KYQ4: Applecross to Torridon

Road sign to Applecross

Friday, 23 October 2020

After a week of rain-drenched days, we decided to go to Applecross. The Met Office forecast suggested there would be some sunny periods between the showers and the visibility would be good. Gregor had also decided that he wanted to run from Loch Kishorn to Bealach na Ba, a 10 kilometre run up the highest public road in Britain finishing at 626 metres or 2053 feet in imperial measure.

The road has become a shrine for motorists, motorcyclists and nowadays convoys of camper vans. The sign at the start of the road is testimony to the craven desires of these tourists who have been attracted by the North Coast 500 publicity. Cyclists and runners are a different breed, they just want the buzz of secreting some endorphins and any graffiti is channelled through Strava. Gregor had checked the fastest time and although 44 minutes seemed about the time a camper van would achieve, he decided to make it his target.

As we approached the start of the run at the junction of the road with the A896, dark clouds were skimming across from Skye, he decided to forsake the flimsy rain jacket and after a short warm-up, he started at 11:33 am. We drove on, stopping a couple of times for photos and arriving at the high point of the bealach just before noon. There had been a short shower but it had cleared and the views from the viewpoint were excellent.

We had time to explore the various cairns and were pleasantly surprised when Gregor appeared at the top section in 44 minutes making the viewpoint and finish for the Strava route in just over 46 minutes, the second-fastest time ever, and having gained crowns (fastest times) on the lower part of the route. He was ecstatic and after pausing for some photographs and to take in the grandeur of the scenery for ten minutes, he began to run the descent to Applecross as his 'warm down'.

We picked him up after another 4 miles and drove down to the Applecross Hotel, which was welcoming and well prepared to provide a socially distanced lunch. Another shower passed through and when we emerged at 2pm we decided to take the coastal road to Shieldaig. We were not alone, there was a steady stream of visitors in Morgans, Aston Martins, and Alfa Romeo sports cars as well as a Highland Council Lorry all pushing us along as we tried to take in the spectacular scenery with views to Raasay, Rona and Skye. I think we passed the place, Uamh Bheag, where the Prime Minister took his famous summer holiday, erecting his tent in a neighbouring croft. The road was patrolled by Highland cattle and maintained by grazing sheep.

I have a particular affection for the road having spent a week in the summer of 1970 as a student carrying out a traffic survey for Ross and Cromarty County Council. They were planning to extend the coastal road from Shieldaig, which terminated at Kenmore, a further 18 miles to Applecross but they needed some data for the funding claim. Our remit was to stop every vehicle heading south on the A896 to establish whether they were heading for Applecross or Kenmore. We were camped at the municipal campsite at the north end of Shieldaig, which in those days was dotted with small tents of hikers and cyclists with the odd group of French visitors in their 2CVs.

The road was built in two sections over the following five years and the number of new dwellings along the route are an endorsement of the economic benefits that have accrued. The best was yet to come as we began the last section of the road overlooking Loch Torridon and then Loch Shieldaig. As we stopped at the viewpoint by Rhuroin, the dark clouds were over Torridon but clear blue skies were creeping in and a magnificent rainbow made a fleeting visit over Shieldaig island.

The timing had been perfect and we thought we had extracted every glorious view on this typical west coast day. Realising that our luck was in we decided to head north from Shieldaig towards the Upper Loch Torridon viewpoint. Just as we arrived, the great Torridonian mountains slipped their cloud cover. Beinn Alligin and Liathach beamed us their happy sides and in the middle stood Beinn Dearg, the highest Corbett in Scotland at 2999 feet. Hopefully, it will be my last Corbett during a visit sometime next year. We drove back to Lochcarron having salvaged a wonderful day despite the dire predictions from the Met Office.