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Last weekend we had a good day up on a Graham despite low cloud. This Saturday, wind forecast was dreadful, gusts 50mph on higher ground, therefore we looked for an interesting spot to ramble on lower levels. Struie Hill is less than 400m high so we hoped that winds would be bearable. Plus it's only a short drive from home so it wouldn't take us half the day to get there
The true summit of Struie is only about 130m above B9176 and we drove past so many times when heading for the hills of far north, but the whole hill is much longer, 2.5km from Struie summit (373m) and the mast on the opposite end (called Struie Hill for more confusion!). Every time I saw this prominent ridge I kept saying: one day we'll come and walk it!
The obvious way would be to start from B9176 and walk the ridge up-and-back, but we wanted to do some kind of circular, so started from Rheguile farm, where there is space to park. We visited the eastern summit first, then traversed to the summit (it's a sub'2 Marylin) and finally descended the SW shoulder back to the starting point. The whole circuit shouldn't take longer than 4 hours. We were slowed down by very strong winds and a heavy shower, but still enjoyed this half-day visit to (lower) hills!
Parking at Rheguile. The indicator says 3.3km to the eastern top.
There are 3 different tracks starting from Rheguille, the easternmost one is the shortest route to Struie Hill. The target is prominent from the very first stage:
It was a bright if very windy morning and from the very start we agreed that not tackling anything higher was a good decision. It was blowy even on the low level, I dreaded to think what was happening on Munro height
But Kevin had a brand new windproof jacket, which he was eager to test in windy conditions...
Ready to go:
After 1.5km of easy walking on tarmac, we stopped for a minute to appreciate the view down to Dornoch Firth:
The good track ends at Leachonich farm. From this point, a more muddy and "untidy" track leads past a gate to the upper reaches of Struie ridge:
Lovely views behind us as we gained height:
The track, after some boggy sections at the beginning, soon became dry and stony, easy walking at the moment:
After 150m of ascent we hit the ridge. The track (more a path by now) turns right here and becomes a bit boggy again. Views were lovely indeed, but we were also hit by strong winds as we emerged on the ridge, so walking turned into staggering from side to side
Something different for a change
The final ascent to Struie Hill, the remaining part of the ridge behind me:
The upper Dornoch Firth from near the eastern top:
The radio transmitter:
The wind was so strong we struggled to stand straight on the summit. There is a small cairn by a fence post, but it was impossible to take photos there, so we run to hide behind the maintenance buildings by the mast. Kevin peeked out from behind our shelter and snapped some photos looking west - we could definitely see a shower bearing cloud on its way!
Despite the pre-Ophelia hurricane conditions, we spent some time on the eastern top, doing our best to take some decent snaps. It is an amazing viewpoint indeed and on a better day one could sit here for a long time, gazing east into the North Sea. We agreed, we'd come back here in winter conditions, if there is snow down to low level, views would be even more spectacular!
Black Panther bracing for hurricane Ophelia:
View north:
Panoramic snap:
Kevin in his new windproof jacket
The rain was coming in but we were carrying our proper hillwalking equipment, so we were well prepared. One could laugh and ask, why bother taking "the full metal jacket" heavy rucksack on a 3-4hr stroll up an easy sub'2? Well, in this case, gaiters and waterproof trousers proved very useful!
But before the storm hit us, the pain was sweetened by a lovely rainbow over Dornoch Firth:
We descended to the 262m col and noticed there was an obvious if wet path ascending the next part of the ridge. The rain has arrived and hit us almost horizontally. We were walking into that rain and wind, so the next 20 minutes of climbing to the middle top (349m) was a real struggle... It's been a while since we did so much exercise on a Sub'2 hill!
We reached the middle top battered by the winds. The rain started to ease now, giving us hope that it might stop soon. We could just about see the target summit in front of us:
Thankfully, from the middle top it's almost flat walking to the true summit of Struie. The heavy shower stopped as abruptly as it appeared and when we walked the final meters to the summit cairn, we were basking in sunshine again!
The storm we walked through, passing over to the North Sea:
Dornoch Firth:
Zoomed:
The summit! Hooray!
B9176 passing just below our feet... Carn Salachaidh and Carn Chunneaig on the horizon:
View east:
Lucy on the summit
One man and his camera:
My 20th Sub 2000 Marylin... Not that I'm really bothered about bagging them. Just the ones with interesting views
Panorama west:
Dornoch Firth and the ridge back to Struie Hill:
It was still very windy on the summit, so after a short photo session, we started our descent down the SW shoulder. The path marked on 1-25k map does not exist any more, so we simply picked our way down the heathery slopes - a bit wet in places but relatively easy going:
Looking back to the summit:
We stopped about half way down by a large rock to have a warming cup of tea, then continued down the grassy meadow to the nearest track. We crossed a stony dyke and jumped over a small stream, to find ourselves on a track just west of Polagharrie farm:
On the final stage, walking back to the car, we admired the colours of autumn around us...
Struie ridge from below:
It is really a nice ridge, well worth a visit and a worthy viewpoint. Shame about the rain and wind, but at least the storm passed by the time we reached the summit and we could see the fantastic panoramas to the north and west. We enjoyed this mini-hurricane adventure
Hopefully, the real Ophelia will pass by us quietly and won't cause any damage... I'm not a fan of "flying bin days".
So that's all folks for now, but I'll be back for more!