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I’d been planning this walk for more than a year. I wanted to do it as a linear walk by public transport, and on a dry, sunny day because I’d read that the views were spectacular (and they were). The tricky bit was linking Citylink with Shiel Buses and fitting it all in at a time of year when there would be enough daylight for the walk.
My original plan was to start at North Ballachulish, ascending from the B863 and walking along the ridge before descending to Kinlochleven and getting the bus from there to Ballachulish Square, from where I would get the Citylink bus back to Dumbarton.
But this left too much to chance - if I missed the last Shiel Buses connection back to Ballachulish, I might end up having to find accommodation in Kinlochleven. So instead I decided to take the Citylink bus from Dumbarton at 7.17am, arriving at Ballachulish Square at 9.15am, and then getting the Shiel Buses 11am service to Kinlochleven, from where I would start the walk at around 11.30, giving me enough time to complete the walk and get to the North Ballachulish bus stop in time to catch the 19.25 Citylink bus back to Dumbarton.
It sounds as if I’d planned this adventure with military precision, but sadly that wasn’t the case. I’d actually made a huge error.
More on that later.
The Citylink bus was 20 mins late arriving at Dumbarton, so I was glad that I had a bit of time before the Shiel Buses connection to Kinlochleven. I stocked up on food at the Co-op, and shortly after 11.30am I was strolling along the West Highland Way.
It was a glorious day, and the views soon began to open up.
- Beinn na Caillich, the distinctive Corbett Top on the right, with the equally distinctive Pap of Glencoe on the left.
- Stob Coire na h-Eirghe, a Top of Sgurr an Iubhair on the Ring of Steall.
There are good paths all the way to the summit of Mam na Gualainn, so I soon got into my stride and kept up a steady pace as I didn’t want to risk missing the last bus home. The track up Beinn na Caillich is steep but with lovely views that give you a good excuse to pause for breath.
- Approaching Beinn na Caillich.
- The Ring of Steall from the south.
- View to Kinlochleven.
- The enormous bulk of Sgurr an Iubhair.
- The tantalising peak of Beinn na Caillich up ahead.
- ... and a bit closer.
- Mullach nan Coirean and Stob Ban.
- I couldn’t get enough of this hill – it might not have the status of a Corbett, but it has a lot of character!
- Beautiful Stob Ban.
Schiehallion came into view:
- Kinlochleven with Schiehallion beyond.
- Schiehallion zoomed.
- Beautiful view to Nevis and the Mamores.
- Summit of Beinn na Caillich.
- … and beyond the summit - the view west to Beinn a Bheithir, with the summit of Mam na Gualainn peeking up along the ridge.
- View down to Invercoe, the Aonach Eagach and the Pap.
- Garbh Bheinn and the Aonach Eagach.
- Mam na Gualainn summit.
- Mam na Gualainn trig.
After the summit of Mam na Gualainn, the path quickly petered out. It was as if it knew we were about to enter Graham territory. The ground rapidly adapted, throwing up tussocks, animal tracks and lashings of bog.
But the views just got better!
- Loch Leven and Loch Linnhe with the undulating form of Tom Meadhoin up ahead.
- Closing in on Tom Meadhoin.
- The ground became more… interesting.
- Suddenly... a path!
- These reflective grass verge markers started to appear.
- And then the views - wow! Glencoe as I’ve never seen her before.
- Zoomed view to the Pap and Bidean nam Bian. The pointy peak is Stob Coire nan Lochan.
- Loch Leven and the Etive hills.
- View back to Tom Meadhoin.
- Summit selfie at Tom Meadhoin.
Looking back with hindsight, I should have returned to the bealach at this point and from there walked down to the B863 at Callert. But this would have left me with an almost 5km walk along the B863, and anyway, I just wanted the beautiful ridge walk to continue.
As I’ve said earlier, I had been planning this walk for more than a year, and I was pretty sure I’d drawn up my route map from someone’s walk report… but I think I must have kept coming back and making little tweaks to it, and then forgetting that some bits of it were just basically cobbled together from my own imagination!
The descent west from Tom Meadhoin was delightfully easy on soft, springy turf – until I got to about 400m elevation, when the ground started to become awkwardly rough and increasingly difficult to walk on. Looking back, I think there must have been an old forest plantation underneath, with new growth over the top. I kept stepping into holes, and my pace got slower and slower… eventually I ended up pushing my way through thick forestry which after a couple of hundred metres became impenetrable (I seem to be making a habit of this!).
I took a left turn to avoid the thick forest, climbed over a deer fence and ended up tantalisingly close to the road, but on a very steep embankment covered in the remains of dead trees and heather. There was nothing else for it if I was going to catch my bus. I sat down, grabbed some heather to steady myself, and slid down 20m of embankment. Whoosh!
What a relief when I finally stepped over a nasty black ditch and onto the B863, at last! I got to the bus stop with 20 mins to spare, looking and probably smelling as if I’d been dragged through a hedge backwards (which I effectively had been).
