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The weather forecast looked good, and we weren’t disappointed.
A friend and I arranged a dog walk that turned into a Munro-bagging trip! Well, if you are going to walk the dogs, why not over two mountains.
The parking area was already full when we arrived, but we managed to park off the road, on the verge a few meters further along (taking care not to block a nearby passing place).
We set off, the slow humans (well one slow one – me
) and 3 fast Border Collies at 09:45 to climb Spidean Mialach.
At first it was overcast, cloud above us but still good visibility. The track is wide as leaves the road and winds up the hill – the rhododendron tunnel mentioned by WH must have been cut back because almost immediately, as the track turns right, it’s open and clear.
- Looking along Loch Cuaich near the start of the track.
It was wet in places but not too boggy, but at just under 500m the track started to come and go. Perhaps because we were chatting, we followed what looked like the path alongside a small burn for a short distance, but on checking, discovered that we were off the WH route by around 250m – not a real problem and it didn’t take long to cut back across and regain the intended path.
As we climbed, the cloud above us appeared to be lifting, but then came down around us and visibility was no longer good. Looking up, though, I could see the hazy sun through the cloud, so was hopeful that it was only a narrow band of cloud.
From where we re-joined the path, it was well-defined all the way to the summit but does follow a line a little to the right of the WH route. There was a bit of a boggy section but short-lived and then dry the rest of the way.
Just above 750m we popped out of the cloud to my 3rd inversion in 5 outings! The sun was shinning to the South and the moon was still visible in the North – a stunning day!
- Looking south at the sun.
- Looking north-west at the moon.
- Looking west.
It was hot now and time to apply some sun block! We plodded on up and then, suddenly, we were at the summit cairn, and it was time to sit down for lunch - it was 12:40.
- Looking north-west from the summit of Spidean Mialach towards Gleourich.
After lunch we set off towards Gleouraich – the route down to Fiar Bhealach is rocky and steep in places, but mainly grass interspersed with some rocks.
- Looking west – the route down to the bealach, and the climb up to Gleouraich looking steep!
- Another look towards Gleouraich – spot the 3 Collies!
Nearer the bealach we dipped back into the cloud again for a short time.
- Almost into the cloud again.
- One of the Collie’s wondering what kind of witchcraft created that phenomenon!😂
The climb up the other side was steep but not as bad as it had looked from a distance.
- A look back towards Spiden Mialach.
It took longer than we expected to reach the second summit, but we did stop for a rest along the way and took several photos – the views were spectacular. We arrived at 15:40.
- Looking south-west.
- Another look south-west.
- Looking north-east with the cloud beginning to clear.
- Looking North-West into Kintail. The Saddle and Forcan Ridge are distinctive in the distance (centre).
- A closer look at the South Glenshiel Ridge – I was camped up there 3 weeks ago.😊
- Looking South-West into Knoydart.
- Another view into Knoydart.
The route down is over grassy slopes, but the stalkers’ path is a treat compared to the often-pathless descent typical of the north-west Highlands.
There is a steepish section shortly after leaving the summit, but it’s not too bad, just a bit heavy going on the old knees!
After the steepish section, there is a nice flat part that cuts amount the west side of Druim Seileach at 840m. From there we could see the full extent of the drop to Loch Cuaich and were expecting a tiring, steep descent.
- Looking across Loch Cuaich and into Knoydart.
- Heading around Druim Seileach – a bit hot for a collie!
After Druim Seileach, we were pleasantly surprised as the path zig-zagged down the hill, making the descent far better than we had imagined.
- Almost there! Looking south-west along Loch Cuaich.
The rhododendrons were absent from the start of the walk, but the last section of the return path made up for that! The final 250m or so of track back to the road was a bit of a forest – a machete would have been useful!
- Shortly before heading into the rhododendrons.
The descent from Gleourich was much quicker than anticipated and we arrived back at the parking spot around 18:00 (2 hours).
After loading the dogs into the van, we brewed up some fresh coffee and enjoyed a well-earned home-made chocolate flapjack before heading home.
It had been another stunning day!
Bye for now.
