Beautiful views, great ridge walk.... worth it!

[Milo12]

With the most perfect weather this promised to be a day with great views - and it certainly did not disappoint. There is easy parking at Lochcarron Station.

The walk started late in the day after lunch and the first 2km along forestry roads made me wonder whether I made the right choice for the day. But once leaving the forestry road for a fairly good quality stalker path, this changed. The path goes steadily uphill, sometimes crossing little streams, sometimes turning boggy, but always easy to follow.

Once it is levelling out and the path crosses the river it follows, I left the path heading for a saddle below the top of Creag Dhub Mhor. The route up is steep and follows a little stream under the grass and moss. It is therefore easy to discern, but probably not easy to do after a longer spell of rain.

Once I reached the saddle, I crossed it to the other side to enjoy the views over the next valley. Quite a perfect camping spot there with a little plateau, stunning views and a little stream. I walked back slightly and started walking up the steep section towards the top of Creag Dhub Mhor. It is easy enough to do and without any scrambling needed. The views from the top area stunning in all directions - Applecross peninnsula, Torridon range, Loch Carron and over towards the Kintail range.

From the top I followed the ridge with the intent to reach the stalker path at its other end. The ridge walk is well worth it, the views change all the time revealing lots of little streams and lochs along the way. It also takes you via Carn Geuradainne which at 542 m just a little lower than Creag Dhub Mhor, but much more craggy and rocky at the top. The ground was boggy, but is easy to walk as it is grass and moss only with some rocky outcrops. Sometimes the downs and ups are very steep and require careful attention, but nothing that is not doable and no scrambling required. I would not recommend doing the ridge after a long spell of rain though - the bogs may get very deep easily.

At the end of the ridge, there is a very steep section down to the stalkers path which leads with a few ups and downs and past lochs back into Achintee and then on via a very short stretch along the road to Lochcarron Station.