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Looking across to cloud art on Beinn Eighe

Looking across to cloud art on Beinn Eighe


Postby TheTortoise » Wed Aug 26, 2020 9:46 pm

Fionas included on this walk: Meall a' Chaorainn (Achnasheen)

Date walked: 19/08/2020

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The SMC guide describes the route to Meall a'Chaorainn up the glen from Loch a'Chroisg as suitable for those with knees past their manufacturer's warranty date. This sounded ideal since all of me, including my knee, was feeling tired at the end of some superb walking days. The road is lined with deer fences and locked gates, but this must be to keep the public out, since there are no further fences between the forest and the open hill, and indeed one of the first thing that we noticed in the forest was deer prints in the mud. It's a gentle route all the way, up a track through the forest (a 'new' track in Dempster's book, but rather neglected now), then an old stalker's path continues up the glen and round onto the shoulder of the hill. We then left the track and headed over slightly tussocky grass initially, then shorter grass and a stony grassy mix. After a few false hopes (can't really call them false tops, it is all so gentle), a cairn was spotted. MWIS had suggested that tops would almost certainly be clear by mid-morning, but this was not the case. Our hill was cloud free, but there was a lot of cloud to the south-east, and swirling around Fionn Bheinn,
FionnBheinn.jpg
Over to Fionn Bheinn
We walked over to the edge of the flat top for a view of extensive peat hags below and lots of cloud.
IMG_20200819_124333Chaorainn2.jpg
Bog and cloud to the SE
We ate our lunch by the cairn, and sat enjoying the fact that we could appreciate the sun without the presence of flies or strong winds. LIttle birds flew about and landed nearby, probably pipits.
IMG_20200819_112123Chaorainn2.jpg
Cloud art on Beinn Eighe
We watched the cumulus clouds, very impressive initially, gradually clearing from the summits to the north and west. It was a super walk out, retracing our steps, walking towards all those clearing northern hills. and, for a change, not needing to pay too much attention on where to put your feet.
IMG_20200819_113118Chaorainn2.jpg
Walking north-west, hills clear now
Finally we descended through the glen, the hillsides covered in purple heather.
IMG_20200819_150739Chaorainn2.jpg
Walking out down the glen

Here is our approximate route

our_route.gpx Open full screen  NB: Walkhighlands is not responsible for the accuracy of gpx files in users posts

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TheTortoise
Mountain Walker
 
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