Beinn Sgluich.

Alex.


Saturday 11th June

This was the weekend of Alistair`s final munro in Glencoe.We`ll  fill you in on that one later.My continuing foot problem forced me to miss out on the hill and seek out a low level alternative.
I set out towards Loch Linnhe with no particular idea of what I was going to do.Parked at Dalnatrat and noticed a new cycle track on the shores of the loch...just the thing I thought.It was a lovely morning.....

Followed it down the lochside only to find out that it crossed the road after a few hundred yards and continued through the trees with no views to be had.Had a quick look at the map to see what else was on offer and noticed there was an old right of way marked going from Salachan Glen to Glen Stockdale.I`ll see how it goes I thought to myself.To tell the truth it was as boring as the map suggested.Up a landrover track surrounded by sitka plantations before  a hunt around for the start of the path where fortunately some kind soul had tied a ribbon to a tree or it would have proved hard to find.Small Rights of Way markers were pinned to the odd tree ...

Nice easy going found me at the edge of the forest with no complaint from the foot so I decided to take a right turn and head up to Beinn Sgluich which looked like it must have a good view :) An added advantage was that I wouldn`t have to hitch a lift back to the car

Kerrera from high up on the slopes of Sgluich....

Quite a few golden plovers around...

The ground was bone dry and I continued in my trainers with the boots in my rucksack in case of boggy ground.The ground looked as if I should be sinking into it but the area is limestone and as such was well drained.Didn`t take long to get onto the summit ridge where I wandered along to the south west top for the views....

The northern tip of Lismore and the south west top of Beinn Sgluich...

Down the Firth of Lorne...

Zoomed shot of the houses at Port Ramsay on the northern tip of the island of Lismore.....

Sat around for an hour or so enjoying the sunshine before heading back north to the summit.A bank of cloud had been building up to the west but it quickly passed but not before hitting Lismore with a squall or two.....

A bit of a surprise to me was the view of the Aonach Eagach which I wasn`t expecting to see from down here.....

The view northards over Ardsheal Hill and the Corran narrows.....

Took my time going downhill and pottered about looking for some of the Stockdale caves but only found a huge cavern formed by a landslip.The decomposing sheep at the bottom dissuaded me from going down though I suspect Martina would have been made of sterner stuff if she was there :o)
The foot gradually got sorer and more tiresome on the way back down the track but it was worth it.
A bottle of wine back at the Blackrock party helped as well :)