Ullapool Hill and the coastal path to Rhue

Wednesday 5th June 2024

The weather during my second week in the Scottish Highlands was cold, windy and showery so the mountains that I had planned to walk up were not going to happen. Instead I had to be content with low levels walks that I was surprised to find were very enjoyable, possibly even more than going up a mountain. At the end of the previous day I had driven to the town of Ullapool whose sole attraction for me in the past has been the ferry to Stornoway and I have passed through there on several occasions on my way to or from the Isle of Lewis. So I have not done a walk from Ullapool or in the area, but with bitterly cold, strong winds keeping me low I had to look for local inspiration and initially found it on the ‘Welcome Ullapool Map’ freely given to visitors which mentions a coastal path to Rhue. I decided to follow that and started by crossing the Ullapool River and following the shore out to Loch Broom soon passing a golf course where no one appeared to be playing in these strong winds. A heavy shower had fallen while I was having breakfast, but now there were blue skies ahead of me while the mountains behind clung onto the rain. Soon, the path dwindled to nothing but navigation was never difficult as I kept the sea to my left and a fence to my right walking on either the pebbly beach or the grass verge while red posts marked a safe route past the golf course.

The sunshine didn’t last very long and soon it clouded over before suddenly I saw a flash of lightening and, a second later, a very loud crack of thunder, which prompted me to hastily disappear below a nearby rock while the thunder storm passed overhead. Once the rain had stopped I moved on again and later I found rock dominating the ground which was fun to walk on but tricky as sometimes I encountered sheer drops that had to be negotiated until finally Rhue Lighthouse came into view. There was not much to see at the wind-swept point so I soon turned around onto the path that brought me to a small car park. I could have returned to Ullapool by the way I had come but the coastal path had not been easy to follow so I decided to just walk along the road, which was not a problem until I reached the main road where the cars were travelling very fast so I kept to the grassy margins while several showers passed overhead. My interest was maintained by the colourful display of wild flowers beside the road until eventually I came into Ullapool where I immediately turned my attention to my next walk. When driving into the town the day before I had seen a sign for the Ullapool Hill Walk, so at that sign I now turned off the road to follow a path steeply up the hillside.

The sun came out for my climb up out of Ullapool providing me with great views across the loch and out to sea while gorse and rhododendron lined a great path that steadily climbed the hill to an awesome viewpoint. It was amusing to compare the sunny views out to sea with the views in the other direction towards the head of Loch Broom which were always misty and filled with rain. The mountains seemed to be always shrouded in cloud while I enjoyed lovely sunshine, though the wind was now getting stronger as I climbed. The prominent peak of Meall Mòr, otherwise known as Ullapool Hill, dominated the view uphill with a clear path that led all the way up to the top so I eagerly made my way up the path until at the summit I had fabulous views in all directions including now east towards Loch Achall. However, it was exceptionally windy at the top of Ullapool Hill despite this really being a very low hill, so I soon made my way back down to a junction where I could have turned left towards the Braes of Ullapool but instead I turned right to cross the northern slopes of Meall Mòr gradually heading towards Loch Achall while the rain returned again. I went all the way to the shore of Loch Achall even though this was not necessary, but in the end I decided to follow the track to the shore where I could see the sun was shining at the far end of the loch but grey clouds lingered overhead.

From a photography point of view, it wasn’t worth the effort as the best picture I took of Loch Achall was taken from the top of Ullapool Hill, but I think it was still worth it to walk to the shore of the loch before finally returning to Ullapool alongside the Ullapool River. The weather this day was very changeable from bright sunshine to heavy rain and thunder storms with the only constant being the strong winds though I was often sheltered from the wind so it was only when not sheltered that I felt the full force of those cold winds, while at Rhue and on Ullapool Hill. These low-level walks had a curious appeal for me which I may not have felt when I was younger. Twenty years ago I may have gone up the mountains despite the poor weather (I’m thinking about when I climbed Ben Lawers in 2007), but now I am enjoying these walks that show there is more to life than Munro-bagging.

