Am Faochagach

This was another unexpected trip from Drumnadrochit, this time to the north to climb a hill that, according to the SMC guidebook, involved a tricky river crossing. It was Howard who reasoned that this might the moment to tackle this, given several months of relatively low rainfall. The weather wasn’t bad, once a brief early morning shower had passed. By the time we had driven up to Loch Glascarnoch it was almost sunny, and the Deargs were partially clear. The "boggy pathless ground" turned out to have a path across it, and wasn’t too boggy either.

The path took us right to a point on the Abhainn a' Gharbhrain where Howard and I managed to cross with dry feet. Alasdair found an alternative crossing upstream, but Dan gave up and waded across - so the towel I'd brought for such an eventuality proved useful after all.

Lochan a

Looking up Coire Lair from the lochan

After a brief rest while Dan dried his feet and got his boots back on, and we all took pictures of the lochan, we set off up the hillside, mostly by the side of a burn, on a reasonable path, getting nice views back towards the Fannaichs.

As we climbed the clouds continued to clear and we got some good views of the Beinn Dearg group across Coire Lair. Once we were up on the ridge the walking was easy and very pleasant. There were more views, too - we could see Ben Wyvis to the south-east, for example.

Once we reached the flattish summit we went on down out of the wind a bit, had our lunch, then lay on the lovely soft moss which just seemed to invite a siesta! We could see the Fannaichs and the Deargs, of course, but also An Teallach, the Fisherfields, Seana Braigh and even - a lovely surprise - Stac Polly, Cul Mor, Cul Beag and Suilven.

After a leisurely stay on the top we returned by the same route. By now it was getting hazy, but still fairly sunny. Back down at the Abhainn a' Gharbhrain we all managed across at the best crossing point, then kept to the path all the way to the car.

On the way back we stopped for tea and cakes at the Aultguish Inn. As Alasdair was careful to point out, visits to tea-shops had been sadly lacking up till now on this trip.

Back at Milton we had a sixsome photo with Bob and Rhona, followed by a five course meal (!) in which Howard attempted to use up as many leftovers as possible. Then we wandered round Milton for a bit. We were pretty much packed up ready to leave in the morning by the time we went to bed.