Keith Helliwell

I thought a return visit to Skye was long overdue and with a warm sunny forecast I planned to climb Ben Aslak, a Graham at 61om high, and it’s neighbour Beinn na Seamraig at 561m, classed as a Scottish sub-2000 Marilyn. Combining the 2 hills would give me a longer day so I loaded up the rucksack, took Mia for company, and off we went.

After driving over the Skye Bridge I took the Kylerhea single track road then parked up at the bridge over the Allt Mor, about 2 miles before the Bealach Udal.

From here a good track heads South and as I started to gain height, views to Broadford Bay began to open up.

I followed the track to it’s end to Bealach na Cruinn-leum (about 2 miles). Ben Aslak came into full view and so I took a break here to determine the route up.

I took a break when I reached the end of the track before taking to Ben Aslak’s slopes.

As I got closer I could see there were some impressive crags guarding the SW face.

I skirted the left side of the crags then headed up until I reached the ridge. It wasn’t too steep but the warm weather had me sweating. Thankfully there was a gentle breeze, so guess what ? No midges & no flies !

The ridge undulated and there were plenty of lochans for Mia to cool down in. This one was  just below the summit.

At the summit there were great views and I spent about 40 minutes just lounging about, exploring the summit area and tucking into some lunch.

Here’s a few summit pics.

I reluctantly left the summit and thought I’d return to the Bealach na Cruinn-leum near the end of the track to start my ascent on Beinn Dubh a Bhealaich then along the ridge to Beinn na Seamraig. I’d spotted this grassy ascent from high up and so I headed down towards it, avoiding those crags again on the way down.

I started the ascent which wasn’t too steep but the weather was still very warm which made it quite strength sapping. I skirted Beinn Dubh a Bhealaich’s summit and headed onto the ridge where I could just make out Beinn na Seamraig’s summit trig point & cairn in the far distance.

This wide ridge also contained lochans and there was a section which was rockier and had slabs. As I walked along I noticed a couple of walkers heading my way from the summit. We finally met and surprised to see it was people I knew, Hugh & Marlene Munro from Beauly ! As Hughie said, “It’s a small world eh”! The last time I saw them together was at their house for supper about 10 years ago when Hugh held a slide show of his mountain pics ! After chatting for a few minutes we went our separate ways. This is a photo of them further along the ridge.

As I neared the summit the ridge became very grassy and was a delight to walk on.

There’s a cairn and trig point at the summit. If the weather’s clear there are fabulous views to be had. Here’s a few summit pics.

After drinking in these wonderful views I had to force myself to head back along the ridge then traversing to the left. This next photo shows part of the grassy summit area looking back to Ben Aslak (R) & Sgurr na Coinnich (centre).

I headed left off the ridge and followed an ATV track all the way back to Bealach na Cruinn-leum then the main track back to the car.

Heading down the main track with views to Broadford Bay, we arrived back at the car and the total time had been around 6 hours.

It had been of the most enjoyable walks for quite a while and just goes to show that some of the best views can be had from some of the smaller hills.

Bye for now

Keith

Tuesday 26th June 2012

It was a good weather forecast today, dry with sunny spells, so I decided to take Mia and climb a hill in Strathconon, Ross-shire. Sgurr Marcasaidh at 580 metres is classed as a Scottish sub-2000 Marilyn. I drove over the Meig dam to Little Scatwell for the start of the walk.

As I parked my car I couldn’t help but notice dozens of damsel fly’s. I managed to take a close-up picture of one as it came to rest at my feet.

From the car I walked up the private road to Glenmarksie, an estate cottage now unoccupied.

It was quite warm and humid without a breeze as we carried on towards our target for the day and I wasn’t looking forward to the climb to gain the ridge as I knew it was going to be steep !

What a relief to finally gain the ridge and be on more level ground ! Eventually I could see the summit but it still seemed a long way off , about another kilometre. Flies had been a nuisance all the way up, as you can see from this next photo they were all over the lens ! This is looking towards the summit, just right of centre.

Almost there !

The summit trig point was reached after an undulating ridge walk and had taken just over 2 hours in total.

After devouring lunch and half a litre of tea I lingered for about half an hour taking in the views. Mia also found some water to cool off and play about in. After our usual summit pose it was time to head back down.

We headed down to Gleann Marcasaidh avoiding the crags SE of the summit following animal tracks which kept us out of the heather & bracken for the most part. Then we just followed the main track back to the car via the cottage. Just before the cottage I spotted an Anguis Fragilis (slow worm). This one was about a foot long.

Whilst I was having a good look at the slow worm, Mia decided to go and cool off in the burn !

We enjoyed the leisurley stroll back towards the car. It had been an excellent day for wildlife, one of my best yet, as I spotted a Brown Fritillary butterfly.

And so it was back to the car and a 40 minute drive home. The next walk will be this coming week-end (weather permitting) for our works summer camping trip to Glen Feshie to climb the remotest Corbett of all, Beinn Bhreac.

bye for now

Keith

Our Beauly Posties Autumn bothy weekend was to be spent at the remote Coire Mor / Magoo’s Bothy, accessed via Strath Mulzie in the NW Highlands. We finished work on  the Saturday afternoon and loaded our heavy packs into Roddy’s Landrover and drove to Corrimulzie Lodge where we would begin the walk.

It was overcast and dry as we set off but it wasn’t long before we noticed that there was fresh snow on the hills.

We had to cross the Mulzie river but thankfully the stepping stones made it just passable.

Our spirits were lifted when Coire Mor/Magoo’s bothy finally came into view. Our heavy packs included coal which would ensure us a warm cosy night there.

Once inside we soon had a roaring fire going and we set about preparing our meals.

The bothy is situated right at the foot of Carn Ban’s SE ridge and we were hoping for clear, dry weather in the morning.

Next morning Richard, Brian & I set off to climb Carn Ban whilst Roddy & Andy crossed the river to climb Seana Bhraigh. We soon gained height and the bothy began to get smaller & smaller. Can you spot it ?

It wasn’t long before we hit the snow line !

Once we levelled out,  the snow became deeper. I led the way up for a time and we were still a long way off from the summit plateau.

The cloud began to roll in as we headed up towards the plateau.

At this point it was out with the compass as Carn Ban has quite a large plateau. We took our bearing which led us straight to the summit cairn ! We looked across towards Seana Bhraigh where we hoped Andy & Roddy had made it to their summit.

We took a few summit pictures in freezing temperatures then it was time to head back down where we could warm ourselves up in the bothy before starting the walk back out. Here’s a shot of Brian with the Assynt hills in the distance.

As we headed down another snow shower hit us. Winter had certainly come early to the Highlands this year !

We finally got back to the bothy and no sooner had we got back and started to pack up, Andy & Roddy turned up within 5 minutes and reported that they had summitted.  And so we started the long walk back………….We  paused and looked back to reflect on what had been a great weekend away for our gang of 5 Beauly Posties !

Bye for now

Keith