Skip to main content

Ben Hiant

Ardgour is often overlooked as it doesn't have any Munros but what it does have is some absolutely fantastic hills with very rugged terrain. Sandy, who had joined us for the day, admitted he'd never even thought of venturing over this direction. The weather was playing ball for once, the rest of Scotland appearing to be under cloud according to the forecast. A few options were bandied about over breakfast but we decided to head far west towards Ardnamurchan Point for Ben Hiant and boy what a good decision that was. Nick Williams Pocket Mountains West Highlands was Steve's inspiration for our route but this day was more about going out and heading where we fancied.

The bay at Camas nan Geall where we started was idyllic with the coos drinking from the loch. There were a couple of enclosures one of which had a really old standing stone with a cross on it. No one is sure how old the stone is but there is a suggestion that it could be Bronze Age, more info here. Stupid here didn't bother taking a photo as she was too busy looking at the cows on the beach!! Ah well.


As you can see it was just glorious weather as we headed over towards the next bay Port a' Chamais.



We were having a great time wandering, enjoying the views and messing about with the stuff we found on the beach.





Enough messing, time to head up hill and it was a bit steep. We were treated to loads of deer on the horizon too as we wandered up. What I wasn't expecting when we reached a wee plateau just below the summit was the view out to Eigg and Rum - the photo doesn't do it justice. I was so excited that I was jumping about like a loon and the boys were wondering what I was on!!

A hazy Rum & Eigg in the background 

Over towards Ardnamurchan Point 

 
On the summit of Ben Hiant 

From the summit we were able to see the extensive cloud that was covering the rest of the country and were very glad to be where we were. The views were breathtaking. We were also able to see the path that winds it way down the north east ridge to the road, the route given in the SMC Corbett book. This was our way down and where Sandy found himself in perilous danger!! ;-)


Yet another stunning day on the hill :-D

Comments

  1. Looks like you guys had a fab day out - good choice of weather for the weekend!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Well we couldn't have gone much further west except out to Ardnamurchan Point. That's for another day

    ReplyDelete
  3. I'd have been leaping around like a mad thing with that view of Rhum and Eigg too! Thanks for an inspiring post -- you've pushed a return to Ardgour higher up my "list"...

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks Paul
    Mmmm yes the "list"
    So many hills & places, not enough time. Unless of course I win the lottery ;-)

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Salomon Mission GTX Boot

I've had these on a few times now and so far they are just what I've been after to get me through the winter for most of my days out. Salomon describe them as being perfect for "light hiking" - take that whatever way you want ;-) They come in at 1210g for the pair and feel fairly easy on the feet. They've handled saturated grassy stuff without me applying the famous arse plant (so far!!). They even seemed to be OK on rocky stuff too. Where I have been really impressed with them is how they handled the snow on Na Gruagaichan. It was hard enough that we were kicking steps. This was easy enough for Steve in his Scarpa SL's and Iain in his La Sportiva Nepals. Initially I followed their steps then decided to give it a go myself. I occasionally had to kick a couple of times on some of the really hard stuff, probably more down to my poor technique than the boot, but they managed well on the cover we had for the ascent. As my balance is rubbish I decided to apply...

Creag Meagaidh MISSION ACCOMPLISHED

Creag Meagaidh has been on the to do list for so long. The past couple of years have seen us have to abort at least three attempts at the last minute because conditions weren't for us. So were we going to get it done this time................. YES  The weather bods said mostly dry with a risk of potential showers later in the day.  It was warm so even if it did rain it would be warm.  Off we set having smothered ourselves in factor 50 and Smidge. Warm they said.......... baking I said!!!! We had decided our ascent would be via Coire Ardair and The Window to ease us into the walk on a good path.  It felt more like a slow roasting.  It is a gorgeous walk out to Coire Ardair on a very good path but as soon as we were out of the forest the heat and humidity kicked in.  When we reached Lochan Coire Ardair there was only one thing on my mind, getting my boots off and getting in.  It was at this point I began having major doubts as to whether we woul...

Ben Lomond

Storm Hannah tried to wreck the planned Craggy walk to Ben Lomond. Thankfully, she had moved off quickish to allow the walk to be rescheduled to Sunday.  For once wind was not going to be an issue, all the makings of a good hill day.  So off we trotted.  While there were only a few folk heading in the same direction as us, there seemed to be a constant stream coming down Ptarmigan.  I suspect this is a result of the route description in Walk Highlands.  My body was having issues at moving at anything more than snail pace, earning me the title of Pace Setter of the Day for keeping us at a steady 1.9km/hr.  I have to thank the gang for being super patient on what was a longer than anticipated ascent of Ptarmigan.  We had some Ptarmigan Ridge virgins in our midst, some requiring reassurance from Steve "trust me" Morley. Plus Quote of the Day 1 from Carol "so where's this ridge we're doing?" ( said at approx 700m on said ridge ) We eventua...