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This is one of the hills we usually visit in December/January as it is only a short drive from home and takes 3-4 hours to climb, depending on how fit you are. So far, we usually went up and down the forest track, starting by the bridge over Abhainn an Torrain Dubh. Today, for a change, we opted for the circular route, including a minor top, Meall Daimh. There's a good parking area about 1km east down the road from Torrandhu bridge.
We decided to go up the minor top first. Forecast was uncertain with patchy clag obstructing some views, but we hoped for some better vistas higher up - and were not disappointed in the end.
We followed a sketchy path along the edge of the fenced plantation. The "makeshift gate in the fence" (as named in WH description) turned out to be not a gate at all, but we have experience in fence climbing
so this one was not much of an obstacle:
We marched up the soaked ground, hoping to gain the ridge soon. The foggy patches below us started to form interesting shapes:
The tops of AM Faochagach reflected in Loch Glascarnoch:
The summit of Meall Daimh turned out to be a good viewpoint towards Ben Wyvis - and the breaking cloud added an interesting twist to the snaps we took from this spot.
The main summit was still another 200 or so meters above us, but the slope didn't look too difficult, even for a couple of aging, injury-ridden hillwalkers...
As we dropped to the col between the two tops, I caught a glimpse of a small rainbow:
More cloud festival around Loch Glascarnoch:
The first patches of snow showed up at about 600m, but the ground was not frozen as the day was rather warm - and hardly any wind, even on higher levels. All in all, a good workout with lovely views in the background. This was all we needed after the Christmas festivities.
Just a ptarmigan in the mist...
Getting close to the top, with Meall Daimh in the background:
The Beinn Dearg group partially covered in cloud:
The summit has a large wind shelter one can hide from the gusts, but as there was hardly any wind today, we spent time just wandering around, taking photos.
Me and Lucy by the cairn (yes, she is still about but will likely retire soon):
Cloud and fake sunset effect:
Loch Glascarnoch:
Loch Fannich:
The perfect I-DON'T-WANT-TO-GO-HOME snap:
Ok, sometime even if you don't want to go home, you have to...
We descended NW over Cnap a'Ghiubhais Li to pick the forest track in the glen below. The clag thinned a bit and we could now see the familiar shape of An Teallach:
Kevin was doing pretty well as for a man with injured back (he still hasn't fully recovered, it's taking ages!):
The Fannichs ridge seen from the flatter shoulder about half way down:
We remembered from our previous visits to this hill, that there was a gate allowing access to the forest track. It's hard to spot from above but just aim at the SE corner of the fence and you will find it. Even if dropping down requires some balancing on bumpy, boggy ground:
Beinn Dearg now revealed:
We found the track and walked through the woodland to the main road, finally following the A835 back to the starting point.
Not a super-ambitious route but a perfect one for short winter days. We were hoping for more mountain adventures in the following weekends, but sadly, the rest of January was terrible weather-wise (at least the weekends, always blowing a hoolie or raining cats and dogs), so all we managed were low level walks. Now, fingers crossed, February will be a bit more friendly, but honestly, the way it's shaping up now does not give us much hope.
