We parked up in the lay-by just after Lochluichart and got going - the track went uphill quite steeply to begin with - not a great sign
Although I was feeling knackered already, there was no denying it was a stunning glen and definitely worth exploring
Once past the initial bit of track, it did level out a bit and made for better progress. Of course we then dropped a bit towards the loch - great news for now, but of course we would have to climb back out afterwards
The impressive Faire nam Fiadh on the end of An Coileachan
We had reached the dam
The track continued along the side of Loch Fannich - not all the way - but we were only going a short distance anyway. Malky wanted to go up An Cabar - from here it was a very short distance and he reckoned I could do it. I should probably stop listening to him....
Looking down Loch Fannich to Fionn Bheinn - impressive!
We dumped the bikes and set off on foot - Malky wearing uncharacteristically bright shorts
Short and steep
Further round - Creag a' Chaise & Faire nam Fiadh
As we climbed (or stumbled) upwards we started to see Beinn Dearg appear
Loch Fannich
To be fair, the ground underfoot wasn't bad - there was plenty of rock especially higher up. I was just tired, and should not have been trying to do stuff like this (the benefit of highsight eh
)
Our track home winding away
Finally at the summit, the views were awesome - there was barely a breath of wind (and we all know what that means in the summer
) but I had to have a break because I was pooped. Beinn Dearg zoomed
Fionn Bheinn with the Monar hills to the left
Sgurr a' Mhuillin
Jaxter on An Cabar
Ben Wyvis & Loch Luichart
Looking down Loch Fannich there was a bit of weather moving across otherwise it would be been a view straight into the Fisherfield
Happy to be here - it's just the getting there and getting back that's horrible
Fionn Bheinn
It was time to get going - it could be hard work getting back. We dropped off the summit and tried to follow a similar route back down
Back at the bikes the cloud was definitely coming in - our lovely sun had gone
The climb out of the loch wasn't as bad as I'd feared but I was still pretty knackered
Fortunately the last wee bit was basically a free-wheel and I was very happy to be back at the car and able to zonk out on the way home. In hindsight, even this version of "doing less" was far too much, but at the time I seemed to be happy to keep bashing my head against a wall in the hope that it would help
Cycle: 17.11km, 182m ascent, 1 hour 40 mins
