Dog Falls

Tuesday 3rd June 2014

After my disappointments with the day before this walk, when it had rained off and on all day as I made my way through the rough countryside beside Loch Mullardoch, I needed a better day, and surprisingly that was what I got. When I got up it was raining again and I was already starting to make alternative plans for the rest of my holiday as with seemingly no change in the bad weather again I felt very despondent, wondering what I could do with this day and I wasn’t in a hurry to make a decision. Slowly I packed up my tent and when it stopped raining I left the Cannich Campsite and made my way through the village, stopping off at the store for some supplies, before heading off along the road towards Glen Affric. Since I’d been slow to leave the campsite I had missed the bus out of Cannich and as there wasn’t another for more than two hours I aimlessly wandered down the road while trying to come up with a better option for the day. Ultimately I couldn’t think of a better plan than the one that I’d originally had for this week so I continued into Glen Affric.

Glen Affric is one of the better known glens and is often claimed to be the most beautiful of all the Scottish glens. The valley is now a National Nature Reserve and is home to extensive pinewoods, a remnant of the Caledonian Forest that once covered all of Scotland. I entered the reserve along the road with the River Affric to my left down the steep hillside where the sound of Badger Fall through the trees enticed me, but with no access into the steep ravine I had to stay on the road. Eventually I reached a footpath sign, and assuming that this was part of the network of paths around Dog Falls, which is marked on maps, I headed down to the river where a good bridge crossed the water a distance downstream from a rock-sided ravine with a waterfall just out of sight.

Assuming, rightly, that I had reached Dog Falls I continued along the excellent trail away from the river and at a junction I decided to follow red topped posts to climb steeply up the hillside. To my surprise I started to get hot from the climb and from the sun that was beginning to break through the clouds so I took off my waterproofs and soon felt much better as I climbed up to the forest road at the top of the path. Continuing to follow the red markers I turned right along the forest track until I eventually descended back down to the river at the car park for Dog Falls where I had my lunch before continuing along the Dog Falls Trail following the red posts beside a spectacular rock-filled river that finally brought me to Dog Falls. Waterfalls are often in deep ravines that make it very difficult to get a good view of them, and Dog Falls is just such a waterfall, so just as with the Falls of Glomach that I had visited two days previously I couldn’t get a good view.

As I stood at the poor viewpoint for Dog Falls I glanced at the sky and realised that it was almost clear of clouds and revealing gorgeous sunny weather on a lovely day. This was an utter shock for me as just a couple of hours before it had looked as if I’d never see the sun again all week. The fickleness of the weather in Britain is really annoying at times. I was glad I’d decided to keep to my original plan as I returned along the path to the car park where I started to follow white topped posts along forest roads that led me heading further into Glen Affric. The Viewpoint Trail ends at a point where a spectacular view can be seen across Loch Beinn a’ Mheadhoin towards the awesome mountains north of the valley that have their peak in the twin mountains of Màm Sodhail and Carn Eighe.

The sight of these mountains spurred me on when earlier in the day I had thought I’d never even get a glimpse, but now I was planning an ascent of these Munros. First I needed to get to them and that meant carrying on along the track all the way to the end of Loch Beinn a’ Mheadhoin over many, long weary miles. Forest roads are not very interesting to walk along as they are too wide and flat, being little better than walking along a public road, and there were so many trees either side I had poor views across the loch. Eventually I reached the River Affric car park where a small woodland trail explores the land at the western end of Loch Beinn a’ Mheadhoin and affords good views of the small rapids on the raging River Affric.

After all my indecision at the start of this walk I was now settled on my course of action and that was to do what I had originally planned. I walked along the private road from the car park to Affric Lodge where I turned right onto a landrover track that zigzags up the hillside north of the valley. To my right were the snow-speckled mountains of Màm Sodhail and Carn Eighe which were looking spectacular in the bright evening sunshine, and it was very tempting to immediately start an ascent in such brilliant weather. Instead I climbed up the steep landrover track to the col between Sgùrr na Lapaich and Am Meallan and down the boggy ground to the valley of Gleann nam Fiadh, which runs from the foot of Carn Eighe. There, beside the river, I camped at a delightful spot with the two mountains beaming down on me. At the start of this day I would never have imagined that I would end the day in such an amazing place and in such sensational weather. After all the disappointments that I had suffered the day before I was relieved that the weather had unexpectantly turned out so well and I was hopeful for a good day after.