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Marilyns: Cnoc Ceislein
Date walked: 27/02/2011
Distance: 14.5km
Ascent: 625m
Time: 3 hours 15 minutes
Weather: Sunny but breezy
Quite a bit of catching up to do with report writing. The day efore I went off to Mull, I got an unexpected pass out for the afternoon. Only a few hours, so I decided to do a hill close to home. Although I'd done Cnoc Fyrish with my nephews last summer, I hadn't managed to persuade them onto the higher summit of Cnoc Ceislein, so now seemed to the time!
Cuillin posted a good
report for this hill only 2 months ago, but my day out was very different (ie much easier going) and had a different starting point. I parked up in the center of Evanton and walked up the Glen Glass road a short way. A right fork took me towards the Novar Estate. Followed a pleasant path through the woods for a bit.
Heading up round the Novar Estate:

The contractor working on the Novar Wind Farm extension is using some of these tracks for site access at the moment, and my route ahead was officially closed. However it was a sunday afternoon and I could see no site activity, so I ignored the signs.
Warning signs:

Navigating these forestry tracks is one of the most awkward parts of being on the hills for me, particuarly when there are extra unmarked ones... Compared to my long day out in the remote parts of Attadale (where I didn't look at the map once), or even the white-out of the previous week in Glen Lyon (where I checked my bearing against the map every half hour or so), I practically had my nose in the map the whole way. A couple of zigzags took me to withing striking distance of the pimple of Meann Chnoc, which I nipped up. I was surprised to find a smaller version of the Cnoc Fyrish monument on the summit - vaguely remember someone mentioning this in a report before, but I didn't know where it was. I could also just see the heathery ridge of Cnoc Ceislein through the trees from here.
Another folly on Meann Chnoc:

Black Isle and the Cromarty Firth:

Glimpse of Cnoc Ceislein through the trees:

At this point I got lost. I thought I was taking the track towards the Big Burn and Cnoc Fyrish, but I was actually on another unmarked one (although I can see it on the 1:25,000 map now). This ended in the middle of the woods, so I took a cross country route to the edge of the forest. The forest wasn't too thick. I was now closer to my planned descent route than the way I was trying to go, so I crossed thick heather on Garbhlach to reach the summit ridge.
Cnoc Fyrish and some bog:

Cnoc Fyrish and some platforms in the Cromarty Firth:

I fancied traversing the whole summit ridge as I expected the SW end to have good views of Ben Wyvis. I wasn't wrong, although It did spend a lot of the day in the cloud. Mind you, it was quite fun watching the cloud lift and drop over it, ever changing.
Glas Leathad Beag with Meall an Tuirc in the foreground:

Strath Mor, Glen Morie and Carn Chunneig just peeping out:

I thought the ridge might be quite hard going, but aside from a couple of soft bits at the low points, it provided lovely easy walking on short heather.
Beinn Tharsuinn and the summit ridge of Cnoc Ceislein:

Ben Wyvis and Glas Leathad Beag:

Novar wind farm and Meall Mor:

NE to Carn Chunneig:

Nice views from the summit. I really enjoy walking in Easter Ross - lots of places off the beaten track. I suppose most towns in Scotland have somewhere like this - a less impressive but handy place close by to get out to when the likes of Glencoe or Torridon are too far away. Whether it is the Campsies, the Pentlands, the Angus Glens or here, everyone needs somewhere to escape to at short notice.
Wyvis and Glas Leathad Beag again:

Lump of concrete on the summit:

Beinn Tharsuinn from the summit of Cnoc Ceislein:

South over the summit:

I dropped down over heather to a high track which crosses into Strath Mor. I've eyed this up for mountain biking before, so it was nice to find out that it would be perfectly rideable. With more time, you could add on Cnoc Fyrish from here, but I had already taken longer than expected to get to this point, so I didn't.
Cnoc Fyrish again:

Looking back to the summit:

Cromarty Firth on the descent:

A nice stroll along forestry tracks with occasional peeks out to the Cromarty Firth, and I re-joined my outward route, finding the track I had missed on the way up.
Last look at the Cromarty Firth:

It was only a 25 minute drive home from Evanton. Nice relaxing afternoon. Now hopefully no more walk reports until after the Walkhighlands meet!