Craig Phadrig

Sunday 26th May 2019

After a week of tiring walking, especially on the day before this when I walked over twenty miles along the Moray Coast Trail, I was looking for an easy day when I could have a rest, and since it was Sunday that seemed the best day to do it. I still wanted a walk and since I was staying in the city of Inverness my eye was drawn to Craig Phadrig, which is a hill that overlooks the city and has the remains of a Pictish fort at the summit. The weather was not conducive to a long walk so I was happy with my choice as I left the youth hostel under heavy rain and slowly made my way through the city towards the hill. It took me a long time to get there, partly because I missed the turning into Kenneth Street, but mainly because it was three miles of dull walking through quiet Sunday morning streets in the pouring rain. After crossing the Caledonian Canal I turned onto King Brude Road where the gradient started to rise which provided me with hazy views over the shrouded city until after climbing the steepest section I finally reached the car park for Craig Phadrig. There are two waymarked routes around the hill starting from the car park, one with blue-marked posts called the Hill Fort Trail, and the other with yellow-marked posts called the Craig Phadrig Trail. I decided I wanted to do both because that’s the kind of guy I am, so I set off along the yellow-marked trail into the Craigphadrig Forest.

A wide track crosses the western slopes of the hill and gradually begins to descend heading north with intermittent views available towards the Beauly Firth. This was a lovely woodland walk and it wasn’t long before the rain had stopped which enabled me to enjoy the pleasant surroundings without the encumbrance of waterproofs. After descending for a while and wondering if I was going in the right direction, I came upon a junction with a sharp turning to the right back up the hill. Relieved, I took this branch, marked with yellow posts, leaving the track that continues downhill, and headed up the hill but contoured around the western slopes just below the summit until I came across a blue-marked post at a turning to my left, which I took as it heads across the southern slopes of the hill steeply climbing up to the remains of the hill fort at the top of Craig Phadrig. All that is left now of the fort are some ridges around the top but these are clearly marked out and wide enough to walk upon, and I was fortunate in my timing as at that time of the year the area was covered in bluebells with a path on top of the ridge all the way around the spectacular display.

Despite the grey overcast weather conditions it was a joy to walk around the top of Craig Phadrig looking at the wild flowers arrayed all around me with stunning views also available across the Beauly Firth, though in clearer weather they would have been so much better. There were no views towards the city, but this was hardly a bad thing when surrounded by such natural beauty. While strolling around the top I gazed at the fabulous surroundings and took many pictures, but tragically only with my mobile because I’d left my camera in the youth hostel. Reluctantly I left the fort and steeply descended down on the blue-marked trail all the way around the top of Craig Phadrig eventually turning off the marked paths to bypass the steepest section of the road and join Leachkin Brae lower down. The weather was beginning to improve nicely by now and a bit of blue sky was even beginning to break through as I descended down to the Caledonian Canal. This prompted me to prolong the walk, so on reaching the canal I turned left and walked alongside it heading north until I reached the Clachnaharry Swing Bridge not far from the mouth of the canal. Rather than continuing right to the end, only to have to walk back again, I crossed the canal just before the railway crossing and headed back beside the canal until I reached a path that turns into the Merkinch Nature Reserve.

I walked through this area in 2014 and now I retraced my steps between tidal lagoons to reach the railway line once again. Crossing this I followed a path between the estuary and the beautiful natural scenery of the reserve until I reached a car park at the road end. This was a lovely moment walking under the brightening skies with the spectacular scenery of the Beauly Firth beside me and the Black Isle across the estuary while to my right was the “hidden gem” of the local nature reserve. I followed the road for a short distance before turning onto the short spit of land that follows the River Ness to its mouth ending at Carnac Point. This area had obviously been recently restored with the overgrown vegetation that I remembered from 2014 being cut back and the path widened. At the tip of Carnac Point substantial wooden tables have been erected with inspiring messages carved into them, and provided me with a wonderful place to sit and take in the spectacular scenery that is only partly marred by the large cable-stayed Kessock Bridge nearby.

Returning to the road I followed the River Ness back into the city centre, but it wasn’t long before it had started raining again and this time it hardly stopped until late in the afternoon. I was happy to return to the youth hostel having enjoyed the walk in the morning when it wasn’t raining at the top of Craig Phadrig, and especially when passing through the nature reserve. This gentle walk was just the sort of rest that I needed before heading back out into the hills the following day.

