Around Lairg

Friday 31st May 2024

With the improving weather I had on the day before this walk, I felt that it would be a shame not to climb a mountain this day, so after a discussion with the owner of the campsite I was staying at I decided to head up Ben Klibreck, the closest Munro and the only one in East Sutherland. I woke to sunshine and eagerly set off north along the narrow A836 road, but when I reached the foot of the mountain I found that clouds had already covered the top and unless they cleared I would not have a view, and apparently the view is the best thing about that mountain. I had difficulty finding a parking space on the single-track road, so after driving up and down I eventually parked at the entrance to the Creag Riabhach Wind Farm from where I needed to walk for a mile along the road before I reached the path that branches off across the River Vagastie and beside the Fèith Bad an Loch stream along a path that was very boggy and not at all reliable. With Ben Klibreck holding onto the cloud ahead of me and the weather deteriorating, I was beginning to question the wisdom of continuing along this difficult, tiring path that had become little more than a bog-hop. I walk purely for pleasure and I was certainly not going to climb Ben Klibreck simply to tick off a mountain on a list. I enjoy being at the top of a mountain but mainly only when there is a view and the poor, overcast weather that I had now was not inspiring me to keep going. Near the outflow of Loch Bad an Loch I stopped and considered my route ahead across largely pathless, boggy, heather moorland and eventually I decided to turn back.

I most appreciate walking on good paths and this attempt up Ben Klibreck seemed like too much hard work, and ultimately a waste of effort. After returning to my car I drove back along the single-track road to the village of Lairg where I had a look around, including in the tiny Church Hill Woodland which overlooks the reservoir, Little Loch Shin, that lies in the centre of the village. Eventually I made my way to the Ferrycroft Visitor Centre, where I read up on the history of the area before setting off into Ferry Community Woodland. My original plans for this day were meagre and ill-defined and started with this short walk that took me through a young wood on the shore of the loch and all too soon brought me to the dam that separates Little Loch Shin from its much bigger neighbour, Loch Shin. Back at the visitor centre I started the second leg which took me up Ord Hill where I had panoramic views of the surrounding countryside that included the two lochs and south down Achany Glen. The weather was still not good but I enjoyed the vantage point from this modest hill where prehistoric remains of chambered cairns and hut circles littered the slopes. None of the hills in this area are particularly high, it’s not a very dramatic landscape being more subdued, but I was still pleasant to walk around and explore this quiet part of Scotland.

As I was coming down from Ord Hill rain attempted to fall and these brief showers continued throughout the afternoon, perhaps confirming that this was not to be a great day for walking. A local guidebook had revealed to me that there was something interesting to see down Achany Glen, so I drove south through the valley to Shin Falls where a large car park was provided opposite a path that descends steeply to the River Shin and a waterfall, singular. I was rather disappointed by Shin Falls as there wasn’t much to it and the viewpoint simply brings you to a place where you can see salmon leaping, but it did not provide me with a good picture of the falls. The path didn’t go anywhere else so I had to climb back up to the road where I turned onto a waymarked path between the road and river that provided me with more interest. Blue ringed posts marked the route that soon crossed the road and returned to the car park where I now started to follow green ringed posts that led me up the hill through Shin Forest. I contemplated extending the walk to the top of the hill behind the wood, but since I had not been sleeping well I was very tired, so I just kept to the green ringed posts which rewarded me with views across Achany Glen before descending back down through the wood to the car park.

This was an odd day and disappointing since when I got up I thought the weather was going to be good and I’d be able to walk up a mountain. Instead the weather soon deteriorated and I was left to do several short walks in the area, which were nevertheless relaxing and enjoyable in a way, but not very satisfying.