The Ben Strome Stalkers’ Track

Sunday 2nd June 2024

After good, but windy weather on the day before this walk I was disappointed to see on the forecast that the weather for this day was going to be poor with rain coming in late afternoon and the wind strengthening. I was hopeful that this would give me a chance to climb a mountain before the weather deteriorated so I drove to the foot of Quinag, but it was raining even before I reached the car park. Undeterred, I put my waterproofs on and set off along the good path that leads towards the mountain, but I soon had doubts whether this was worth the effort, though the excellent path, built by the John Muir Trust, spurred me on through the wind and rain. Eventually the path petered out near Lochan Bealach Cornaidh, though only my GPS location told me the lake was nearby as I couldn’t see it, and so finally I decided to turn back. I didn’t feel it was worth walking in this weather. Being at the top of a mountain is a fabulous feeling, mainly when the weather is good and you have views in all directions, but not in the wind and rain. It is just not worth the effort. However, I passed many people while coming back to the car who were attempting to climb the mountain and were seemingly not deterred by the weather. I don’t know whether any of them actually reached the summit of Quinag, but I didn’t, though I enjoyed walking along the excellent path while it lasted.

When back in my car I had a look for something else to do and soon noticed in the local Hallewell pocket guidebook a walk entitled “The Ben Strome Stalkers’ Track” that immediately appealed to me. I drove down the hill, over the Kylesku Bridge and found that here it was hardly raining or windy. I set off along a path that left the road to the old slipway and climbed the hillside with views down to the loch and the narrow channel through to Loch a’ Chairn Bhàin. The previous evening I had driven through here from the foot of Foinaven in much better weather and been astounded by the stupendous scenery of this fjord-like sea inlet, but now the weather was so poor I could hardly see the far side of the water, let alone the steep mountain slopes. A visit to this area demands clear views, even if you are on a drive such as the NC500. I previously drove through Kylesku in 2010 and the weather then was just as poor as now so I hadn’t appreciated how spectacular the scenery is and again now I could not see what had so overwhelmed me the day before. While I could I took pictures of the murky scene until all too soon I disappeared into the clouds and had to resolve myself with the path ahead which weaved a course across the slopes of Ben Strome while it began to rain heavily.

Time seemed to drag while on that path. After what felt like ages I would look at my watch and be astonished that only a couple of minutes had passed since I’d last looked. Eventually, after a seemingly long walk through the unchanging scenery, I reached the cairn that marks the junction where a path turns back down the hill. At one time I had planned to do the Sutherland Trail which passes through here and I was disappointed that I was not doing it, though I would have needed good weather to appreciate the scenery and it would not have been fun to do a long distance trail in this poor weather. With the rain easing slightly, though not the wind, I made my way down the hill to the shore of Loch an Leathaid Bhuain, past a fisherman’s hut and continued down beside the Maldie Burn where various waterfalls were enriched by the rainfall. Below the clouds the views seemed brighter than when I had started the walk with Loch Glendhu and the mouth of Loch Glencoul offering a hint of the wild beauty of this area. With the strong winds ever present I made my way down to the shore of the loch and had an enjoyable stroll back to my car at Kylestrome.

With the afternoon still young, I wondered what to do next and considered doing a short walk around Loch na Gainmhich, but the heavy rain and strong winds at the top of the pass soon changed my mind and I drove past until I eventually returned to my campsite at Achmelvich Beach. It wasn’t raining there so I had a walk around the rocks and along the beach while taking some pictures of the swirling seas driven by the strong seas. The weather ruined most of the walking this day and it is notable that the most enjoyable part of the day was when I had some sort of a view and it wasn’t raining.