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Having climbed Cnoc Udais from Loch nam Bonnach, we wanted to explore the easier approach to this hill via the windfarm track, but that meant using bikes. I'm more a walker than a cyclist and prefer to use the two wheels away from busy roads, but this route was mostly on quiet local ones so not much traffic thankfully. Technically, you could cycle all the way tot he summit of Cnoc Udais (if you enjoy pedaling uphill
). We wanted to do a proper bike & hike excursion, visiting not only Cnoc Udais, but also the nearby top Cnoc Beinn na Lice and Loch nan Eun. The walking part was mostly on tracks, with only a short pathless section between Cnoc Beinn na Lice and the loch:
We jumped on our bikes and cycled along A862 to Muir of Ord, where we turned to a local road past the distillery to the farm of Auchmore. There is a gate here, locked for any vehicular access, but walkers and cyclists are welcome. We took the bikes up to about 200m and left them chained to a fence:
Walking up the windfarm track:
It was a misty morning but the cloud soon lifted, leaving us with lovely views north to Ben Wyvis:
As we marched uphill, I kept my eyes on the neighbouring TUMP, Cul Beag - another target to visit as part of our Boriswalking routine. A farm track climbs past Auchederson farm and it gives an easy access to the southern slopes of this hill:
But at the moment, we had another top to visit, Cnoc Beinn na Lice. it has so little reascent that it's not even a TUMP, but it looks interesting enough:
We turned off the main track to follow another, fainter one, to a deer fence:
Having followed the fence for a short distance, we found a gate and crossed to the other side, where we had barely 30m to climb to the summit of Cnoc Beinn na Lice. The exact highest spot is not marked and even Kevin's map studies didn't make much difference. Lucy helped as much as she could
From the summit there are good views in all directions, Cnoc Udais is very close:
Loch nan Eun:
Back to Loch nam Bonnach and the wind turbines:
Beinn a' Bha'ach Ard:
Panoramic snaps:
Not satisfied with this pseudo-climb, we decided to prolong our walk to visit Loch nan Eun. We returned to the gate and then cut across the bumpy moorland to the nearest track:
The final section before the loch was very wet, but once on the shore, we found ourselves in a lovely spot just by a small hydro dam. Not much water in the loch, so we could cross the weir and take some pictures from here.
Looking across the loch to Beinn a' Bha'ach Ard:
Kevin on the dam:
Panoramic version:
Me and Lucy:
After a short break at the loch side, we returned to the windfarm track and walked past the turbines to the summit of Cnoc Udais. From here, there is a good view to Ben Wyvis:
Looking back to Cnoc Beinn na Lice (right) and Loch nan Eun (middle):
Kevin admiring Cul Beag. Next time, darling, next time!
View west along Gleann Goibhre:
The final rest on the summit of Cnoc Udais, before returning to our bikes:
On the way down we saw several other groups of people (families I assumed - I didn't ask of they were from the same household) going up the track. It seems that in times of lockdown, Cnoc Udais has become a popular local walk. it might not be very demanding when climbed from this side, but it's a good viewpoint and comes in handy as a substitute for "proper" mountains.
Our next Boris walk includes another local TUMP - Cnoc Eille Mor, which at 403m is the highest of Beauly TUMPs. The walk required some tuft-hopping and tick-flicking, but it was a good workout with some lovely views once again. TR soon
