Creag Rainich

Creag Rainich and An Teallach behind

Saturday, 29 May, 2021

Ascent:        656 metres

Distance:     17 kilometres

Time:           4 hours 9 minutes

Creag Rainich      790m       2hrs 22mins

After the glorious start to the day below Beinn Leoid, Creag Rainich was bound to be a step down. I had driven 80 miles from the magic of Sutherland, passing over 70 motor homes parked in lay-by and passing places, through the Highland metropolis of Ullapool and on to the west end of the Fannichs. The blue skies had given way to clouds and the elation of the early morning had subsided with Creag Rainich a less inviting hill than those that I had enjoyed in the previous 24 hours

It was still only 10:30am but the car park on the Dundonnell road was full and I joined a line of vehicles parked on the grass verge. Most of the walkers had probably headed for the Fannichs but the track splits after a mile and a rough track leads towards Craig Rainich along the shore of the uninspiring Loch Bhraoin. It has seen some work in the last year with some new slab crossings of the numerous burns and two or three new sections of track avoiding the stony shoreline. 

About four kilometres along the track I climbed the steep grassy slopes to Bristeadh a' Mhil Dhuibh. The sort of climb that you just churn out after years of similar experiences, it is good thinking time but the UK does not inspire positive thoughts any longer with Westminster sounding like the title of a lost Hitchcock film. There was a couple ahead of me on the ridge towards Meall Dubh. I decided to stop for some lunch before I caught them, it was already over 6 hours since what might loosely be called breakfast. The cloud cover also limited the visibility so that the prospect of a peek into Fisherfield was less exciting than is normal on those bright sun filled days. I eventually caught the couple ahead as we reached the cairn and we all circled the flat undistinguished summit looking for photos.

The couple were from Essex and had travelled to Scotland for the last twenty or so years to camp and climb the hills. Lockdown in the flat lands of Essex must have been hard for them and their quest to return to the Scottish hills was manifest. They queried me about hills they still had to climb and asked about wild camping spots in the hills. They were dismayed at the influx of 'tourists' who were attracted by the marketing campaigns such as the North Coast 500. It had made it impossible for them to arrange B&Bs or to find places to get a meal, the traffic was slow and parking spots were often full. A familiar story of what happens when tourism infrastructure lags behind the drummed up demand generated by VisitScotland that also explains why so many are buying or hiring motor homes. 

I had made better time than expecte, it was just 1pm when I reached the summit. After the conversation with the Essex couple, I began the descent, dropping down to the track about a kilometre further west than on the ascent. The walk out was easy, a couple of cows with young calves were heading towards me at a pace on the narrow track and looked anxious, so I had to circle around them. Reaching the end of the track, a farmer was releasing another cow with its calf and a massive bull from his trailer. Again I was forced onto the shoreline of the loch. He told me the bull was a bit slow, lazy and dozy because he knew  he had 17 cows waiting for him on the lochside. I suggested he call it Boris. 

I spent a while changing and gathering what food I had left before setting off for home. It had been a fairly full 28 hours on the hills with 3 Corbetts, a Graham, 47 kilometres, 2600 metres of climbing and it would be 500 miles of driving by the time I arrived home. I made it for 7pm after another quiet evening on the A9, all the traffic was heading north. Just seven Corbetts to go.

Loch Bhraoin

Fisherfield Munros

Torridons in cloud and Fisherfield

Escaping Essex

Calves being shown their home grazing

 

Meallan a' Chuill

Meallan a' Chuail from north

Saturday, 29 May 2021

Ascent:       195 metres

Distance:     7 kilometres

Time:           2 hours 10 minutes

Meallan a' Chuail       750m   34mins

I was awakened at 4am by the sun and the calling of the golden plovers as they circled the tent and then dozed until 5am when I decided to make an early start. Despite a dry night, it had been coldish, 4°C, and there was condensation on the tent. I ate a roll and an orange before packing and starting to walk at 5:45am. The light was perfect and a temperature inversion had filled the glens with cloud to a level of 500 metres. Although the lack of comfort in a small tent has become more noticeable in recent years, the pure beauty of mornings like this with the magnificent Sutherland peaks emerging from the blanket of cloud makes it a worthwhile sacrifice. The rucksack seemed heavier with the wet tent but the steady climb to the nearby Graham was no bother, I spent much of the time taking photos.

