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Since the forecast was alright in the North-West I decided to head to Achnasheen for a walk up Fionn Bheinn. Depending on the weather and timings, I thought about adding on the Graham, Meall a’Chaorainn, and fortunately things went to plan and I managed to make a nice circuit.
There was a beautiful sunrise as I set off just after 8am and it was good to see the surrounding hills light up in the morning light.
- sunrise
There’s a new bulldozed track at the start where there were some workmen who I saw going up the hill later on. The walker’s route avoids the new track by heading over the bridge on the right and after reaching some nice waterfalls, I branched off up Creagan nan Laogh to the summit of Fionn Bheinn.
I saw red deer, grouse and a flock of small birds which looked like yellowhammers or it might have been a mixed flock.
There were cornices forming on the corrie and the mist cleared at times at the top to give glimpses of the Torridon hills and it was very atmospheric.
It was quite steep coming down Fionn Bheinn towards Meall a’Chaorainn and I needed my crampons since the snow was firm. Luckily the cold weather meant that it wasn’t too boggy heading up Meall a’Chaorainn but I imagine that the peat hags wouldn’t be much fun in the rain.
On the way down there’s a faint track on the west side of the river which I used rather than the new bulldozed track which was pretty muddy from being churned up by the diggers.
Another great day out in a brilliant area – although it was a bit misty at the top, these hills make an excellent viewpoint