Walkhighlands

So today was the day I finally got a clear forecast to do the Beinn Dearg Circuit, taking in four Munro's. I had previously done Am Faochagach, and thought the views overlooking Beinn Dearg were stunning. I knew I had to do it this year.



So the forecast looked great, and I left Inverness at 6.00am, I usually leave pretty sharp to try and beat the majority of people there. But on arrival at the Car park South of Inver Lael bridge, there were already 4/5 cars and 5 people walking onfront of me It was a Sunny Saturday after all..

So I set off, through the forest, this was an excellent path. It was at this point that I knew I should have brought a bike.. if not only for the return journey. A few of them passed me on the way in, I was pretty jealous.

It then opened up to show great views of Beinn Dearg.



I also got a great drone shot, it also features the stunning waterfalls in the video attached at the end but heres a snapshot.



I then crossed the river at the waterfalls, and made my way up the first Munro of the day - Beinn Dearg. This was also to be the highest Munro today, so good getting it done nice and early

I followed the valley right up until i was met with "Famine Wall". A great stone wall built in the 1840s. It really is an amazing sight. I was also greeted with an amazing cloud inversion looking South, I have to say this is probably the best views I have seen so far!



I then followed the wall up as far as possible, there was a little but of scrambling but nothing major. I then reached the top of Beinn Dearg, it was stunning. This was one of the Munro summits I could have happily sat at all day.



There were also two guys there, Paddy and Steve. I was to do the rest of the day with them, and thoroughly enjoyed the company. I am usually a solo walker, because of my picture/video taking, and also because I am very unsociable.

After a good half hour, we then made a move over to Cona Mheall. This didnt take long, maybe an hour at most. I was just in awe at the views all around, and looking back to the massive Beinn Dearg.

The views from Cona Mheall were also great, looking over to a rather rounded Am Faochagach.

Beinn Dearg making Cona Mheall look tiny.. The peaks of An Teallach in the background.



After having a bite to eat, it was time to head on to Munro #3 for the day, again not too much descent/re-ascent, so was there pretty quickly. I was greeted by a spider right on top of the cairn, even though it was tiny, I do have a phobia . Paddy and Steve found this pretty amusing.. The flinch is captured in my video.



We didnt hang about for too long here, as our legs were starting to get tired. It was really warm and I was running low on water, I knew there were streams between munro 3+4 so wasnt too worried about it! The descent and re-ascent was more than I bargained for though Luckily there was a natural shower about half way down..



Then came the last bit of ascent for the day, it actually wasn't as bad as it looked! It never is..



Another cracking summit view, and Munro #21 for me! There are two large cairns at the top, I touched both but I think this may be the higher? I looked at the map and it is hard to tell!



We hung around here for a bit, but then starting making our way back down rather quickly. My ankles were killing me at this point, think it was around 9 hours in. We had messed about a lot, chatting, taking videos, and taking breaks to admire the views. It was around 30 minutes of pretty much fast paced walking to get back to the path at the bottom of the valley, I was glad when this part was over to be honest!

I then let Paddy and Steve go, while I messed around with my drone for 15 minutes trying to get some good shots. I don't like flying it when there is others around, so took my chance while the valley was clear! I think it was worth it though.

Again the video does the shots more justice, see below if you would like to see it




All in all, a very memorable day. This was probably my favorite day out so far. It was pretty much perfect. Thats me on 21 Munro's since lockdown ended, and I plan on doing a whole lot more.

Here is the youtube video for anyone interested, I keep a video diary of all my Munro's to date so Subscribe if you would like to keep up to date with it. Thanks

Enjoyed your report and video, this route is a great day out in the hills.

And I like that you don't fly your drone when other people are about - wish all drone users were that considerate...!