Meallan a' Chuail is a really fine mountain.  I sat at the summit for a while imbibing the views, the birdsong, the last of my water and the clarity of the air. The descent was enjoyable over some rocky ground whilst watching the cotton wool clouds sink slowly into the glens. I almost stepped on a Ptarmigan that was sitting on a nest with seven eggs, The mother gave me a rendition of a broken wing routine and circled back to the nest as soon as I had moved on. 

It was a far easier route down than the diabolical ascent of yesterday with no peat hags or contouring required. When I eventually reached the path, I decided to give the second Graham, Meall an Fheir Loch, a miss. As I headed down to the car, the cloud was finally disappearing. I changed shoes, grabbed some food from the boot and began the drive to Dundonnell. there would be time to climb Creag Rainich and get home in time for the European Champions League Final.

A 5am shot of Beinn Leoid from the tent

Looking north from Meallan a' Chuail

Ben More Assynt above the cloud

Am I really here?

Looking back to Beinn Leoid

Descending from Meallan a' Chuail

Heading down Meallan a' Chuail, Ben Stack prominent

Ptarmigan's nest at 650 metres

Loch More and Arkle

 

Beinn Leoid

Beinn Leoid from Loch Dubh

Beinn Leoid from Meallan a' Chuail

Friday, 28 May 2021

Ascent:       776 metres
Distance:    11 kilometres
Time:          3 hours 58 minutes

Beinn Leoid    792m    3hrs 19mins

The second walk of the day is always a bit of a shock even on this occasion when it had only taken 5 minutes to drive the 3 kilometres down towards Loch More where the path to Beinn Leoid begins. I packed my larger rucksack with camping equipment, a stove, some water and food and was ready to start again within 30 minutes of finishing the previous walk up Ben Hee. It was warm, 18°C, and the steep path that climbs through a series of tight zig-zags soon had me on the plateau below Meall an Fheir Loch. It is a Graham but I figured it might add 45 minutes to the walk, time that could be better spent on the summit of Beinn Leoid. 

I continued walking across the broad bealach on a good path and then started a long traverse below the Graham, Meallan a' Chuail, towards Loch Dubh. The going was not easy, vast peat hags, boulders, and a traverse over ragged ground that made contouring almost impossible. I had thought I could camp beside Loch Dubh but there were no burns nearby.  By this stage, I had no intention of retracing my steps across this difficult terrain, I would return over Meallan a' Chuail early the next morning, so I continued and climbed another 100 metres to the bealach between Beinn Leoid and Meallan a' Chuail, Drochaid Beinn Leoid. It was quite windy but the ground was reasonably flat and surprisingly dry, encouraging me to erect the tent and dump my stuff.

My long-held ambition had always been to climb Beinn Leoid in the evening, it is the best time of the day to be on the summits and with little to carry, I thought it would be an easy jaunt. The day had been long and it was more of a grind than expected but the excellent visibility and prospect of scintillating views drew me to the summit, stopping only to fill a water bottle which meant dropping 40 metres or so. The sun was over the sea but with all of the Sutherland peaks vying for attention, this was a very special place. Beinn Leoid has always seemed like one of the remotest Corbetts and the 9-kilometre route up had not been as easy in the central section as I had expected. 

There was no rush so I had spent about 20 minutes and was just about to begin the descent when two walkers appeared to the west of the summit carrying huge rucksacks. They had come up from Kylestrome, the route must be 13 kilometres unless they had got a boat to Glendhu cottage in the Real Forest, an estate owned by the Duke of Westminster. They had made a previous attempt by the route I had used but had to turn back at the peat hags on a wet, windy day when the views were non-existent.  

Patrick and Denise were from Newcastle and were climbing the Corbetts in the part of Scotland that they loved best. We chatted for a while in the evening sun, they were going to camp en route to the Stack of Glencoul, the prominent sugar loaf that attracts the eye from Kylesku. It was difficult for us to judge the best views from the summit, Ben More Assynt was resplendent in the evening sun, whereas the primaeval peaks of Quinag, Suilven, Canisp were not as prominent looking into the setting sun and Arkle and Foinaven were showing their shadow sides. To the east, there was perfect light over Meallan a' Chuail, my Graham for tomorrow morning.

