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I was looking for a walk for our first day on Rum. We had planned to stay 2 nights to enable us to have a full day for the Cuillin ridge, but the 10.15 boat from Mallaig arrived in Rum about 11.30 leaving several hours for an alternative walk. There was nothing on the walkhighlands site, so we opted for the two highest hills outside the Cuillins - Ard Nev (556m) and Orval (571m).
It was a lovely bright day, but the North wind made it very chilly out of the sun. There were good views from the boat as we approached Rum, the first time the Cuillin tops had been clear for the four days we had stayed within their view.
We dropped our bags at Kinloch Castle Hostel where we were staying.
We set off at 1pm on the wide track up Kinloch Glen.
Its about 2 miles to the junction of paths where North leads to Kilmory beach and South to the Mausoleum at Harris. We stopped to follow a golden eagle soaring above the ridge on our left.
From the junction we could see our objective.
Taking the left fork, West then South West we passed waterfalls and the old dam before reaching the bridge where our return route would come in.
From here the track climbs gradually for just under a mile, and at the highest point, we struck off right for the col between Ard Nev and Ard Mheall. This made for a more gradual climb up the nose of Ard Nev.
The route was pathless and the summit had no cairn.
There was a good view of the Cuillin from the summit.
The descent North West to the col was straightforward. An easy rake to the left of the Orval crags was the obvious route.
But I chose the direct route through the crags to reach the gently sloping ground to the summit.
This summit had a large cairn several yards away from the cylindrical trig point.
There were good views all round including the other "Cuillin ridge" on Skye.
We returned the same way initially to avoid the crags on the Northern and Western sides.
We then followed the ridge Northwards.
We then turned East to the left of Loch a' Ghille Reamhra. I had considered descending to the Bealach a' Bhraig Bhig and climbing the shapely Fionchra, but not wishing to miss dinner, omitted it. After an easy descent, we picked up the path from Guirdil.
This path followed the left of the stream back to the bridge on the wide track.
We returned on the wide track to the junction with the other track from Kilmory, but decided for variety to return by the path on the far side of Kinloch Glen.
We left the track just before the junction and crossed the other track but found the path was indistinct and difficult to follow at first.
We could see the line of the path going up the hillside ahead and headed directly for it, but the long grass, boggy and rough ground made us question our decision.
But as we progressed, the path improved and we were glad we chose this alternative route as it afforded better views than the wide track and was kinder on the feet.
Towards Kinloch, we passed the millionth tree planted on the island before the path descended back to Kinloch.
