Meall Glac Thigh-fail

Hill: Meall Glac Thigh-fail (Hill of the narrow valley)

Type: Sub2k

Height: 521m

The good lady gave me some time off to attempt this Sub2k. A bit of an unknown hill but it had been on my Ullapool list for years and now was its time.

To be honest the reason for not doing it was probably more down to lack of enthusiasm than opportunity knowing it was going to be a moorland plod. The hills around here are absolutely covered in bracken which for me is a natural ecological disaster and not just here as all over Scotland it is growing out of control.

Yesterday we did a wee recce of the starting point as I had no intention of wading through large swathes of bracken for my exercise. The recce ruled out the Coffin Road start but I had a back up ascent which looked a possibility from our low level view.

Sadly the weather forecast was grim for most of the coming week so although scattered showers were forecast for today I went for it.

I parked up at the estates school bus stop, a bit of off road parking spot near Inverbroom lodge and donned waterproof trousers and jacket, protection against the weather but belt and braces approach to the ticks and clegs.

Heading to the V highpoint

Not today

My map showed the track where I wanted to start from but it passed very close to a private house. As I passed I was braced for a privacy shout but nothing came.

Estate boundary?

No way I would go through this without the track

After the house I was now walking on a grassy track hemmed in by bracken which at times was taller than me. Without the track I would not have been going any further. Came to an iron gate which thankfully was not locked and before long another one which led me passed the bracken. I was pleased to have some hill views.

The OS map showed that this track should take me quite high up but it would also take me away from the summit. It was a compromise but a direct assault was not an option for me today.

Again no intention of dropping down and ascending this terrain

The track did its job also giving good views of a couple of waterfalls which might flow stronger later in the week if the predicted rain arrives.

On the climb I was surprised to find that there were some serious drops into the gully on my right hand side. It gave me food for thought re whether I would have to descend this and reascend to get to the moor. I was thinking if so, pass.

The ford where I was leaving the track, no path now

Onwards and upwards until I spotted the area where I would cross the burn. Very low water flow so no problem. 

Finally got a glimpse of my objective

Boggy ground in front before so went to the right before ascending

It was time to hit a diagonal and aim for the summit which meant backtracking. Sounded straightforward and in some ways it was. But this was an undulating high moorland terrain full of peat hags and bogs. Lots of ups and downs over difficult walking terrain but I was not unused to such conditions. The summit looked a long way away at times, sometimes in view more often not, hidden by the humps of the terrain.

Young Stag

After about half an hour I was almost there and with just the final slopes to climb I spotted some red deer on the top, at least one stag and 3 hinds. I had walked past plenty of deer droppings so nice to see the culprits. A Painted Lady butterfly flew by, my first sighting for a couple of years so another plus.

Finally I arrived at the cairn, just as the wind picked up and a squally shower smacked me in the face. Good timing!

Looking towards Beinn Dearg hills

Rain showers coming from the Fannichs

Although the long distance views were spoiled with the cloudy misty weather they were still more than passable and would be excellent on a clear air day. As it is a stand alone hill there was much to see. The nearby Fannichs, across the way Ben Dearg hills, Assynt Corbetts, An Teallach and much more.

Arrived back above the ford

I thought about a circular but decided to return the same way. The tramp back over the moor seemed quicker than the ascent. It was still the same undulating terrain but at least I was clearer re my destination. One slight difference was that I had stayed higher but this made little difference until I made a straight line descent back to the ford.

Now on easy street so a slower wander down the track taking in the views back down to Ullapool.

Purple Beech trees had been planted all over the estate

I think this is an Azure Hawker

Speckled Wood

Back on level ground the final section of the ramble was a festival of stunning colour: foliage, butterflies and dragonflies.

Golden Ringed dragonfly

Painted Lady with a damaged left wing

Red Admiral

Common Blue

So once again a lesser fancied hill turned out to be a fine ramble. And it was a short one so time left to take the good lady for a drive for coffee and cake, I had earned my slice of sweetness.

