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Well this was an interesting hill!
I'd read all the hill reports and looked at the SMC guide and in the end we opted to approach the hill from the Alladale Estate. This meant a drive about an hour from home as opposed to twenty minutes to Black Bridge. We had a beautiful spring day - warmth in the air at last.
We duly parked the car at the car park near Glencalvie Lodge and got our bicycles ready. Off we went. The ride up to the Alladale greenhouses was glorious - old Scots pines, waterfalls. It was a lot easier cycling up the road than walking as we'd done last autumn to walk up another hill. I thought that the ride along Gleann Mor would be similar to the approach for Seana Braigh - I was wrong. I ended up pushing my bike up parts of the path so I didn't get too tired for the walking part of the day. On the way in, the estate has built a lovely little bothy overlooking the river - worth checking out if you're going along the path. Just look out for the picnic table outside. It's got fantastic door handles made from antlers.
- Bikes at the start of the walk
- The bothy by the river
- The long ride in
Eventually we reached Deanich Lodge - what a location! Absolutely stunning. We cycled on a little bit and left our bikes at the bridge. A couple approached on bikes from the Black Bridge direction - they had camped the previous night along Strath Vaich and were cycling to Oykel Bridge.
- Looking back to Deanich Lodge
- Bikes by the bridge before we started walking uphill
From the bridge we headed cross country to the little hydro-dam that's mentioned in the SMC guide. Then we followed a faint path up beside the burn. Once we reached a flatter area by Crom Loch, we started crossing peat bogs covered in snow. The ground was very wet with the snow melt. But as we approached the slopes up to the summit, the going became a lot easier and drier. The views from the cairn were superb.
The walk down the hill was straightforward as we knew exactly what to expect and of course the boggy area didn't seem as boggy as on the way up. Sadly, my husband had a puncture on the way back which meant that I "raced" on ahead to pick up the car which I drove up to meet him at the Lodge.
One of the things I love about this estate is that it's so well maintained - the bridges are all in good condition and painted in a uniform colour; the paths/tracks are well maintained; there are large numbers of trees that have been planted. If I ever win the lottery, I'll stay a couple of nights in the hotel!
We had a long debate about which was the better route - the ridge walk that people have mentioned would certainly be a lot drier or the cycle in from Black Bridge. We've cycled this route in the past but we'll be trying it out again soon when we go and tackle Carn Ban.