Glenfinnan and Fort William Views

Friday 9th June 2017

I had felt rather cut off during my second week in Scotland as I was staying in valleys where there isn’t a radio signal so except for brief moments at the tops of the hills I had no way of knowing what was happening in the wider world. I had thought it would be a good idea to get away from everything as I would be able to forget about the General Election, but in the event I found that I really missed the radio. I can cope with being cut off from other people (I even like it), but don’t cut me off from my radio. I enjoy listening to the radio when walking and miss it when I don’t have a signal. On this last full day of my holiday I had a choice whether to catch the train from Glenfinnan at eleven o’clock or five o’clock (there are no choices in between); I decided to catch the earlier train. I could have climbed another hill, maybe Braigh nan Uamhachan on the other side of the valley from Streap or venture further afield to the Munro Gulvain. However, when I got up it was raining which rather made up my mind for me so I packed up and left the lovely Gleann Dubh Lighe bothy where I had just spent two nights during which I never saw a single soul.

Descending the valley I retraced my steps of two days previously emerging onto the road and leaving the road again after passing underneath a railway bridge. On that previous occasion I had noticed signs directing short paths to viewpoints in the Callop Valley and now I had a good opportunity to explore them. In the event there was not really much to see as the clouds were still low in the sky even though it had stopped raining, but there was only one thing I wanted to look at. After taking a few pictures of the valley and the head of Loch Shiel with the village of Glenfinnan beyond I headed back to the main road and along the private road into Glen Finnan. Just before reaching the viaduct I took a path that climbs underneath and up the hillside to afford great views of the viaduct and any trains that may be passing over the top. Unfortunately I couldn’t wait for the train to come as I wanted to catch the train myself so I had to content myself with getting views of the empty viaduct in its majestic position near the bottom of the valley with its spellbinding view down the length of Loch Shiel.

With still some time until the train was due I slowly made my along the well-made path that hugs the hillside while taking loads of pictures every couple of steps. At first these were just of the viaduct, but as this passed out of sight my camera turned towards the views down Loch Shiel that are truly the great selling point of the Glenfinnan Viaduct and really the reason why it is world famous. Although there was still a lot of low cloud on the hills the sun was attempting to peak through as I walked along this fabulously well-made path while taking many photographs and admiring the views over Loch Shiel. Eventually I reached the railway station where I waited for the Jacobite steam train to come over the viaduct and into the station closely followed by my train coming in the other direction. There was a great sight when the modern train came into the station while the vintage steam train sat waiting for it in the other platform. The swarms of midges plaguing everyone on the station failed to diminish the sight.

When I got back to Fort William I found a newspaper and discovered the result of the General Election (though I wasn’t surprised unlike seemingly everyone else). Now that I could finally listen to the radio I listened to news commentators talking about the election while I wandered around the town. Eventually I decided that I should do another walk especially as the weather around Fort William was a lot brighter than it was just a few short miles away in Glenfinnan, so I headed down the Glen Nevis road until I reached the Braveheart car park. The Munros of the Mamore Forest were looking fantastic at the bottom of the valley and made me wish that I had made better use of my time and been climbing those mountains instead. There had been several moments on this holiday when I had not used my time wisely to make the most of the good weather to climb mountains and I felt that this was one of them. Rather than trying any half-hearted attempt to go up a mountain at this late hour, I decided that I would continue the viewpoints theme started in Glenfinnan by talking a path from the Braveheart car park marked Cow Hill Circuit.

Following yellow ringed posts I walked around the side of the hill with extensive views opening out as I slowly made my way round. At first the views were over the grassland to the east of Fort William and extending into the Great Glen, but as I passed round to the northern slopes of the hill the view shifted to start looking over the northern end of Loch Linnhe and Fort William began to open up in the foreground. By now it was becoming quite warm under the sunshine, but a short distance away on the hills to the north where I had just spent the week dark clouds remained. As I had found out: those hills like their rain. They must be among the wettest places in Scotland. Meanwhile I was enjoying this relaxing walk along a good, well-made path with good views developing over the town of Fort William as I slowly made my way along the path. Although I love wild country I do prefer to enjoy it from the ease of a well-made, and most importantly, dry path. Often the best, wildest looking places are man-made and have been deliberately designed to look wild and this path was just such an example as it passes through delightful landscape with great views of town and loch.

