Carn Loch nan Amhaichean

[TheTortoise]

We drove to Inchbrae, where there is a good parking area just over the bridge, then cycled up Strathrannoch to the farm. There were nice views from time to time of the river. The track in the forest was rather stony, but it was often possible to avoid the stones by cycling on the edge of the track or the edge of the central section. The track through the farmland was very pleasant. We left our bikes just past the farm, at the edge of a Scots pine plantation.

View of the hill from a stand of pines

We followed the stalkers path for about 1km, along the edge of a mini gorge, until the path dropped down to the burn.

The little gorge

It has been an amazingly dry August in the north of Scotland, and the burn was shallow with plenty of stones to stand on. Then up gradually steepening slopes across moorland, a grass heather mix. We made our way onto the ridge, pausing at a large boulder. Then easy walking on short vegetation and some stones along the ridge to the summit.

Easy walking along the ridge

There were excellent views of distant hills to the west, Fannichs, Strathfarrar, with Carn Chuinneag and Wyvis dominating the near views. We sat down to eat lunch near the cairn but were immediately plagued by flying ants and a few other insects. The Hare walked around eating whilst I stayed put, the swarms of ants came and went, but I had to look carefully at my food for insects before taking each bite. Finally the wind rose a little and the insects dispersed, so we spent more time on the summit, identified some of the more obscure peaks using Peakfinder, then walked over to look down at the lochan before descending much the same way.

Beinn nan Eun, climbed a day earlier

Over to Carn Chuinneag

We cycled back along the track, but had to concentrate a bit too much in the forest because of the stones. This minor annoyance was the worst aspect of the day, which otherwise was delightfully straightforward after some of our recent longer days.