Over The Hill

For the first time that I can remember, all 3 of the mountain weather forecast sites which I generally check before a walk were unanimous in the forecast for Sunday; clear skies, no rain, very light winds and excellent visibility. What a contrast to last Sunday's disastrous weather on An Caisteal.

We had a very ambitious target for today, linking the two Munros of Stuchd an Lochain and Meall Buidhe with a circuit of Loch an Daimh and taking in the Corbett of Sron a'Choire Chnapanaich en route; it was going to be touch and go as to whether we could squeeze it all into the available daylight given our mid- morning start due to the long drive to the start point at the Giorra Dam.

Crossing below the dam we left the loch shore track and headed up the very steep, narrow and rocky path towards the 888m top at the head of the long ridge of Creag an Fheadain to pick up a broader track that continues at a much gentler angle as it first descends and then climbs to the ridge line of Sron Chona Choirein. From here, the views just opened up, with the forecasted 35 kilometres plus visibility giving a wonderful panorama of distant hills in every direction. Swinging west then northwest, we completed the final climb along the ridge and above the deep blue waters of Lochan nan Cat to the cairn marking the 960m summit of Stuchd an Lochain.

At this point, the vast majority of walkers on this mountain will smartly about turn and re-trace their steps back to the dam. We however were headed on westwards, dropping down to the 815m top of Meallan Odhar, before loosing another 200 metres in height as we descended south west to the peat hags of Bealach a'Mhaim. From the bealach, the long, grassy south ridge of Sron a'Choire Chnapanaich rises steadily to its summit at 837m, from where we could look back, with some sense of achievement, along the length of Loch an Daimh and the steep slopes of Stuchd an Lochain to our start point at the Giorra Dam.

We all anticipated a restful stop on the summit of Sron a'Choire Chnapanaich, not just for the views, but to get some well earned lunch. However, it was not to be; one of the downsides of no wind - lots of midges - millions of the little blighters descended on us the moment we stopped, and so we beat a hasty retreat, and started downhill towards Gleann Daimh, over 400 metres below; with, at one point, a 300m drop in less than 600m horizontal, it was steep in places.

Surprisingly, we were midge free in the glen, and so we took our delayed break alongside the rather dry riverbed of the Feith Thalain where it flows into the head of Loch an Daimh. It was also decision time; To continue the upward climb to Meall Buidhe, or return via the northern shoreline of Loch an Daimh. The decision was no spur of the moment one, as right from the start of today's walk we had been very aware of our timings and progress in relation to completing the whole round before darkness descended. Reluctantly, we decided to take the low road back, along the shoreline towards the dam.

Any disappointment in not continuing with the climb was quickly thrown aside as, by taking the low road, we were treated to some amazing reflections of the islands, dam and mountains in the clearest and calmest of loch waters that I have seen in a long time, the pictures opposite do not do the reality full justice, it was beautiful. The mountains (Meall Buidhe) will be there another day, but not those magnificent reflections.

A wonderful walk, with brilliant weather, great company, and those magnificent reflections. - Thanks Alan.