A short hillwalk into an area of small rocky hills with many small lochs and good views. The walk includes a visit to a memorial marking the site of a fatal air-crash from World War 2.
Summary
Much of this walk is very boggy though it does have the benefit of a rough path. It crosses exposed moorland and waterproofs/windproofs are essential.
Terrain
Car park just west of the Shieldaig hotel.
[Map of start point, satnav coords and directions]
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1. There is a fair sized parking area on the south side of the B8056 just west of the Shieldaig hotel. Before starting the walk, enjoy the view of Loch Shieldaig, a sheltered harbour with sailing boats. Walk east along the road, passing the hotel, before turning right onto a track - marked by a public footpath sign and mountainous country warning. Go along the track, and at the fork after the building veer left. Continue for another 100 metres to a cairn, where a path goes off left; turn up this path.
2. A short distance on, the path forks once more at another cairn; again veer left. This path heads up towards the birchwood and passes through part of it, continuing to climb uphill. The surface is rough, both rocky and boggy, and care is needed to stay on route especially where the path bears right across some wet ground - don't continue straight ahead to where the stream comes down. There are cairns at intervals along the way, which after the turn continues uphill to reach a high point at another cairn. There are good views back over Loch Gairloch, and from the highpoint, forward to Baosbheinn ('The Wizard's Mountain').
3. Beyond, the path descends towards one of the lochans. There is a pile of aircraft remains next to a rock, together with a nearby engine whilst a propeller sticks out of the loch. This sad reminder is the scene of an aircrash when a USAAF Liberator carrying troops back home from World War 2 slammed into the hillside, killing all 15 on board. It is a dedicated war memorial and it is forbidden to move any of the wreckage.
4. Continue on the now fainter path round the left side of the lochan. Beyond, the path becomes faint and very boggy but is marked first by cairns (look out of one atop a rock outcrop), and then by white wooden posts. It leads down to a much larger body of water, Loch Braigh Horrisdale, where a track is reached. Turn right on the track.
5. The track gives pleasant walking at first, but as it descends is somewhat eroded. At one point it forks; the right hand fork is the original overgrown rocky route through the trees, whilst the left route is the newer, boggy track - take your choice, they rejoin a short distance further on. The track then leads pleasantly back to the road and the start point.
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