Bearnais to Strathcarron

Thursday 23rd May 2019

I have had a troubled history with the hills in Scotland between Glen Shiel and Strathcarron whereby the weather never seems to be good which makes it seem as if I have no luck in that area. I tried to spend almost an entire holiday there in 2014, but I seemed to go from one disaster to another. That holiday started with the bus that would take me to the village of Struy at the entrance to Glen Strathfarrar driving straight past me without stopping, and then the following week bad weather prevented me from going over the Mullardoch hills which forced me to walk along the whole length of Loch Mullardoch. These bad experiences made me reluctant to return to the area, but after five years of licking my wounds I finally plucked up the courage to enter this remote part of the Scottish Highlands again. I came from a different direction this time, not from the east that had not worked out for me in 2014, but from the south so I could climb the mountains that bad weather had prevented me from climbing in 2014, only for bad weather to stop me again. I was unable to climb Sgùrr nan Ceathreamhnan at the head of Glen Affric, and now after two nights at the Bearnais bothy bad weather prevented me from climbing the mountains west of Loch Monar.

The weather had been terrible the day before this walk with rain almost all day, and on this day I woke in the bothy to unchanged weather. It was very depressing for me to realise that I had come all this way to such a remote part of Scotland only for bad weather to ruin my plans and stop me from climbing the mountains. The bad weather that always seems to be in this area makes me not want to ever come back to this part of the Highlands again. I did have some luck two days before when the sun shone where I was, though just a short distance south the weather was bad, so on that day I was able to climb two remote mountains in the West Monar Forest, Lurg Mhòr and Bidein à Choire Sheasgaich. That day was a joy, but apart from that and maybe one or two other exceptions this whole area has seemed to be plagued with bad luck for me. I could easily say I will never return to this area again, but I hope this is not the case because there are some fabulous mountains including Bidein à Choire Sheasgaich on the walk two days ago.

With these thoughts going through my head and wondering if it was ever going to be worth my going to the West Highlands again I packed my stuff and left the Bearnais bothy that had been my home and shelter from the bad weather for two nights, and set off along the sketchy path that heads west into the low hills. Waving goodbye to Bearnais bothy I headed into the wind and rain plunging through the heather and bog on a narrow path that, though generally clear, is not the best. In many places it was inevitably waterlogged and the views were non-existent thanks to the low clouds. After a short climb into the low hills the path weaves a flat, uninteresting route that may have been enlivened by a view, but with the rain blowing into my face I kept my head down as I made my way along the path wishing this walk would just end. From the map I must have passed through a gap in the ridge north of the Graham-classed mountain Creag Dhubh Mhòr before finally starting to descend following the Eas na Creige Duibhe Mòire.

The terrain now became more interesting as the stream fell down a lovely cascade into a beautiful ravine lined with trees. Despite the continuing rain this was a lovely scene and the trees that are usually scarce in Scottish mountain scenes, grazing by deer prevent their appearance, gave a pleasing wild land look to the surroundings. As I continued to descend the rain finally stopped and the clouds opened out to reveal the view before me across the fields of Strathcarron, and I even briefly saw a small patch of blue sky. This joyous scene was short-lived as I soon came across the desolation caused by recent hydro-electric works on the Eas an Teampuill above Strathcarron. There have been many hydro-electric schemes recently built in the Highlands of Scotland, and they are liable to become the ruination of the Highlands as they are destroying the very thing that brings people to the mountains. It is heart-breaking to see. Resignedly I dropped onto the wide access road that has been bulldozed through the beautiful Highlands and slowly I followed this track all the way into Stathcarron.

I was thankful that the rain had stopped, but it was too late as I was due to catch a train back to Inverness. I had not seen another human being for more than two days since leaving the Maole-bhuidhe bothy so it was good to have human contact again, but after five days in the awesome scenery of the wilds of Scotland, it was distressing to descend past the desolation caused by the hydro-electric works, though except for the wide access road it will eventually recover. Despite the desolation and poor weather I reflected as I came down into Strathcarron that this is a beautiful valley with stunning scenery so it is a pity that it is all being put in danger by the desire to earn a small amount of money generating a small amount of electricity. So much lost for so little gain.