walkhighlands

Share your personal walking route experiences in Scotland, and comment on other peoples' reports.
Warning Please note that hillwalking when there is snow lying requires an ice-axe, crampons and the knowledge, experience and skill to use them correctly. Summer routes may not be viable or appropriate in winter. See winter information on our skills and safety pages for more information.

A couple of quick ones from the Struie road

A couple of quick ones from the Struie road


Postby malky_c » Wed Mar 24, 2021 3:54 pm

Sub 2000' hills included on this walk: Cnoc Corr Guinie, Struie

Date walked: 14/03/2021

Time taken: 3.2 hours

Distance: 9.5 km

Ascent: 410m

1 person thinks this report is great.
Register or Login
free to be able to rate and comment on reports (as well as access 1:25000 mapping).

Sub 2k Marilyns: The Struie, Cnoc Corr Guinie.
Date: 14/03/2021.
Distance: 2 km + 7.5 km.
Ascent: 160m + 250m.
Time: 55 minutes + 2 hours, 15 minutes.
Weather: Warm in sun, cold in breeze.

We had hoped to have a go at Beinn Tharsuinn today using bikes to pedal up from Strath Rory, but Jackie wasn't feeling up to it. So instead we decided to go out the same way but do a couple of smaller hills, giving us the chance to stop after one if things weren't going well. I suggested we start off with the Struie, which is a very short climb from the high point of the Struie road, but one which has good views.


our_route.gpx Open full screen  NB: Walkhighlands is not responsible for the accuracy of gpx files in users posts


Parking on the opposite side of the road to the hill, we picked up the path (not formally made but pretty obvious through the heather), and headed upwards. Jackie was lagging after about 5 minutes, but with a short stop in the shelter of some trees, we made it up to the top.

Image
Looking up the Struie

Image
Halfway break

Image
Cnoc Muigh-bhlaraidh

Image
South along the Struie road

Image
Ben Klibreck across Migdale

Image
East from the summit

It was breezy up top - a cold wind too, but at least the views were good, with Ben Klibreck obvious to the north, but Ben Hope and Ben More Assynt also just about visible in the clag and haze. Unsurprisingly, the descent was much quicker.

Image
NW along the Dornoch Firth
__________________________________

We drove the half mile to the Struie road viewpoint to eat lunch, after which Jackie felt a bit better and ready to do a bit more. 7 miles or so back down the road was a parking area that gave us access to Cnoc Corr Guinie. I had been up here in the snow almost 10 years previously, and while it was pleasant enough, it didn't really inspire a great deal of excitement today. However it fit the bill nicely - fairly short, not too much ascent and mostly on good tracks.


New_Route.gpx Open full screen  NB: Walkhighlands is not responsible for the accuracy of gpx files in users posts


Image
Obstacles

After a couple of miles through the trees, we suddenly hit the edge of an area of open grazing with good views across the mouth of the Cromarty Firth. I only had the vaguest memory of this from last time as the bad weather must have moved in at this point.

Image
Track through the woods

Image
Black Isle from the edge of the trees

Image
Invergordon

Image
Mouth of the Cromarty Firth

We had spotted a possible track to the summit just before the edge of the trees, but decided to follow the fence up the side instead as the views were a little more open here. There were a couple of areas of deep heather but for the most part there were always animal tracks through the vegetation. A large cairn near the summit offered a good place for a second lunch - this was actually much nicer than I remembered, and we stopped here for a good half hour.

Image
Hill of Nigg

Image
Hairy post

Image
Not quite the summit, but the views can be found here

The true summit was a short distance into the trees along a firebreak. We were surprised to pass another person here (a runner) and she pointed us to the top of a track that led back down to the main forestry track.

Image
East from the summit

An easy walk back to the car left us with a better day out than I had envisaged, and as often happens (but not always), Jackie felt better at the end of the walk than she had at the start.
User avatar
malky_c
 
Posts: 6342
Munros:282   Corbetts:222
Fionas:219   Donalds:80+37
Sub 2000:315   Hewitts:281
Wainwrights:140   Islands:39
Joined: Nov 22, 2009
Location: Glasgow/Inverness

1 person thinks this report is great.
Register or Login
free to be able to rate and comment on reports (as well as access 1:25000 mapping).



Can you help support Walkhighlands?


Our forum is free from adverts - your generosity keeps it running.
Can you help support Walkhighlands and this community by donating by direct debit?



Return to Walk reports - Scotland

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: CaroleFortune, dram, prichardson1982, SimonKing and 68 guests