The Cow Hill Circuit path took me around the hill to the south-western corner where a wide track with extensive views south towards Blarmachfoldach took me up the heather covered slopes to the col behind Cow Hill. The track swings round towards the top of Cow Hill so I decided to come off the circuit and follow the track all the way up to the transmitter that sits at the top of the hill and looks out over Fort William. The views were not as good as I had seen earlier so I headed back to the col and rejoined the circuit path as it enters the Glen Nevis Wood and descends steeply down into the valley heading towards the Braveheart car park. Before reaching the car park I turned right to follow forest roads that would take me back to the Glen Nevis Youth Hostel. I rather enjoyed this short walk, and the earlier walk around Glenfinnan, as they were on good, dry paths that were a welcome change from the boggy paths that I had endured earlier in the holiday. I’m not fond of walking through bogs and prefer a well-made path that keeps my boots dry. This holiday had a lot of ups and downs with the weather making a significant impact on my enjoyment, but I also didn’t make the most of the weather I did get. I really do need to learn to make better use of the weather whenever I am in Scotland.

Streap

Thursday 8th June 2017

I was staying in the Gleann Dubh Lighe bothy that was rebuilt in 2013 with lovely wood panelling covering the inside walls, ceiling and floor making for a great, cosy feel to the place, and with it all to myself I enjoyed every moment. When I arrived the previous evening there was bright sunshine that made for a relaxing welcome after the bad weather earlier in the week that had marred my time in Glen Dessary. Although the skies were overcast when I got up the clouds were high so I was confident that they would not ruin my walk. The previous day while walking through boggy Gleann Cuìrnean, on my way out of Glen Dessary, the distinctive peak of Streap had dominated my view and made me wish I could climb its steep slopes. However, there is no path up these sheer cliff faces and suicide to attempt an ascent up the impregnable slopes, therefore I walked all the way around to the other side of the mountain and spent the night in the ideal spot to start an ascent up this striking mountain. I have been up Streap before, back in 2008, though the weather on that day was very poor and I somehow did the walk in the opposite direction to the way recommended.

After my plans around Glen Dessary had been washed out earlier in the week, the sight of Streap the previous day reminded me of that previous walk and gave me an opportunity to salvage something from this second week of my holiday in Scotland. Setting off along the forest track I soon emerged out of the woods to the fabulous view of the encircling mountain corrie that has Streap at its head. The weather may have been grey and overcast, but with the clouds well above the tops of the peaks I was confident of a good walk, so crossed the stream and headed off up the grassy western slopes of Meall an Uillt Chaoil. Guidebooks differ on the exact route to take up these slopes, but I kept to the grassier ground between the burns of Allt Coire an Tuim and Allt Caol climbing the steep terrain for many excruciating hours (actually less than two) until I eventually reached the top. Long grassy ascents are always frustrating as you just want to get to the top of the ridge, but it never seems to get any closer no matter how long you go with every step a battle of will to summon the strength to move further up the hill.

Eventually I passed through the pain and reached the top where a fabulous view opened out before me that leads all the way to Streap. I now knew that the pain that I’d gone through during the last two hours had not only been worth it, but was now a distant memory as I anticipated the traverse along this fabulous ridge. After my experiences earlier in the week I was becoming fed up of going up mountains in poor weather, but now I had the best antidote to that in a great ridge walk. The best mountain walks are always on ridges and the highlights of this holiday had all been along fabulous ridges including the Grey Corries, in the Mamores and now on Streap. My mistake was trying to bag Munros when the most enjoyable part of a mountain is actually the paths between them, along the tops of mountains with views of neighbouring mountains all around. On this walk the weather may not have been great, but it was good enough to get a view along the ridge and of the neighbouring mountains above Coire Thollaidh to my left. Low cloud robs an important attraction in mountain walking.