Moray Coast Trail

Saturday 25th May 2019

In the middle of my holiday in Scotland, while taking a break from mountains, I thought I would do part of a coastal trail so I caught a train to the lovely little town of Elgin where I got onto a bus to the coast at Lossiemouth. From there I set off past the beautiful beach and marina along the Moray Coast Trail, however the weather was rather poor with rain falling briefly even before I left Lossiemouth and it didn’t improve much after that. Leaving the town I passed the west beach and couldn’t resist the temptation to walk along the sands, and despite being only just a short distance away from R.A.F. Lossiemouth I had a relaxing walk with the sound of waves washing onto the beach, so it was a pity the sky was dull and grey. At the far end of the beach is a lighthouse positioned on a rock promontory with an old Second World War lookout bunker at the end, and below that are some caves, though I didn’t stop to explore them as that was already being done by some children. After the lighthouse I came off the beach and back onto the coastal trail to take a meandering course through the dunes, but I felt that so far the trail had not really justified the hype, though that would soon change.

Eventually the sandy terrain was replaced by more dramatic rock scenery as I climbed off the beach past a delightful display of sea pinks (also known as sea thrift) and up above the cliffs. Now, I thought, the proper coastal walking was beginning with echoes of the Pembrokeshire coast as I passed banks of gorse growing above the stony coastline on a good, clear footpath with many wild flowers decorating the scenery. The dramatic landscape continued past a stunning coastline until all too soon I reached the village of Hopeman where it started raining again while the coastal trail joins the route of an old railway, which provided me with easy, though tarmacked, walking as far as Burghead. The dramatic coastline continued as I passed by natural arches and rocky coves while the rain continued to fall. Rather than going all the way to the tip of Burgh Head, the Moray Coast Trail cuts through the town and so did I, to turn south and leaving the town entered the conifer woodland of Roseisle.

I was walking along a wide track that meandered through the plantation while rain continued to fall even when the sun came out and it wasn’t until the sun went back in that the rain stopped. I followed the signs for the coastal trail through the wood wondering if I would ever find my way out until eventually the path turned sharply right and I came out of the wood with a view round the broad sweep of Burghead Bay. Concrete blocks line the shore at this point that are the remains of coastal defences built during the Second World War, though many have now moved with the sands so that many are sitting in the sea or are on their side sticking out of the sand. I followed a course between the boundary fence of the old Kinloss Airfield and the beach until at the far end I took a route through Findhorn Dunes. This sandy, stony terrain has slowly been reclaimed by vegetation with many small trees and shrubs making for interesting scenery to take me into the village of Findhorn.

At this point I saw a signpost that said the town of Forres at the end of the Moray Coast Trail, and the railway station, was six miles away while I knew that the next train was in one and a half hours. Theoretically I could have walked that far and still caught the train, especially as it was on quiet roads, but I would have had to push myself and I don’t like doing that. I prefer to relax and enjoy my walks so I decided to take it easy and walk slowly to Forres and catch the train that is an hour later. After my experience on the Pembrokeshire Coast Path in 2015 I was expecting something similar with the Moray Coast Trail and although a section of it is good with some dramatic scenery and lovely wild flowers, the rest was nothing special. The weather did not help with rain on many occasions including as I walked all the way into Forres so that by the time I reached the station I was not in a particularly good mood, which was not helped when I saw that my train had been cancelled. This was just one of those days and in better conditions I may have been able to appreciate the many delights of the Moray Coast Trail.

South Loch Ness Trail

Friday 24th May 2019

After five days trekking across the North-West Highlands of Scotland in mixed weather I had returned to civilisation in Inverness and for the next three days I planned to do some low-level walks to enable me to recuperate before heading back out into the mountains. However, the weather forecast for the next week was very poor which made me very depressed, but there was one day when the forecast was good, and that was this day. This actually didn’t help my despondency as I’d not planned to climb a mountain although it seemed like being the best weather to do just that. There are no mountains near Inverness so I would have to travel a long distance, there and back, to climb a mountain, so eventually I decided I would do the planned low-level walk, mainly because I had nothing better planned to do. For this day I wanted to explore the area to the south of Loch Ness making use of the South Loch Ness Trail that has been created specifically to encourage people into this less frequently visited part of Scotland. My biggest problem with this trail was that it starts from Torbreck on the edge of Inverness, four miles from the youth hostel in the centre of the city. This walk out, at first, was quite interesting as I followed the River Ness upstream, though it was very cold at this early hour with a cold wind blowing down the river under overcast skies with no sign yet of the forecast sunshine.

