Wednesday 25 April 2012

These hills and future ascents of Humps will now be added to my web site Caeldonia Hilltreks.

Friday 18 November 2011

An Cabagach, Strathcarrob.

An Cabagach

An Cabagach, Strathcarron. Section B3.
Height – 421 metres. Map – OS Landranger 20.
Climbed - 6 November 2011. Time taken – 5.5 hours.
Distance – 14 kilometres. Ascent – 750 metres.
Trip Report Details:

Fine weather was forecasted for the North of Scotland so I decided to head for Starthcarron, reached from the village of Ardgay on the A836, with the intention of climbing the Sub 2000 Marilyns, Breac-Bheinn and Meall Dheirgidh.  I also had in mind the HuMP, An Cabagach, which would give me a circuit of Meall nan Eun and Loch Meall Dheirgidh.

It was a frosty morning as I drove west along the glen on the north side of the River Carron. Just beyond Braelangwell Wood I parked at the side of the road, directly opposite a gate in the deer fence. Once geared up I set off through this unlocked gate and along a wet and overgrown track. The track was slightly drier once away from the road and it later crossed a small stream before reaching the derelict Whale Cottage, where the roof had collapsed although the stairs were still standing.

I was expecting the track to end here but it continued north to a gate in a stock fence and then towards the Allt nan Eun. I followed the track, which was wet in places, as it headed up the glen avoiding some marshy ground close to the stream. When the track began to swing away from Breac-Bheinn and towards the north side of Meall nan Eun, I left it and dropped to the Allt nan Eun, which was easily crossed.

 I made an angled ascent of the south-west side of Breac-Bheinn trying to avoid the worst of the long vegetation. Higher up the gradient eased and I headed over some peat hags to the trig point, which I was aware wasn’t the highest point. Here I had views down Strathcarron to the Dornoch Firth. I then walked over some rough ground to the highest point where I took a break with views of the hills and glens to the north.

After my break I descended west over heathery ground aiming for the col beside the edge of the Birchfield Wood which was surrounded by a deer fence. Initially I followed this fence before making a more direct approach, over some wet ground, to the foot of Meall Dheirgidh’s East Ridge, where     I rejoined the fence which continued up the ridge. It was a steady climb and on arrival at the summit area I saw the cairn on the other side of the fence. I therefore clambered over the fence, visited the cairn and the area which was supposedly the highest point.

I returned to the other side of the fence and descended west then south as I made my way towards the head of the Allt Coire Ruchain gully. A few deer spotted me and quickly disappeared. An easy climb of the north ridge led to the summit area of An Cabagach. Here peat hags had to be worked round before I reached the highest point which appeared to be a clump of heather mixed with mosses. Despite a cool breeze I had lunch here with views of the hills around the Alladale Estate and the distant mountains of Assynt.

After lunch I crossed to the south-east knoll then followed All Terrain vehicle tracks to the house at Sgodachail and a pleasant stroll down the glen back to my car.

Photos taken on walk.

Wednesday 25 May 2011

Hill of Rothmaise, Aberdeenshire.

Hill of Rothmaise

Hill of Rothmaise, Aberdeenshire. Section J6.
Height – 261 metres. Map – OS Landranger 29.
Climbed - 22 May 2011. Time taken – 1 hour.
Distance – 2.5 kilometres. Ascent – 125 metres.
Trip Report Details:


On planning my ascents of the Marilyns, Hills of Foudland and Tillymorgan I discovered that Hill of Rothmaise, located to the east of Hill of Tillymorgan, was a HuMP. However on studying my map there was no obvious route to the summit.

After ascending Hill of Tillymorgan I drove east from Culsalmond, on the A920, then along some minor roads looking for a suitable route to Hill of Rothmaise. I observed that the summit was surrounded by trees, as was the south side of the hill, this not being shown on my map. I was about to have a second look at a westerly approach when I spotted a car parked just off the main road, around 250 metres east of the junction with the B992 road to Auchterless. (NJ682328) On investigation I discovered a small car park and a directional sign for the hill.

A heavy shower prevented me from setting off immediately and as the rain eased a man, his two children and a dog, all looking rather bedraggled, returned to their car. He was local, so I enquired about a route to the summit and was advised there were several.

I took one of his recommended routes, which was slightly west of the car park and followed a wide fire break through, as a result of the rain shower, wet grass. The fire break swung round to an easterly direction and at NJ684332 I walked up a narrower fire break where there were traces of a path. Further along this break the trees were rather close together and I had to push my way through them. This narrow fire break will not be possible in future years as the trees mature.

The fire break led to the edge of the forest which I followed uphill before re-entering the trees and walking along another wide fire break to the summit trig point. Here I sat and had lunch with views south towards Bennachie. Views in other directions were restricted due to the fir trees.

After lunch my descent was by a slightly different route as I followed wide fire breaks until they rejoined the upward route at NJ684332.

