Cow Hill Fort William but are there coos?

After my recent exploit’s the legs were feeling a bit stiff so they needed a bit of exercising. But not too much as I have the big Ben outing in a couple of days. Also Mrs wanted to come along so reasonably gentle walk required. A study of local walks showed a good possibility, traversing around the loop of Cow hill along with the summit diversion, this could be done easily from the house. Now, the only question is in the name of the hill, does it have any of my nemesis, coos, time will tell?

Sunshine and showers yet again so annoyingly waterproofs donned from the start. An uphill walk got height gained quickly even before we reached the formal start along an old drovers road. Most people will start the walk from the Glen Nevis car park side but this side suited us just fine.

A solid track takes us inland, the aerial mast on top of Cow Hill can be seen and we soon reach the circuit junction, choice left or right? We chose to the right mainly because the views to the west were spectacular as the rain and light created an ever changing vista. Through the gap in the hills looking towards Kinlochleven and down the loch the air cleared and then the next shower could be seen racing in from the west. Frustrating, especially when looking behind back across Loch Lhinnie, Meall an-t Slamain and its Corbett, Stob Coire a’Chearcaill, appeared to be permanently bathed in sunshine.

Still the Ben is starting to show itself, it is huge and imposing. We take it all in as we divert from the loop to take the track up to the mast and the top of Cow Hill. 

A closed gate looms ahead with a big yellow sign, warning, I can guess what this is about, yip coos ahead. We clamber over the style a follow the track. As we progress there are lots of coo pats and the further on we go the fresher they are, steaming and covered in flies. There is all this grass and heather around yet they always want to walk on the track, amazing. 

The track twists and turns for a mile or so, I keep waiting to see the huge shape when we turn a corner but we reach the top without being ambushed. One side of the mast it is their path and is so churned up, so deep and boggy so we forget that side but the other allows you to get past and there are outstanding views of Loch Lhinnie and Fort William, well worth the short effort.

On the way back we reach the stile without seeing a coo, where were they? The views of the Ben are fantastic, come on Thursday. At least 2/3rds of it the top section is fully immersed in cloud and no doubt will be the same for me. A large number of ant like figures can be seen spread out along the trail, it really is a popular tourist hill.

We now continue to follow the yellow loop trail which takes us into the forest, a red tent, all set up, can be seen well into the trees an odd place to escape to. An MTB rider comes past, a good trail for them. The sun briefly breaks through, should we take off the waterproofs? No. A bench provides a break in the trees and a final view up the glen. A small flock of long tail tits are almost within touching distance, very attractive birds.

As we continue to follow the circuit there are good views of the industrial sectors of Fort William to keep you interested. A few helicopters around today, including a Chinook heading west via the loch. The final section back to the junction was a little bit of a trudge but at least the rain was off for now. The views are still excellent and if wanted there are cut off options down into Fort William.
An excellent short walk that did just what was required. With the weather I expected this to be a lot busier but not too many tourists to be seen.
Time: 3 hours 15min.
Ascent: 1476 feet (450m)
Distance: 7.56 miles (12.17km)