It wasn’t long before I had to leave the river’s side and follow a boring leafy lane for several miles slowly leaving the city of Inverness behind. After passing a large roundabout I left the city and entered the countryside walking on the road with fast cars driving straight at me until, thankfully, I safely reached the turning for the minor road to Torbreck where I found the path into the woods at the start of the South Loch Ness Trail. The change in surroundings after walking through the city and dicing with death on the country lane was dramatic and welcome. I now had a lovely walk through the mostly conifer woodland where the sun finally made its first, though brief, appearance as this walk started to come good. Beyond the all-too-small wood the trail climbs to the edge of Drumashie Plantation on the northern slopes of a broad hill. Following a forestry track I headed along the trail beside banks of pungent smelling gorse and broom while to my right the wide valley of the Great Glen could be seen, though with still no sign of Loch Ness as I had not come far enough yet. After a while young deciduous trees appeared beside the path to my right and when I left the plantation behind I had views across Drumashie Moor to my left where gorse dominated the scene under persistent overcast skies.

The South Loch Ness Trail runs for thirty-four miles from Torbreck to Fort Augustus so I was not going to be able to complete the whole route in one day and as I walked I considered my options for a return path. Upon reaching a road the South Loch Ness Trail descends along the road to reach the lochside village of Dores, however another trail, primarily designed for horse riders, called the Trail of the Seven Lochs, continues straight ahead and I thought it might be a good idea to take that route and keep to the higher ground. Soon after parting company with the South Loch Ness Trail the view to my right finally revealed the northern end of Loch Ness, though it was not looking great under the hazy light and grey clouds. Much of my walk along the Trail of the Seven Lochs was through the conifer plantations of Clune Wood and Dirr Wood on rather muddy paths that made the walking tiring and frustrating. Slowly I made my way along the trail passing several farms and through more conifer plantations until I reached one that was in the process of being felled, and this afforded me with an unrestricted view across Loch Ness with Urquhart Bay behind.

I was now at the point where the South Loch Ness Trail rejoins the Trail of the Seven Lochs and rather than continue heading south where I would soon have to climb up to the top of Fair Haired Lad’s Pass I turned right to head back towards Inverness along the South Loch Ness Trail. I had contemplated continuing to head south and eventually catch a bus in Inverfarigaig or Foyers, but I wasn’t sure of the times of the buses and I wasn’t keen on rushing the walk to be in time to catch the bus back to Inverness. I prefer to take my time on a walk and hate having a deadline. I walk for enjoyment and did not want to stress myself trying to catch a bus, so instead I slowly followed the wide forestry track that gradually descends to the shore of the loch. The point where I turned was decorated with wild flowers including bluebells and stitchworts that had taken advantage of the tree-felling to produce a delightful display and brightened the otherwise dreary surroundings. Eventually the forestry track brought me onto the lochside road where upon crossing the Allt Dailinn I entered a fabulous deciduous wood that was liberally festooned with bluebells and provided me with a great walk before kicking me out again onto the road. After passing Baile-a-chladaich a path between the road and the loch provided me with more bluebell-filled delights and sunny views up and down the loch.

The Trail of the Seven Lochs had not provided me with any of these delights and made me wish I had stayed on the South Loch Ness Trail throughout. All too soon I reached the village of Dores where I discovered I had almost two hours to wait for the next bus, but this was not a problem as the map indicated some good walks through the nearby Torr Woods. The skies had finally clearing revealing blue skies so I enjoyed the sunshine as I crossed the bay to enter Torr wood and turned right to do a walk around the hill of An Torr. At one point I found a covering of bluebells in an opening in the trees which produced a splendid sight that would not shame anywhere. Slowly I wandered along the paths through the wood not really knowing how far I had gone, so I was rather surprised when I found myself back at the start without realising I had gone all the way around the hill. To waste more time I made my way down to the lochside to take some pictures and eventually found myself at Torr Point with a view down the length of Loch Ness. With the sun shining this was a lovely and relaxing end to a day that could have been considered frustrating and a wasted opportunity, but I must not dwell on what could have been and simply enjoy the sunshine that eventually graced me in the afternoon.

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.