Ben Loyal circuit-not the one intended

[ridgerunner]

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

I had planned to drive up leisurely on sunday and do this walk on the monday , but the forecast was so perfect that i left Ayrshire at 06.30 and arrived at the start at 12.30 having made a pilgrimage stop at the Crask Inn en route. Superb coffee and scones.
Driving north i then got my first view of Ben Loyal from Altnaharra where it was a balmy 19 degree celsius.

ben loyal from altnaharra

Glorious drive alongside loch Loyal and i got a side view of An Caisteal from the roadside.

The car parking area was full but squeeezed my car onto the roadside.
The walk-in would probably be great on a bike as its pretty flat with only one deer fence to cross.

ben loyal from approach

The approach had only one tiny boggy area and the grass was very dry , so that when i reached the bealach clais nan ceap, i immediately departed from the path and made straight uphill to an obvious narrow grass gully just to the left of centre of Sgor Chaonasaid. There was a faint path in the gully but virtually no erosion.
After coming out at the top of the gully made straight across to An caisteal with some nice scrambling on the tors.

looking back to sgor chaonasaid on the right

view forward to bheinn bheag

It was only minutes to then get to Bheinn Bheag

An Caisteal from bheinn bheag

i had planned to walk northwest from Beinn Bheag to Sgor a Chleirich and drop north into to the lochan to follow the stream to the moor , but a chap i met said this route was no longer safe so i followed an obvious path heading to the far end of Loch Fhionnaich which suddenly disappeared. it was then a matter of descending the very steep slopes and trying to avoid the cliffs. i was glad the grass was dry and grippy.
After a slight climb out of the valley ,rather than descend through the birches to the moor i contoured just below the cliffs and there appeared to be a hard to follow path.
This part of the walk was fairly heavy going and eventually dropped through the birch and picked up a path leading to the approach track.

looking back along the contour

The 40 min walk-out would definitely have been much more pleasant on a bike and then it was only a short drive to Rhian b+b [which is where the GPX route ends as i forgot as usual to stop navigation at the carpark]
All in all a fantastic day out-the first of a three day break.

[ChrisW]

nice report ridgerunner and cracking pics to boot

[HighlandSC]

It's a great hill this. Some fine pics you have

That's an interesting route you took off the hill. Looks challenging on the map alright.