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Meall Glac Tigh-fail must be one of the best viewpoints in the Highlands, despite the rather unpromising location as a bump in the middle of a pretty featureless moor. I was seriously lucky to get a lovely sunny day with crunchy snow. The start point is at Croftown, where there's a parking area by a bus stop. Up the road, there’s a new sign saying Coffin Road, which goes down some well made wood-boxed steps, and a causeway, a step over a gate, across a mossy field, though a gate, over a drainage ditch and onto a good track zigging up to the left behind houses. A couple of years ago this path was overgrown with gorse, washed out and covered in fallen trees, but has now been repaired. It's steep but easy going except for one boggy bit. The path follows the trees, and then takes off right across a steep field, on grass at first, and then I was lucky to get crunchy snow. The views are simply incredible because of the steepness of the valley.
Beinn Dearg and Beinn Jenny Éclair (a.k.a. Beinn Enaiglair
) look great, and there are views to the Fannaichs, with all the big hills totally plastered in snow.
The views just get better and better all day! The track flattens out near a fence and a gate. There’s an atv track branching off left up the hill, towards the east side of Meall Dubh, which seemed worth a try. It's steep, boggy and snowy, but it does indeed go the right way, and peters out below the tiny lochan on the SE side of Meall Dubh.
The views of Beinn Dearg from here are simply stunning!
It’s easy enough traversing round the S end of the hill, on a reasonably smooth hillside with bits of rock, leading to the col below MGFT. MGFT is a real surprise: a pointy peak, with a proper mini mountain ridge, crags, and scree slopes.
There are views of An Teallach and Fisherfield from the col. Until here, the snow had been slightly patchy, but going towards Carn Lon nan Gobhar, there was proper snow cover, mainly powder with solid icy stuff underneath, but really easy going in trainers. I know, I know, the mountain rescue police will have a go at me
, but frozen trainers with sealskinz are really warmer than boots and the studs give fantastic grip!
There’s a weird little tiny rocky peak just below MGFT about 10 feet high!
Then there is a trench separating CLNG from MGFT, and vague shallow ridges going down either side.
I dodged across the trench and hacked up heather, across a surprisingly firm snow gully, and onto the S ridge, and easily on snowed up frozen grass to the top. There's a big cairn, and incredible views all round.
Views of An Teallach, Beinn Dearg Mor, Beinn a Chladheimh, Sgurr Ban, Mullach Coire Mhic Fhearchair, and of course all the Fannaichs, the "Beinn Dearg" group of Munros, Corbetts and Grahams, Ben More Assynt, Canisp, Cul Mor, Cul Beag, Beinn Mor Coigeach, Beinn Ghoblach, and across the bogs and lochs, all frozen hard, on this huge moor, dropping off to the crags where the Destitution road goes down to Dundonnell…it’s a total 360 degree view. Incredible, and all plastered in snow and ice, and the sun out too.
Quite cold on the top (indeed, I had hat, gloves and cag on now compared with shirtsleeves at the start) but who cares? The views are so good, it's much better to loaf around and shiver a bit than to rush down. I wandered over to a very small lower cairn, then down. I was really taking my time, there were so many photos to take, and there was absolutely no hurry. This is a truly enjoyable walk. My shoes had melted, so the toes were a bit cold going down, until they re-froze. OK, so down to the col and then up over Carn Dearg. This gives a great view of MGFT:
What a splendid mini mountain!
Carn Dearg is covered with nice slabs of rock which give easy going, and there's a lochan near the top.
There’s a strange rocky rampart/ridge running SW, which is nice to follow until it peters out, and then across a low col to the fence (broken), then a stroll over rocky bare ground (all covered in snow) with a few low bogs/hags on a low ridge at the side of Carn na Sispein, which undulates gently. It’s easy to navigate, just keep high, and keep heading in the direction of Creag Loisgte, which is quite pointy and a good landmark to aim at. Loch an Fhiona is also a good landmark. There’s a final little lochan where Loch an Tiompan comes into view to the NW and down the hill, and the track is visible straight ahead. The ground is very rough here for a short while – heather, hags, drainage channels. Then the track. This was mainly sheets of ice with snow on it, but if a fox could walk on it (footprints) so could I, but carefully! The track goes past Loch an Fhiona, where there’s an ugly set of atv tracks going L
, NW, presumably joining the bulldozed track marked on the map. The old track home goes R and is a bit indistinct, and is merely visible due to wheel marks in the heather. It peters out briefly at a strange stone dam at Lochan Dubh – large rocks piled into a curious structure that looks like a causeway but isn’t.
The views from the track at Creag Breiste are awesome; there are steep heathery drops to the head of Loch Broom, and there are the classic snaking drainage channels into the sea at the head of the Loch. It was pretty icy here and slightly steeper. Then I was back at the gate at the junction with the outwards atv track, and home in time for tea and cakes. What a beautiful walk! It certainly isn't a walk to rush, the views are completely awesome and need to be admired. As you can see from the excessive time I took
, there was a lot of standing and staring going on! I guess the snow made it extra special, but I think this would be good at any time of the year.