Beinn a' Ghrianain

[litljortindan]

Drove up through the forecast early morning showers and cloud-capped hills trusting that the forecast would come good and that there would be no showers by the time I got to Kylestrome.


Stopped at the viewpoint just north of Ullapool to admire this rain cloud. This was not a very intelligent thing to do as (1) the cloud was heading in my direction at speed and (2) I had walked through soaking grass in my trainers to get to the said viewpoint. It was pretty heavy rain too. Ran back to car.


Beinn Ghobhlach across Loch Broom.


Hold on, that's getting a bit close.


Overcast east of Ullapool.






By the time I got north of Cul Mor the sky was clearing a bit.


View of Stack of Glencoul and Cnoc na Creig.

Set off along the Loch Glendhu track with a spring in my step as it had now cleared up nicely with nothing ominous looking coming in from the west. There were very fine reflections in the loch.


Whoever might be on Quinag was surely having or going to have a great day for it. The first bigger hill to clear but it was a bit on and off.




Some people don't like these signs but I do.


How deep is a reflection? And what are Race's ripples anyway?




Beinn Aird da Loch, Stack of Glencoul and Cnoc na Creig.


Still looking gloomy to the east but improving.








The cloud factory at Drumbeg has fired up again temporarily.


How many trees grow at 20 degrees above the horizontal?


Probably about here that I thought about how the walk along this track must be one of the most beautiful low level walks in Scotland, if not the most beautiful. All a matter of opinion, of course!


















Got to the hydro scheme and decision point as to whether to carry on along the track or to ascend. I chose to ascend just to get new views since I had been along the track to the bothy last August. That turned out to be the correct choice as I ran out of time for a bigger route beyond Beinn a' Ghrianain so would have been a bit stuck if I'd carried on.


Ambiguous sign.


Followed a sketchy track/path north beside the Maldie Burn before cutting off east at a convenient point.

The damp tussocky grass made for slowish going up to the 197m point and it was still windless and warmish so, typically for such condtions, I was already struggling a bit to get a good walking rhythm, if there's such a thing. A bit different to last week's smooth escalator that was Sail Mhor anyway.



The elevated view along Loch Dubh was the prize for the initial effort.




















First elevated view to the east end of Loch Dhu.


















One of the things I wanted to get from the day; a view over the bothy and east end of the glen.








Heading north-east to Beinn a' Ghrianain (top left).




Not enough time today to get round to the Meall Dearg cliff-top.




Onto steeper ground for the last part of the ascent. Horses grazing bottom right -I do hope they closed that gate!














A continuation to or from Meall Dearg looks straight-forward if bumpy.


Lockdoon hair + sweat.


Across Loch Dhubh to Suilven. Who was the first person to see this view, I wonder.








The southern slopes are steep so I found it necessary to descend in a south-westerly then south-easterly direction.


I don't think a direct ascent or descent via the bothy would be a good idea either.

[rockhopper]

Not the most auspicious of starts weatherwise, but good to see that it turned out rather nicely later on.
Have done quite a bit of walking around here on past family holidays but have never yet been down this way from Kylesku/Kylestrome. The ferry was still running in those days pre-bridge - cheers

[malky_c]

Interesting - hadn't considered that particular bump before. I've been keen to do more exploring of this area, but we've been limited to shorter walks this summer. Looks like something like this could fit the bill. Some great photos in there

[litljortindan]

Not the most auspicious of starts weatherwise, but good to see that it turned out rather nicely later on.
Have done quite a bit of walking around here on past family holidays but have never yet been down this way from Kylesku/Kylestrome. The ferry was still running in those days pre-bridge - cheers

Highly recommended but maybe a bike would be the sensible way to get to the end of the glen. My wife says of course I can have a bike if I can find a space in the shed for it (there is no space).

[litljortindan]

Interesting - hadn't considered that particular bump before. I've been keen to do more exploring of this area, but we've been limited to shorter walks this summer. Looks like something like this could fit the bill. Some great photos in there

Thanks! The track looks pretty good for a cycle, at least as far as the bothy, though I must admit I wouldn't be the best at assessing track cyclability.

[Mountainlove]

You have some wonderful photos and the walk is something I need to look into when I am back up north. Looks really lovely. Thanks for sharing

[litljortindan]

You have some wonderful photos and the walk is something I need to look into when I am back up north. Looks really lovely. Thanks for sharing

A change in the weather combined with loch views often seems a good combination.