Over The Hill

For the Platinum Jubilee weekend there was high pressure sitting over Scotland so we decided to try and catch it before it disappeared, and left on 6th June to travel to Sands Campsite in Gairloch, our base for two nights. Having driven 200 miles we then had to decide where to pitch the tent and van as no plots are allocated and the campsite is huge. We spotted a circle of identical tents and MG cars, a rally of some sort. Finally chose our spot and our view was to the Trotternish Ridge on Skye.

We set off the next morning around 8am back through Gairloch with a wonderful panorama of the hills in Applecross and Torridon, and parked at the Red Stable which is painted green. This is the start point for the 8k walk into Loch na h-Oidhche on an undulating track which was good in parts and rough in other parts and runs beside the Abhainn a’Gharbh Choire. But no bikes this time so spirits were high and the morning was beautiful. There has been a lot of work done on the regeneration of natural woodland and the abundance of flowers beside the path bears witness to this. Orchids were bountiful and we spotted a Butterfly Orchid as well as Marsh Orchids, and Lousewort and Milkwort. Further along were Butterwort and Sundew. About 45 minutes into our walk we saw our first view of Baosbheinn looking a fair distance away. In another half an hour we came to the Grouse Stone so named from the time when the birds were plentiful. Shooting parties would stay in the glen and a ghillie would take the bag of birds and leave it on top of the stone to be collected by another ghillie who walked up from Gairloch. Nearly two hours into our walk we had a full view of Baosbheinn and another surprise – a large bird circling and rising on the thermals above and beyond us. Can you spot it in the photo? We at first thought a buzzard but it was still a good size in the distance so concluded it was a Goldie. Just over the two hour mark Loch na h-Oidhche came into view at last. We crossed the river at the outfall from the loch, and thankfully it was not too difficult and we still had dry feet. Another bonus of the high pressure we had enjoyed over the previous few days.

We had discussed our route up which was to follow the Allt an Reidh-choire on the east side, but as we had good views we changed our minds and headed for a grassy rake in Coire Mor. It looked steep but possible, and meant we could do a lollipop route rather than a there-and-back route to the top. Just before noon we had a stop and half a lunch. There was not much wind and it was warm but the rake was in shadow so was a welcome respite from the heat for our climb. There were different flowers here, hairy Kidney-wort, also known as Starry Saxifrage, and Mountain Everlasting. The climb from the bealach was rocky to start but then became grassy, and we had fantastic views back over Loch a’Bhealaich to Beinn Alligan in Torridon, and to the north over Loch Maree we could see An Teallach and Slioch at the end of the loch.

There is a small cairn at the top and the views are amazing all around. We could see hills in Torridon, Strathcarron, the Fisherfield hills, the sandy beaches of Gairloch, the top of Skye, and the Island of Rona. It had taken four hours to get to the top but it was worth it.

After the other half of lunch we set off north west to find our descent route which was our intended climb up. There was a reasonably good path, and as we had no intention of walking the whole ridge we headed down to the outfall again for the crossing of the river. More flowers – this time Cowberry in flower and Marsh Marigold. Another 8k back to the start point, nothing for it but to plod on. Our feet were certainly zingy by the time we got to the van. A runner passed us and how he didn’t twist an ankle I do not know, and a couple who were walking in to the loch, and so we had a chat with them. Otherwise we saw no-one. We had taken 8 hours and it was a great day. Dinner had been booked at the Barn Cafe on the campsite, so off we went to have a shower and a G&T before “going out” for the evening. We were happy bunnies.