With the prospect of a fabulous ridge walk ahead of me I set off down the craggy slopes of Meall an Uillt Chaoil to Bealach nan Cearc where a steep rise brought me to the top of Stob Coire nan Cearc. This was tremendous walking and I was enjoying every single moment of it with the views of the rest of the ridge before me promising more delights to come as the ridge began to narrow. After a short descent the ridge narrowed deliciously and Streap was beginning to look impregnable even from this direction with sheer slopes all around that rise to a sharp point. While steep slopes fell precipitously down both sides of the narrow ridge I nervously walked up to the foot of the steep summit cone of Streap as I’m not great with heights and I’m not comfortable with any exposure or great distance below my feet. A path revealed itself up the steep slope that requires only elementary handwork, but what Ralph Storer describes as some fine situations equate to some very steep ground that made me nervous. I like to think that this keeps me away from dangerous ground that could lead to falls, although the exposed situation also generates some excitement that makes the walk more memorable.

The summit ridge of Streap is surprisingly wide, but I was conscious of the steep slopes all around and was soon led me to the summit cairn. It was great to be at the top of this Corbett that is just shy of Munro status but whose grandeur is unaffected by any classification that can be made to this fabulous mountain. Sitting by the cairn while having my lunch I was happy to be at the top of this mountain whose grey views all around me were still a lot better than the last time that I had been at the top of Streap when I did not have any views at all. After eating, I carefully made my way down the eastern slopes where a thin path heads down to a narrow, connecting ridge and around the head of Coire Chùirn. A strong wind was blowing across the ridge forcing me to nervously keep my eyes on the ground in front of my feet as I crossed the narrow gap until I reached the start of the steep climb up a good, faint path onto the grassy dome of Streap Comlaidh. There is a ridge that heads off towards the north which I explored for a short distance until it starts to drop steeply. The views towards Glen Dessary and Loch Arkaig were not great with the view back to Streap Comhlaidh actually better, although good weather may produce more beneficial views.

Back over at Streap Comlaidh I headed over a short col onto a wider grassy ridge before beginning to descend steep grassy slopes all the way down into Gleann Dubh Lighe. Nine years ago I climbed these steep slopes and as I carefully made my way down I wondered how I’d ever made it all the way up these dull slopes. The climb at the beginning of this walk had been bad enough, and a review of my report of the 2008 walk does reveal comments of “virtually impossible” and “absolutely excruciating”. These slopes were a lot steeper than those encountered earlier so I was relieved when I finally reached the bottom of the valley where some spots of rain seemed to greet me, but this didn’t bother me as my walk was almost over. A trek down the boggy valley brought me to the track that I had taken earlier and the bothy where I was staying was not far away from there. This walk was amazing with the highlight being the glorious ridge walk from Meall an Uillt Chaoil through to Streap Comhlaidh. This made all the effort climbing steep, dull, grassy slopes and all the bogs that I had to trudge through worthwhile. Although that ridge walk was annoyingly short, it reminded me why I come to Scotland every year to go up mountains.

Glen Dessary

Monday 5th to Wednesday 7th June 2017

The second week of my holiday in Scotland started slowly as I caught a bus from the Glen Nevis Youth Hostel into Fort William and after a wander around the town caught a train to Glenfinnan where I headed into an avenue lined with rhododendrons. Sometimes I hardly see any of these Himalayan flowers that are highly invasive in this part of the country, but this year the hot weather had brought them all out in full flower, which makes for a pretty display but only if you ignore how invasive it is. Passing over the main road I took the private road opposite into the valley of Glen Finnan and under the iconic Glenfinnan Viaduct. I was in this beautiful valley in 2012 when I walked around the Corryhully Horseshoe in unseasonably hot weather, but the weather was not so good for this walk with generally overcast skies. Slowly I made my way along the road up the valley with a heavy rucksack on my bag with enough food to last me the whole week. I had a pleasant stroll through this carefully maintained tree-lined valley eventually passing the relatively posh Corryhully Bothy climbing up the valley on a rough, stony track that heads all the way up to Bealach a’ Chaorainn.

Rain caught up with me before I reached the top of the pass where a soaked bog greeted me while the wonderful path that I had enjoyed in Glen Finnan also disappeared leaving me to wander down the horribly boggy valley on the other side. The ground was saturated with only a faint semblance of a path that you would never want to walk upon and went on for hour and hour with no sign of improvement. Eventually at one point I had no choice but to cross the river, which fortunately was not too difficult, but instead of staying on the other side I recrossed the river and found myself on precipitous slopes when it passed through a ravine. When the terrain finally opened out my problems continued. I could not find a good path through the conifer plantation ahead of me and I was left to wade through knee-deep bogs between the trees until I finally and with blessed relief reached the forest track through Glen Pean. I was really fed up with the terrible ground conditions in Gleann a’ Chaorainn and had little strength left for the prolonged walk along the forest track that brought me into Glen Dessary and finally brought me to the A’ Chuill Bothy where I spent the night.