I sauntered down in no hurry, just feeling privileged to be in such a wonderful location. A couple of cups of tea, a packet of Pasta Choice and an orange were all I could be bothered with. It had been a long day and the sack was calling.

 

Meall an Fheur Loch

Loch More, Arkle and Foinaven

Meallan Liath Coire Mhic Dhughaill

Beinn Leoid summit

Beinn More Assynt from Beinn Leoid

Looking west from the summit of Beinn Leoid

Canisp and Suilven beyond Glas Bheinn

Ben Stack, Arkle and Foinaven

Arkle and Foinaven

Camp at bealach. Ben More Assynt behind

Looking east to Meallan a' Chuail

Ben Hee

Ben Hee from path to Beinn Leoid

Friday, 28 May 2021

Ascent:      800 metres
Distance:   13 kilometres
Time:         3 hours 17 minutes

Ben Hee    775m    1hr 44mins

After a cold, rain-replenished May, we were promised a mini heatwave and some dry weather. I intended to go to Rum and find some accommodation before discovering that the late boat back on Saturday had been cancelled owing to an exceptionally low tide. These rare days are too good to miss so I decided to head north and climb my final two Corbetts in Sutherland, Ben Hee and Beinn Leoid. I had started running again the previous week and logged 30 kilometres to prepare for some hard walking. 

It would be a 500-mile round trip so I made an early start on Friday at 6:45am. It was also the start of the May Bank Holiday so I decided to give the A9 and the roadworks north of Perth a miss. On a glorious late spring morning and in homage to my old walking friend, Mark, I took the shorter but slower route via Killin, Fortingall, Tummel Bridge and Trinafour, a route that mesmerises you with all that is best about Scottish scenery and is usually absent of traffic. That was the case and as I emerged on the A9 at Glen Garry, I was doubly pleased because the traffic was light. 

The Cairngorms looked perfect in the clear blue skies but travelling north a blanket of white clouds hung over the route until Bonar Bridge. Inverness flew past and although there was a lot of traffic along the Cromarty Firth, I made Lairg by 10:15am, stopping to buy some energy drink that I figured may be necessary to keep me going over the next 30 hours, which were going to be brutal. I parked at the large gateway to a forestry track at West Merkland, there was already a VW Golf parked despite the no parking notice so I sidled in beside it leaving sufficient room for the largest of timber lorries to enter. 

I started walking at 11:15am, dogs were barking at the house and children were playing in the garden. It is a well-constructed track that runs up to Bealach nam Meirleach and after a couple of kilometres, a path strikes upwards alongside the Allt Coir' a' Chruiteir. It is narrow, boggy in places and occasionally disappears as landslips have dumped it into the burn. The gradient is fairly gentle until 450 metres when it climbs more steadily towards the southwest broad ridge of Ben Hee. A party of three were nearing the ridge and it prompted me to keep going on what was becoming a warm day. The final 150 metres of climbing is a bit of a slog over rocky ground but I was walking easily benefitting from all those morning walks up Lime Craig and recent runs. 

I arrived at the same time as two of the party of three walkers from Linlithgow, the man accompanying them rolled in a few minutes later. They were still exuberant about their walk over Foinaven on the previous day. We chatted for half an hour as we ate and drank. One of the two ladies had completed a double finish of her final Munro, Beinn na Lap near Corrour, last year. Lockdown had prevented her scheduled finish so she converted the height of the hill into the number of times she would have to climb her stairs to achieve the altitude gain and persuaded her walking club to do the same. They used Zoom to ensure no cheating and more importantly to celebrate with socially distanced champagne.  She did the real thing later in the year by climbing Beinn na Lap after lockdown although she admitted it wasn't such good fun. It is only a matter of time before the Munros will be able to be done on a treadmill at home, how they will simulate the rain, wind, and ticks is another matter. 

The Linlithgow ladies were now on a crusade to climb the Corbetts. It is always inspiring to meet people like these on the hills and hear of their ambitions. I left them sunning themselves and made an exit over Sail Garbh to the northwest, which is a fine viewpoint to the Meirleach lochs and further away, Ben Hope and Ben Loyal. It was deep grass on the descent but I made reasonable time and was down by 3pm. I wasted no time driving a couple of miles down towards the start of the next hill, Beinn Leoid.

