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It was to be Evelyn's 100th Munro so we decided on Ben Klibreck as Moira, Pete and I were staying up on the north coast at Talmine near Tongue.
Talmine beach and rock pools
The others had an early start while Moira and I got up at a respectable hour and had a leisurely breakfast before driving down the A836 to the meeting point at the Crask Inn. We passed the parking place at Vagastie, which we thought would be our start point but when we met up with the others the men wanted to start at the Crask Inn so they could do a circular walk coming back by Loch a Bhealach.
So we left the cars at the Crask and followed the waterlogged track north east for a while before striking up north towards Cnoc Sgriodain. There was a bit of huffing and puffing and dark mutterings from the women about the men making us walk further than we had to as we climbed the first hill and saw that we had a bit of a descent before the next climb!
Ben Klibreck
View north to Ben Hope and Ben Loyal
View south west back to the Crask Inn
The col below Meall nan Con, summit cone of Klibreck
The day before there had been a fatality on Ben Klibreck
but I can't for the life of me remember if we knew that before we went. If we did I suspect we wouldn't have mentioned it to Linda. Linda is a very fit lady but she doesn't like any kind of exposure and when we got to the foot of the final ascent she didn't fancy the steep climb so decided to wait for us there while we went on up. At the top we huddled together at the summit rocks and celebrated Evelyn's 100th with the carrot cake she had secreted in her rucksack!
It's only when I saw the pics later I realised what a bad hair day I was having!
The three guys headed down the spur of Meall an Eoin to Loch a Bhealaich and back that way. We obviously couldn't do that as Linda was waiting at the col so we pretty much retraced our steps which was a long tedious bog slog before we got back to the Crask Inn to find the men were already there, minus Andrew. He (the thoughtful soul
) had gone up the road in his car to give us a lift, thinking we'd have cut across to the road at Vagastie, which we hadn't as it looked further that way.
The hospitality at the Crask inn is second to none. On this occasion there was a wonderful log fire blazing making it hard for the contingent with the long drive to tear themselves away. On another occasion we pitched up at lunch time on a midweek day in February and found the place empty and apparently closed but the woman insisted we come in and before long produced bowls of home made soup and freshly baked scones!
During the next few days Pete and I visited some stunning beaches which we had entirely to ourselves. One was Coldbackie beach on the east side of the Kyle of Tongue.
On the sand dunes above Coldbackie bay looking towards Rabbit and Seal Islands at the mouth of the Kyle of Tongue
Coldbackie beach
Walking along the water's edge I saw an otter half out of the water watching us. She seemed very curious and I was able to walk quite close but when the dogs came nearer she was off in a flash.
The dogs were younger then and burnt off a lot of energy running like hoodlums on this beach!
Then there was the delightful Achinver beach, just north of Talmine. There are sometimes seals on this beach but the only ones we saw were well past their sell by and we had a job keeping Tess from rolling on their remains!
Achinver beach
Synchronised cavorting
Having fun with a frisbee at Dunnet bay
The cliffs of Dunnet Head
Croft lands from Skinnet beach
Skinnet beach from east side of Kyle of Tongue
Balnakeil beach, Durness
All beautiful beaches but this one is my favourite
The day after the battle of Culloden a ship came into the Kyle of Tongue with gold to help the Jacobite cause. It was pursued by a government ship and both ships ran aground (probably on the sand bar that runs out from Skinnet beach). The French were chased by soldiers as far as Lochan Hakon which lies not far north of Ben Loyal and the story goes that the gold was dumped in the lochan and it's likely it hasn't all been retrieved.
So we sent our sniffer dogs in to have a look!
Lochan Hakon and Ben Loyal
Early morning sun from cottage window