When I got up in the morning it was pouring it down with rain and it never stopped all day. I had planned on repeating a walk that I’d originally done in 2008 when the long distances involved had forced me to start heading back without climbing Sgurr na Ciche. I had enjoyed the ridge over Garbh Chìoch Mhòr and was disappointed with missing out on the last Munro and with the poor weather. Unfortunately the weather was now much worse, but not wanting to waste the day I crossed the valley and with difficulty crossed the swollen Allt Coire nan Uth and began climbing the grassy slopes of Sgùrr Còs na Breachd-Iaoidh. This was not a great walk in the pouring rain up a steep, uninteresting, grassy ridge that frequently had me questioning what I was doing on this wet, Scottish mountain when I could have been anywhere else. I was becoming really fed up with Glen Dessary and was depressed at the prospect of spending the whole week in this miserable place with no sign of an improvement in the weather. I had no motivation to stay any longer in this abominably boggy place. Eventually I reached the summit of the Corbett where after a momentary glance at the narrow ridge of Druim a’ Chuirn I headed back down the way I had come.

The bad weather and boggy ground had turned me off the whole area, which is undoubtedly a shame as in good weather I’m sure the place is delightful as I remember enjoying the ridge of Garbh Chìoch Mhòr in 2008 despite low cloud. I had necessarily spent a long time in the A’ Chuill Bothy so I was sorry to leave it, but I had had enough of the valley so the following day I set off out of sodden Glen Dessary. The weather was showing signs of improvement although there was still a lot of cloud about and it was rather windy so I felt more than justified in getting out of this sorry place. I like a good footpath that makes walking easier but these are not to be found in Glen Dessary where the walking is always hard work through bogs and thick mud. Several times on this holiday I’ve said to people that I’m not a Munro bagger, but the only reason I’d come to Glen Dessary was to bag the Munro that I’d missed in 2008. When am I going to listen to myself? I enjoy walks on good footpaths through mountains in good weather, but I don’t enjoy going up mountains just for the sake of ticking the summit. I guess we can say that I don’t need to go up Sgurr na Ciche.

Rather than stay in the area I retraced my steps back towards the horrible valley of Gleann a’ Chaorainn finding a better, dryer path through the trees, over the River Pean and into the valley staying on the other side from my previous route. This turned out to be no better than the west bank that I had taken two days before with very boggy ground that seemed to have been churned up by a quadbike so eventually I was motivated to cross the river back onto my outward route. During the course of the walk up that horrible valley rain fought with blue skies for supremacy until gradually the weather slowly began to improve and sunlight finally made an appearance this week. This route over the pass and into the oblivion that is officially known as Glen Dessary is part of the Cape Wrath Trail and I met quite a few people in the bothy who were undertaking this trail and also quite a number coming down the valley towards me who were undoubtedly also attempting this most challenging of long distance trails. At one time I had been planning to attempt to do the trail myself until I eventually decided to make a prolonged stay in this area instead. With that not working I’m not sure I want to attempt the Cape Wrath Trail if it means returning to this horrendous valley.

Towards the top of the pass the improving weather meant there were some relatively good views down the valley and I couldn’t help wondering whether I ought to have stayed in Glen Dessary where I might yet have got a good walk up the mountains that I had come to this valley to visit. However I no longer had the will to be in Glen Dessary so it was with enormous relief that I passed over the windy bealach and down into lovely Glen Finnan that is so markedly different to Glen Dessary it is astonishing to see the contrast. Slowly as my sanity began to return to me after the horrors of Glen Dessary I made my way down the valley through the warm weather under the railway viaduct and past all the tourists back onto the main road. Passing the Glenfinann monument I continued along the course of the Cape Wrath Trail for a short spell beside the Callop River before heading across the main road once again, under the railway line and headed up Gleann Dubh Lighe until I eventually reached a bothy. These three days in Glen Dessary had been a nightmare, but in Gleann Dubh Lighe I found release from what had been plaguing my mind.