Track from West Merkland

Burn and footpath to summit

Waterfall on Allt Coir'a' Chruiteir

On south west ridge looking to Ben Stack

Ben Hee summit

Looking north west from summit

Ben Hope from Sail Garbh

Bealach nam Meirleach, Ben Hope & Ben Loyal

Summit from Sail Garbh

Skye

MacLeod Tables from Oronsay

Over the last 30 years, I have made 16 or so trips to Skye to climb in the Cuillins whilst camping in Glen Brittle or Sligachan. Aileen and I have had a few day trips when staying at Strathcarron to Loch Coruisk, Torrin, and Raasay, but not visited the north of the island since the 1990s during a family long weekend on Skye before the bridge was built. I recall Aileen and Amy having the giggles during a visit to Dunvegan Castle.

Gregor had booked a cottage at Edinbane, near Dunvegan for the week. It was a Monday to Monday let, Aileen and I drove up and met Gregor who was coming up from Glasgow at the Cluanie Inn for a snack at lunchtime. I have used the Cluanie Inn for years but with new owners it had lost its way. Terrible food, poor service and skye high prices. The location of the cottage was perfect away from he maddening crowds that have been the bane of climbing visits to Glen Brittle in recent years. 

We expected mixed weather with the Met Office predicting rain for most days. On day one we visited the coral beach near Dunvegan during a heavy downpour, got thoroughly soaked and returned to the cottage to dry out but after that, surprisingly, it was dry but cool with sunny periods and excellent visibility. The island was only just opening up for visitors, cottages were being let, the camping pods were being prepared, the campsites were still empty but the first wave of motor homes was arriving in the annual migration.

The roads sweep through the island with a flourish, a lasting tribute to Highland Council and the massive contribution by the European Regional Development Fund. The bright green landscape is dotted with new houses, painted white and dispersed randomly where the hills do not dominate. Skye is probably the main benefactor of Scottish tourism in the past decade. The bridge has made it easily accessible and the numerous programmes and articles in the media have done much to make Skye into the Ibiza of the north but with wildness, rain and midges instead of debauchery, sun and drugs; although these are available but not on tap. 

The island also has some top restaurants scattered about its communities. We were advised by a couple from Norfolk who were building a house near Dunvegan that Edinbane Lodge and Loch Bay in Stein were better than the more famous Three Chimneys in Colbost. We were less than 20 minutes away from all of them but the restaurants had not yet fully opened. We had our first evening meal out since January 2020 at the Edinbane Inn and whilst the food was good, the ambience of restaurants has been erased by the Covid closures. We were more impressed by a couple of lunchtime halts at local cafes that served homemade soups and cakes and where friendly locals welcomed us with a cheery courtesy.

Every day was a chance to explore those parts of the island that were not part of the Skye ridge. Neish Point lighthouse has surprisingly not been turned into holiday cottages by the Northern Lighthouses Board. The Fairy Glen near Uig has a brand new car park to generate income for the Council. Staffin Bay gave us chance to search for dinosaur footprints, the walk across the strand to Oronsay is a magical walk when the tide is out with its wonderful sea vistas. The coastal path beyond Waterneish gave us an appetite for lunch at the Skye Skynes Yurt. I also had a couple of short climbs up the Marilyn hills close to Edinbane whilst Gregor was out on longer runs. We all enjoyed the bigger walks and, in Gregor's case, long runs to the Quiraing, An Storr and Hartaval, Ben Tianavaig, and Glen Sligachan. He collected Strava crowns on almost all of them. He was obviously inspired by a girl he had met the night before on a first date in Mugdock Park. They were messaging each other non stop. It worked out well, they are married now.

Most of all this trip to Skye provided the sheer joy of going somewhere different after 7 months of being confined to barracks and cooped up mainly indoors during a cold wet Scottish winter.

Neish Point lighthouse

Edinbane Play Park

Coral Beaches

Cruachan Glen Vic Askill

The Castle, Fairy Glen

Fairy Glen, Uig

The Torridons from Staffin Bay

An Storr from Staffin Bay

Tidal causeway to Oronsay

Headlands from Oronsay

Result: Gregor and Emily's Wedding at the Hermitage, Dunkeld