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Sitting in my car we just passed Inverness about half an hour ago and were on the way to a place called Badrallach. We passed the last car about 15 min ago and the night was clear as a night could be in the northern Highlands of Scotland. Millions of stars were above us and we frequently had to stop for deer which was either standing next to the road or on it. Nature at its best! Taking the turn to Badrallach old trees framed the sides of the road and annoyed sheep stared at us, when they realized they have to give up their sleeping place in the middle of the road to let us past. Driving along a tiny single track road were signs warned that CTTV cameras were in action due to sheep rustling
, it became clear that we were in the middle of no mans land.
Finally after a 6h drive we arrived at the campsite and I fell in love with the bothy. Apart from us there was only one more couple and we had the choice to sleep in a bothy (6 Pounds per night) or use the campsite.
We opted for the campsite and the onsite shower, toilet and kitchen block were spotless and one of the best I have seen...remoteness with some added luxuries of a bothy with electricity and lovely warm showers...brilliant!!!
We woke up the next morning before sunrise after a 6h sleep...not the best start for a long walk, but I was looking forward to be in the mountains.
Nice an early we arrived at the designated car park and set off. The first part of the walk is through some lovely forest...wide forestry tracks were easy to follow and about 45 min later we reached the open moorland. The path was still easy to follow although it was much narrower. We followed the path up the hill and soon in the distance An Teallach showed its craggy peaks...lovely! After another 45min we reached the point indicated by a small cairn where the path split.
Walking to the left would mean an easy start up the mountains, but a hard finish as the highest Munro would be the last one. Walking to the left would mean to climb the highest Munro first and have an easy finish.
We opted for the left path and walked towards the first Munro (Eididh nan Clach Geala). With excellent weather and a clear path we left the maps and GPS in the bag and just enjoyed the experience to be alone in this great wilderness. Reaching a loch we looked up to a bump of a hill to our left and decided that cant be the first Munro as it looked too small - big mistake!
We continued around the lovely loch and followed the path which we guessed would lead up to the first Munro. While the path followed a really gentle way up the hill, I kept on thinking that something felt wrong...this was too easy!
But there was no other path...by the time we were between 2 hills and the path lead down hill again I switched on the GPS and looked at the maps...Ah
The little bump of a hill was indeed a Munro`and we walked around it.
As we ended up at the other side, we decided that we could not miss it and walked up its grassy slope...straight up but it only took 30 min. Taking some pictures we returned the same route and decided to ignore the path at the bottom - god knows where we would end up if we would follow it. Looking at the mountain we decided on a route and started to follow it up. We had to cross some big patches of snow and scramble up some bits but all in all it was an easy walk up the second Munro ( Meall nan Ceapraichean)
We reached the top feeling fresh and relaxed and decided that it was really easy.
Leaving the top we made our way down to Munto Nr 3 (Cona Mheall) Originally we planned to have lunch on the second Munro, but ice cold winds stopped that plan and so we walked down to the bottom and had lunch close to the great stone wall which divided the mountain. After lunch we packed our bags and made our way up Munro Nr 3....also an easy one to climb but the big boulder field at the top made walking a bit more difficult than the grassy slopes. Admiring the views towards Stac Polly, Cul More, Cul Beag and Suilven and co we left the third Munro and walked down the path we walked up...a bit boring and senseless, but you cant really avoid it. Back at the bottom we looked up the steep side of Ben Dearg. The path up followed the old stone wall which was easy, but by that time I started to feel a wee bit tired. The weather also changed and being blasted by cold winds and only a hazy view across the winds, dimmed our excitement a bit. But neverless Ben Dearg would be my 50 Munro, so I was pleased when I reached the top.
Having a quick drink we left the summit and made our way down the stone wall in order to return to the car. The walk back to the crossroads point was easy, as you only needed to follow the burn, but by that time the long walk back was a bit de motivating. We had another break to eat the remaining sandwiches when we reached the bottom and including the break time it took us 3h from the top of Ben Dearg back to the car...
We reached the car 10h after leaving it and after taking walking boots and socks off ...one of the best feelings in the world after walking for 10h
, we cracked open a small bottle of beer to celebrate (first beer is also amazing) before we drove back to the campsite.
All in all I enjoyed the walk, but the Munros are nothing special in comparison to An Teallach and some of the smaller hills in the area...would I do the 4 of them again...no, but sometimes I guess the long not so exciting walks make the shorter ones more enjoyable.
Just in case you wonder about the wall up the mountain (Ben Dearg)...I googled it and found out that it is a 'famine wall' and was built by destitute people for food in the 1840's
- The nightime drive to Badrallach...dont mess with the sheep :-D
- I can see how this is done...one only needs to collect them by the roadsite....
- The bothy....so lovely
- The map...ok not the only one...but the straight forward on e:-)
- Looking back towards the forest
- The place where the path splits
- An Teallach showing its peaks
- The loch we walked around apart from climbing the Munro to its left
- Stac Polly, Suilven, Cul Beag, Cul More and co
- The last snow fields
- Small 'Iceberg' in a loch ;-)
- Ben Deargs summit
