2013 - When shall we three meet again?

Seeking alternative accommodation, we asked the kindly receptionist if there were any bunkhouses available locally. She promptly told us that there was a excellent hostel a couple of miles up the road and that the owner would be coming in to the hotel later that evening. Suitable encouraged by this good news we settled down with a beer and a tasty meal of soup of the day followed by steak & ale pie and veggies.

True to her word she pointed us out to Dave Neville who runs the Sail Mhor Croft Hostel at Camusnagaul near Dundonnell. Dave welcomed us with the news that space was available and we could occupy bedroom no 1. 

So after another beer we headed off to the hostel and settled in for the night on two lower sections of the two-tier bunks in the four person room No 1. 









 

Day 2 - May 14th - A quick tour of the neighbourhood.

 On our way north we had stopped in Inverness for food supplies so we didn’t need to go shopping on our first day. In view of lowering clouds we decided not to visit the tops. Instead we took a walk up the road towards Badcaul. It was dry but very gusty, so we felt a bit sorry for a ten strong gang of oilskin clad workers swarming over the framework of a Fish farm out on the white capped windswept waters of Little Loch Broom. 

 
We called in at the Northern Lights campsite but it was totally deserted and after checking the rates pinned to the door of the ablution block we started deliberating about the best plan for accommodation for the rest of the week. The weather forecasts were still unpleasant so there was not much incentive to move from the hostel providing space was available.

We continued up the road a while to a little shop to see what sort of supplies they sold. It was a typical village store with a post office and had a small selection of essential items, not that we really needed anything much. We soon headed back towards the hostel stopping only for a short stay at a handy bus shelter out of the wind. 

There we made a brew and took in the scenery over the Loch from a comfy bench outside the shelter once the wind slackened enough for Johnnie to test out his new bivvy stove. 

We got back to the hostel around 1:30 pm, after the 13Km round trip and decided that as we had spare time to go and visit Ullapool which is not too far north of Little Loch Broom.

The local scenery of Dundonnell is somewhat bleak but as we headed further north past the Falls of Mesach the views greatly improved and passing the Braemore wood they became positively beautiful, an arborial delight!. As usual, Ken with his vast plant knowledge from his former career could identify all the tree varieties that we passed by.
Emerging alongside Loch Broom we drove on to the outskirts of Ullapool, admiring the many sailing craft moored up around the town’s jetties. Also in position was a vast cruise liner that had sailed in the night before.
On the way to Ullapool we had noted a road sign saying that it was only 130 miles to John o’Groats, the most northerly point on the Scottish mainland and the furthest north either of us had been in the UK.
After a brief stop at the local supermarket for petrol and at a cash machine to collect more funds, we hove to at the Seaforth Inn alongside the ferryport and had a quiet pint of ale whilst watching the other punters eating their huge lunches that seemed to consist mainly of Moby Dick sized fish portions on small mountains of chips .

Back at the hostel we used the comprehensive self-catering kitchen facilities to prepare our usual traditional “all in stew”. It was a real touch of luxury compared to our usual cooking system of midge dodging and trying to shelter the stoves from wind on a campsite. Later on we headed down to the Dundonnell Hotel to wash our dinner down with a couple of good local ales.
Our beers were served by a charming Spanish girl, so in spite of not visiting the Pyrenees this year we did at least get chance to practice our Spanish conversational skills.

Day 3 - May 15th - Our first hill day - An Teallach

 
We arose promptly at 7 and the weather still looked a bit wild but we decided to head for An Teallach anyway as we considered that by using the Stalker path, the route would be more or less straight up and down with little navigation issues in the event of low cloud or even whiteout conditions. 

After breakfast we arrived at the trail alongside the Dundonnell Hotel at 8:40am and after Ken setting his GPS and Johnnie his Garmin watch, we headed up hill. Feral Goats watched us from the heather as they had been driven down to lower levels by the inclement weather. We also saw a few Red Deer on the higher slopes as we plodded along the trail.




  
The middle part of the ascent crosses some rather boggy ground which Ken was not too keen on (more of this later) but higher up we followed a deep gully system over fresh snow. The gully peters out on a sort of plateau which Johnnie remembered from his previous visit in 2009 with Colin. 

A wee cairn at the top of the gulley marked the route but beyond this all was grey and white due to the low clouds and the fresh snow cover.

The mountain forecast provided by Dave at the Hostel had indicated that there would be 20mph winds at the 900 metre level, but as we turned left and ascended several false summits along the ridge, it felt like double that and we found that our fingers were soon freezing up. 

We had to don our windproof overgloves before continuing. 

Ah! Scottish summer weather!  

As Johnnie was repeating an earlier ascent, Ken was leading up the undulating ridge and he couldn’t quite believe he had reached the top rather than another false summit.  

Clouds were down, wind was howling across the icy snow but we happily shook hands at the summit of Glas Mheall Mor 979 metres at 12:50pm.  

It was Ken’s first top on the stunning An Teallach ridge. Unfortunately for Ken, visibility was down to 100 metres or so and he would have to wait another to day to see the glorious views.

We decided on discretion in view of the wild weather and retraced our steps back to the marker cairn and sat down for a rest and to eat our lunch. 

We set up the stove for a brew but then discovered that neither of us had brought the tea bags! So, we had to be content with water to wash down our cheese and salami sandwiches. 

Then it was off down the gulley and stalker path to the road. 

We arrived back at our car just before 4:00pm and thought that a cool pint would reward our efforts of climbing up nearly 1000 metres and covering over 10 steep kilometres but the hotel bar was closed. (We later found out that they didn’t open until 6:00pm – Que lastima.)

Day 4 - May 16th - An easy day - Stac Polly

Talking to Dave and some of his other guests at the hostel the previous evening, we heard that they had been on a visit to Stac Polly (alt. Stac Pollaidh) with Dave acting as the guide and whilst we had been blasted by the elements on An Teallach, they had been sunning themselves on Stac Polly.

Get in there we thought, let’s have it, so off we drove in the same direction passing Ullapool and heading further north again. We glimpsed Stac Polly from the road and stopped to admire it’s proud prominence, thrusting steeply up out of the moors like some sort of prehistoric monster.

Leaving the main A 835 road we drove down a single track road with passing places until we reached a car park under the hill. This hill is obviously more of a tourist trap than the surrounding peaks due to it’s easy access and low height (612 metres). A notice board at the car park gave information about the geology and affects of erosion on the area.