Falls of Kirkaig and the Bone Caves of Inchnadamph

Tuesday 4th June 2024

I was awoken at the start of this day by the realisation that my tent had collapsed due to the strong winds, a pole had snapped, which was not a great way to start the day. I lay there for a while dejectedly thinking about how this holiday had not gone to plan until eventually I got up and slowly removed everything from my tent. Fortunately I was not planning on camping for the rest of the holiday so I didn’t need to worry about repairing it. After eating my breakfast I took the opportunity to explore Achmelvich Beach once again, which I had been doing every evening since getting there and I never tired of the complex, craggy scenery and the sandy beach. The previous evening I had set off along the coast along a waymarked path that took me over Gleannan an Fheadair and past Alltan’ abradhan until I reached an old corn mill in a deserted little valley. An information board described how this used to work though there was little now to see of the mill. A small bay, Port Alltan na Bradhan, lay nearby but as it was getting late I soon turned around and headed back to the campsite. This is a fabulous area that I previously visited in 2010 so I enjoyed the opportunity to return even though the weather was not kind to me, just as in 2010, with strong winds that felt bitterly cold for the time of year and robbed me of my enthusiasm for climbing mountains. The forecast for this day was even for snow at the tops of the high mountains so I had to look for low level walks on what was sadly my last day in the historic county of Sutherland.

When I finally left Achmelvich Beach, I passed through Lochinver and along the narrow, single-track road through Strathan past Inverkirkaig to a small car park on the southern edge of Sutherland where a path follows the northern bank of the River Kirkaig. This was a great route which helped to calm my troubled mind and afforded me with good views into the deep recesses of the valley where the river was soon enclosed by woodland. The pleasant walk kept me high above the valley while mountains began to appear on the horizon, from my right were Stac Pollaidh, Cùl Beag, Cùl Mor round to Suilven on my left. They were all clear of cloud for the first time in several days which made me feel that an ascent of one of them must be possible if not for the strong, cold wind. At a cairn, I ignored the fainter path that heads towards Suilven and took the clear path that brought me steeply down to the river and soon provided me with views of the Falls of Kirkaig, which looked magnificent even before the descending steeply while the sun came out at just the right time to illuminate the spectacle. At the bottom of the precipitous path the full length of the falls revealed themselves and I was able to bask in the amazing sight until eventually I tore myself away and climbed back up the treacherously steep path and along the same route I’d taken out.

After my difficult start to the day, this walk did much to revive me, but it had only occupied a couple of hours and any thought of climbing a mountain was wiped out by the rain that welcomed me back to my car and followed me as I drove through Lochinver and out along the main road. I eventually stopped at the car park for the Bone Caves of Inchnadamph where it was still raining so I had an early lunch before donning my waterproofs and setting off towards the caves. However, the rain stopped almost immediately to reveal gorgeous sunshine on a wonderful walk past a small waterfall and up to Fuaran Allt nan Uamh where the water for the river seemed to bubble out of the ground as if by magic and the bed of the stream further up the valley was dry: I was in limestone country. I followed the path across the stream and steeply up the bank to reach the caves where the bones of arctic fox, lynx and wolf have previously been found. I had a fascinating time exploring the various caves and gazing out of them until eventually I continued along the path that crosses the steep slopes below Creag nan Uamh before reaching a stream and descending to the dry river bed of the Allt nan Uamh where I slowly made my way back down to the car park. Inevitably it started to rain when I reached my car but I really enjoyed this short walk up to the bone caves which was helped by the timely appearance of the sun.

The rain was heavy but brief and with the skies clearing again I looked longingly on the surrounding mountains. At one time I had planned to climb Canisp on this holiday which is a mountain that lies west of the bone caves and I looked eagerly at it now. Despite knowing that Canisp is a big mountain and an ascent would take me a long time, I could not resist setting off along a boggy path that would take me towards the broad eastern slopes, but impenetrable bogs convinced me of the foolishness of my endeavour and soon I turned back. While driving towards Ullapool I was frustrated at the sight of fabulous mountains that I couldn’t climb but when I reached the Knockan Crag National Nature Reserve I pulled into the car park. I hadn’t planned on walking around this reserve, partly because it isn’t in Sutherland, it is just across the border, but also because I visited Knockan Crag in 2010. This area played a significant role in the development of our understanding of geology, but that wasn’t what motivated me to stop. I just wanted to do a walk and if I couldn’t climb a mountain then I would try to get a view of them instead. The awesome Cùl Mor was nearby while its lesser partner, Cùl Beag could also be seen, however it wasn’t long before a heavy shower overwhelmed me so I crouched behind the northern viewpoint and waited while hail and rain fell.