Ascent: 584m

Distance: 8.7km

Time: 3.09

Wildlife: Painted Lady; Ringlet; Small White; Red Admiral; Peacock; Speckled Wood; Blue dragon fly? Brown dragon fly?: Raven; Meadow Pipit; Red Deer; Spotted Flycatcher; House Martin; Siskin; Robin;

A short hike for outstanding views.....Craig Varr

Hill: Craig Varr

Type: n/a

Height: 515m

I had permission to escape the family holiday for a morning so the short, steep but scenic viewpoint of Craig Varr was my choice. Walkhighlands describes the views as sensational so I looked forward to seeing them for myself.

I began my ramble from the attractive small village of Kinloch Rannoch from which I planned a clockwise circuit.

The old signpost showed a choice of routes thankfully including mine. Sadly this is another hill which is covered in bracken and I assumed/hoped that there would be a track through it.

Almost missed the cut off at the hydro building. The waterfall might be spectacular at other times but was a just a trickle today. Although the track narrowed in places it was mostly clear but brushing against the bracken I mentally noted to check for ticks later.

A zig zag pattern made it a bit easier but even though I was getting good views over Loch Rannoch I was glad when I came out of the trees and met the other end of the hydro track. I later found out that I could have extended my walk at the beginning to reach this point.

I now had a good view of my destination just a short tramp away across the moor. As I walked alongside a broken dyke I could see a higher ridge on the left of Craig Varr that had a few large cairns which I decided I would explore later.

En route I passed a style which I would use for my descent track.

An eroded narrow track took me up to to the crags of Craig Varr and time to take in the views but before doing so it was gilet time as a cool wind was blowing.

The views certainly did not disappoint for a small amount of effort I could see far and wide.

The obvious starting point was looking down on the village the layout very interesting. Then the eye is led on to Loch Rannoch with the peaks of Glencoe beyond and even Ben Nevis.

I took a short stroll across the top where I had now had views of Schiehallion (summit in cloud), Dunalastair Water and in the distance Loch Tummel.

Intrigued by the cairns I crossed the rough ground of the ridge to find four of them dotted along the ridge, the last being the highest point of the ramble. 

It looked like they had been built with the stones from another degraded stone dyke. One might have been a shepherds marker cairn but it made no sense to have 4 of them in such a short space.

From up here I could see the cairn/trig on top of Beinn a’ Chuallaich, a Corbett I bagged a couple of years ago. I could also see the estate track that I used for a good bit of that ascent. I remembered seeing a herd of red deer that day but none today.

Then the big fright of the day as a pair of Euro fighter jets suddenly appeared and flew low directly over my head, what a noise head pounding but as quickly as they appeared they were gone. There has been much low flying this week, preparing for the Russkies!!

As I was heading down the estates sheep population were on the move and heading in my direction. After the noise of the jets I now had the lesser but constant bleating of sheep, hundreds of them. There were half a dozen shepherds and I counted 8 dogs so this was a major round up. It was fascinating to sit for 10 minutes and watch it unfold although I am not convinced just how much control the handlers had of the dogs. There was a lot of shouting and a few confused dogs but still it was a countryside spectacle worth watching.

Back and over the style a short grassy track led me to the woods. A couple of sheepdogs started following me before angry voices turned them back up the hill where plenty more sheep were waiting to be gathered.

Although the final section was through the birch woods where I had lost the views I had some wildlife interest with two species who not that long ago were scarce in Scotland. I had noticed fresh pine martin scat, bilberry berries the main component. Most were on the grassy track but several were scent markers on stones. Sadly did not see any probably sleeping.

Speckled Wood

Next I had speckled wood butterflies enjoying the warmth of the sun that had now arrived as well as rising to see off rivals or attract a mate. These were almost unknown in Highland Scotland until the 1990’s. Sadly the only live for a week at most so these ones are long since departed.

Shortly after that when turning a corner on the zig zag I came across 8 sheep staring up at me, the dogs had been on the right track after all.

Although this was a short ramble it delivered everything I wanted. A workout, great views and wildlife.

Ascent: 481m

Distance: 6.1

Time: 2.17

Wildlife: Raven; Buzzard; Wheatear; Meadow Pipit; Chaffinch; Speckled Wood;