free to be able to rate and comment on reports (as well as access 1:25000 mapping).
Kintail & Skye Day 1Glen Coe's generally just a little bit too far for a day trip, so despite having driven through it numerous times on our way north, we'd never explored any of the shorter walking trails around the far, western end of the glen. At the end of July we were heading up the A82 towards Kintail for a week's holiday; with thunderstorms forecast to build from the east through the day, a few shorter routes seemed ideal as we could bail when the weather deteriorated.
It was sunny but feeling humid when we arrived at the car park (which was still nearly full with overnight campervans). Patches of mist on the hills, but decent weather for an easy stroll. View of the end of the Aonach Eagach from the car park:
The path soon crosses the attractive River Coe, with some wonderful views up the glen.
Almost immediately after crossing the bridge you need to turn left for Signal Rock. There are a lot of path junctions (usually unsignposted) on this route, so I was glad to have a printout of the route overlaid onto the OS map. The path then winds through woodland for a while, where we were lucky to spot a deer. The deer relaxed after we stood still for a few minutes and we were able to watch it grazing peacefully for quite a while.
For a moment I thought this might be Signal Rock before realising that we hadn't gone far enough yet...
Speckled Wood butterfly:
The path climbs towards the real Signal Rock, which - if I recall correctly - is signposted. There isn't really a view from the top any more.
We retraced our steps to an earlier path junction, then branched left to climb An Torr. This is only a tiny hillock but the seems to climb part of it from several sides before actually reaching the top - so it seems bigger!
Eventually, down to the Clachaig for the classic view of the scary-looking gully, where a couple of walkers were already almost back at the roadside having presumably the Aonach Eagach early in the morning. The ridge is on our long-term list, but we probably won't be descending that way!
We've had good food at the pub in the past, but sadly it was far too early for a bite to eat, so we carried on down the link path back to the start.
A lovely warm-up for (hopefully) some bigger walks later in the week. The weather was still looking good too, so onwards to Ballachulish for stop no. 2...
Kintail & Skye 2019>> Afternoon: Brecklet Trail & Ballachulish quarries