Photos taken on walk.

Sunday 15 May 2011

Meall Dearg, Assynt.

Meall Dearg

Meall Dearg, Assynt. Region B1.
Height – 163 metres. Map – OS Landranger 15.
Climbed - 3 May 2011. Time – 45 minutes.
Distance – 1.5 kilometres. Ascent – 120 metres.
Trip Report Details:

We were staying at the new camp site at Altandhu, north of Achiltibuie, and in the evening, to catch the sunset, decided to climb the nearby HuMP, Meall Dearg. I wasn’t aware of it’s classification until I checked my More Relative Hills of Britain book so this was another incentive to get up this hill. There was insufficient time to walk from the campsite so we made the short drive round to the Old Dornie single track road, located to the north of the HuMP.

On leaving my vehicle we crossed an area of ground that would normally be boggy but wasn’t a problem due to the recent spell of dry weather, before climbing through heather and dead bracken towards the rocks higher up. They were easily avoided and we soon appeared on the undulating, rough summit area with views over the Marilyn, Meall an Fheadain to Cul Mor, which was still on fire, and Stac Pollaidh, which we had climbed earlier that day.

There were a couple of cairns in the vicinity of the North Top, as was the case with the true summit further south. Here we had fantastic views of Achiltibuie, the majority of the Summer Isles and the sun dropping towards The Minch. The only downside was the unexpected chilly wind.

After taking several photographs we returned by the ascent route as the sun set.

Photos taken on walk.

Friday 25 March 2011

Creag na h-Iolaire, Assynt.

Creag na h_Iolaire

Creag na h-Iolaire, Assynt. Region A5.
Height – 357 metres. Map – OS Landranger – 15.
Climbed - 10 March 2011. Time taken – 1.75 hours.
Distance – 4 kilometres. Ascent – 275 metres.
Trip Report Details:

Another windy day in Assynt saw me scanning the map for another HuMP and discovering this 357 metre high hill to the west of the Quinag.

We drove east along the north shore of Loch Assynt to the house at Tumore where we found a parking space on the opposite, south, side of the road, and west of the dwelling. Directly opposite, a gate in the deer fence gave access to the path, signposted Glenlearaig 6.5 kilometres.

The path, which was initially wet and boggy, ran through an overgrown area but began to improve once through the second gate. We followed the path as it crossed the foot of the south-east side of Creag na h-Iolaire to the small lochan at Bealach Leireag with views of fresh snow cover on the Quinag.

From the bealach it was a steady climb of the east ridge of Creag na h_Iolaire, avoiding a few crags, to reach the summit area where we had views of the Assynt Hills and out to Loch Inver, Eddrachillis Bay and The Minch. Unfortunately the earlier brightness had been replaced by some cloud. There were a couple of areas of rock that could have been the highest point but I settled for the most northerly one.

The return was down the rough south ridge where we disturbed a large herd of deer and joined the path before the deer fence with a short wet and boggy walk back to the car.

Photos taken on walk.

Thursday 24 March 2011

Sidhean Mor, Assynt.

Sidhean Mor

Sidhean Mor, Assynt. Region A5.
Height – 161 metres. Map – OS Landranger 15.
Climbed - 7 March 2011. Time taken – 2.5 hours.
Distance – 7.5 kilometres. Ascent – 345 metres.
Trip Report Details:

We were visiting the Assynt area in the North West Highlands of Scotland but the gale and storm force winds were preventing us climbing our planned hills. With no improvement in the conditions we decided to visit the Old Man of Stoer and climb the nearby HUMP, Sidhean Mor. Well when I say visit I mean view it from the headland as it is separated from the mainland by the sea.

The car was left in the car park beside the Stoer Head Lighthouse and we followed the signed route north above the steep cliffs. It was a bright morning but very windy with good views back to the lighthouse. The sea was raging with the waves crashing against the cliffs.

A grassy gully, where sheep were sheltering, was crossed and beyond there were several trails to follow, mainly animal tracks. On reaching the projecting rock, Cirean Geardail, we had our first view of the Old Man of Stoer. On a small grassy area at the end of Cirean Geardail sheep were lying down but they didn’t look very safe, especially from the strong winds.

We descended quite steeply until we were opposite the Old Man but it was too windy to get close to the edge. The obligatory photograph was taken before continuing to the Point of Stoer where a small fence was crossed. Here there were views of the Sutherland coast, Handa Island and back to the Old Man.

To make an alternative return route we walked south over some rough ground to reach the summit of Sidhean Mor, marked by a trig point. From here we could make out the outline of Ben Stack, Arkle and Foinaven.

Afterwards we descended along the south-west ridge following a path. It later joined the access track to the telecommunication mast so we used this track to return to the car. Near the end we had to take a slight diversion to avoid cattle.

Photos taken on walk.