When it eventually began to ease I got up and headed into the rain along the path that runs along the top of the crag and by the time I returned to the car park it had stopped raining and the sun was out again. This day was a hotchpot of different walks that sadly ended my time in Sutherland. I was astounded by the sight of the tremendous mountains in the historic county but frustrated that I was unable to climb any of them. Instead I was forced to do small walks that I would otherwise never have done and surprisingly I found that I really enjoyed them.

River Inver and Glencanisp

Monday 3rd June 2024

With strong to gale force winds over the mountains in West Sutherland on this day it wasn’t practical for me to be walking high so I decided I would keep low and I was surprisingly excited in anticipation of the walk that I had planned. Eagerly, I set off from Achmelvich Beach along the narrow road with my first objective being to get to Lochinver and for that I needed to get around Loch Roe which blocked my way. After a mile along the road I turned right onto a driveway that soon became a stony track and the walk only really became interesting after passing Ardroe Croft. The path now passed through gorgeous moorland sprinkled with many outcrops and decorated with spotted-orchids, but the early morning sunshine beside the coast was now gone so that when the view over Loch Inver appeared before me the iconic Suilven was hiding its head inside clouds. On reaching the bridge over the River Inver I was reminded of why I was not going up a mountain as it was very windy so I soon joined an anglers’ path that follows the river upstream past spectacular rapids over a rock-filled bed in a tree lined landscape that was a beautiful and soothing place to walk.

A fabulous path slowly took me through the gorgeous landscape while several access points for the anglers dropped to the side of the river but I was happy to follow the path that took me past a series of pools until eventually I emerged from the wood and reached the point where the path turns to the right towards Glencanisp. This would have soon returned me back to Lochinver and ended my walk far too quickly so I kept beside the River Inver even though the path was now rough and tricky to follow especially when passing steep ground. Once beyond I was in an area that appeared to have suffered from an extensive fire in recent years and, though the ground plants had now recovered, the larger woody plants appeared lifeless and burnt. Eventually I found a footbridge that took me over the River Inver onto a road and finally onto the main road into Lochinver where I had a mile or two of walking that was rather unpleasant as the passing cars were travelling very fast, but there were two places where an old section of the road, around small hills, provided me with the opportunity to get away from the speeding cars until eventually I reached Little Assynt. There a great path took me through a wonderful landscape of mixed woodland and moorland decorated with many wild flowers including bluebells, stitchworts and spotted-orchids, and the sun came out to accompany me through this delight.

Eventually I reached a viewpoint between Loch Tòrr an Lochain and Loch na h-Innse Fraoich that provided me with a view of the surrounding mountains which still had their heads in clouds and were cloaked in grey shadow. Not far away from me was Quinag which I had started to climb the day before while Suilven was in the distance to the south, but I was especially taken by my immediate surroundings which were immensely beautiful in their setting of rock, tree and lake. After eating my lunch I set off back along the path into the strong cold wind and on reaching the main road I took to a path marked Suileag which I soon found was not as clear as others I had been following this day even losing the path after passing through a gate. When I realised I had to retrace my steps back to the gate and try to follow the path exactly as marked on my map even though there was no trace of it on the ground. Eventually a sort of path materialised though it was faint and tough to follow through a complex terrain slowly heading south, but while climbing between two low hills I realised that the path at one time had been well-engineered as it zigzagged through the terrain. There was no sign of this across the moor, but once I realised this I began to see other traces of what had once been a good path but was now rarely used.

Suilven now dominated the view ahead of me even though it was shrouded in grey clouds as I made my way along the faint but now clear path down the hill, past a string of lochs and up another hill to where Suileag was hiding just beyond. This is a bothy where one can spend the night though facilities including running water do not exist. A work party was there taking an afternoon break so I had a chat with them before taking the much clearer path through Glencanisp where I was spoilt by the views ahead of me towards Loch Druim Suardalain or back towards the imposing bulk of Suilven. I previously came this way in 2010, but the weather on that day had been excellent while on this day the sunshine I had enjoyed at Little Assynt had been short-lived, though there were occasional glimpses to remind me of what could have been. Once I was back in Lochinver I walked around the harbour to the River Inver and retraced my steps back over Ardroe at the end of an amazing walk. The weather actually helped with this walk as, although it was marred by the strong winds, the occasional sunshine and warmth made it an enjoyable walk especially beside the River Inver and then later while passing Suilven which recalled my ascent in 2010. This walk shows you don’t need to go up a mountain to have a good walk.