flows into Loch Arkaig and there is then a 3 kilometre walk back to the dark mile alongside the loch. It was a tranquil afternoon with not a whisper of wind. The fish were rising and the waters were shimmering as the sun made its first appearance of the day. The drive back from the dark mile through Achnacarry and along the shores of Loch Lochy passes some very expensive new house building. It is a quiet location with wonderful views of the loch but lacking the evening sun, I dread to think what the midge count must be. I headed for Spean Bridge for an early tea before heading to the foot of the grey corries where I would walk into the Lairig Leacach bothy and camp for the night.
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