Slioch

Slioch (“the spear”) is the mountain towering above the western edge of Gleann Bianasdail. Location map here.

Seen from the south across Loch Maree, the summit plateau of Slioch is flanked by a series of triangular buttresses, and one suggested origin of the mountain’s name is that these were seen as a frieze of spears guarding the summit.



Slioch from the south

Slioch’s summit plateau is well guarded by crags on three sides. Only when seen from the south-east, above Kinlochewe village, does the walkers’ approach via the great south-east corrie of Coire na Sleaghaich become apparent.



Slioch from Kinlochewe village

The summit is the pointy bit left of centre at the top of the picture above, still dusted with snow in early May. You can see the rest of the summit ridge sweeping away to the right. In front of the summit ridge, just right of the tree in the foreground, you can see the rounded dark grey hump of Sgurr Dubh (“dark peak”, a singularly appropriate name). The ridge connecting Sgurr Dubh to the summit is a non-technical route up the mountain, and a very fine walk it is.

Starting from Incheril or Kinlochewe, you first walk through the Enchanted Woods of Loch Maree, which is a good start to any walk, and then up Gleann Bianasdail with its sparkling waterfalls and sandstone terraces. About a kilometre up Gleann Bianasdail, you leave the path and climb left (west) up the slopes of Meall Each (“hummock of the horse”) through rough grass and heather.

At about 450m altitude (about 1500 feet), the gradient suddenly eases and you get a clear view into the wide reaches of Coire na Sleaghaich. The location map in the link above will give an idea of scale. The summit is just visible on the left of the picture below and is about 2 kilometres (nearly a mile) away and about 500 metres (about 1600 feet) above you. The corrie mouth is about 1 kilometre (about half a mile) wide.



Coire na Sleaghaich from Meall Each

The ridge to your left harbours a pair of twin lochans sitting on its top, like pools on the ridgepole of a roof, roughly where the shadow line is in the picture above. The twin lochans are your next goal, and when you reach them you’re rewarded not only with the lochans, but also with a view across to the Torridon mountains in the distance.



The twin lochans and Torridon skyline

As you climb the ridge above the twin lochans, the summit cairn comes into view



Slioch summit from the ridge

Thread your way up between the ribbons of snow and the small sandstone outcrops to the summit plateau. It’s worth walking the short distance west to the west top, perched right above the crags and with a stunning view along Loch Maree and out to sea. The landmass in the distance is the northern peninsula of the Isle of Skye.



View from Slioch west top to Loch Maree and over the sea to Skye

Having got all the way up here, it’s well worth walking around the rim of the corrie to the pointed subsidiary summit of Sgurr an Tuill Bhan, from where there is a spectacular view down over Coire an Sleaghaich to Meall Each (the flat top of which is the anonymous-looking plateau centre-left in the picture below), Gleann Bianasdail and the head of Loch Maree with its woods and gorse bushes. The descent route goes down the slopes of Sgurr an Tuill Bhan back to Coire an Sleaghaich, across the corrie to Meall Each, and then reverses the ascent route of this morning.



View to Coire an Sleaghaich, Glean Bianasdail and the head of Loch Maree from Sgurr an Tuill Bhan.

Gleann Bianasdail

Way back in January I posted some photographs of the Enchanted Woods of Loch Maree. The next stage of the walk takes you into lovely Gleann Bianasdail (yes, it has taken me a long time to get around to posting the next photos; life is like that). For a location map, click here.

Over the course of its 4-5 km length (approximately 3 miles or so), Gleann Bianasdail falls from about 320 m altitude (approximately 1000 feet) at the shores of Lochan Fada (“the long lochan”) to near enough sea level on the shore of Loch Maree. Most of the rock in the glen is Torridonian sandstone, a handsome red-purple sedimentary rock laid down in thick strata around 1000 million years ago. Still more or less horizontal, the strata form a series of terraces, with the river sweeping from side to side around sandstone walls...


















.... or leaping down the terraces in a succession of sparkling waterfalls...
























....sometimes carving a steep-walled miniature gorge....


















.... until the waterfalls give way to rapids in the flatter terrain at the foot of the glen


View downstream from the footbridge across the river at the foot of Gleann Bianasdail

The Enchanted Woods of Loch Maree

Happy New Year to everyone. The year has turned, the solstice is ten days past, and the days are - just - perceptibly lengthening towards the distant spring. As a reminder of spring to come, here are some pictures of the woods along the north side of the Kinlochewe River and Loch Maree in the North-West Highlands of Scotland, taken in early May 2009.

For a location map, click here. Starting at the car park near the school in Incheril (south-east corner of the map, if I have got the link right), the path runs along the north bank of the Kinlochewe River and then the north shore of Loch Maree.

Not only is it the approach route to the mountain of Slioch (which was our destination and which I may post more about later), it's a beautiful walk in its own right. All along the north shore of the river and loch are stands of old woodland, cloaked in velvet moss and starred with primroses on a bright spring day. It's an enchanting place, the sort of wood that really ought to have fairies living in it.


Sunlight in the woods














The path climbs to cross a knoll, with the Kinlochewe River below















A not-quite fallen tree leans out over the river


















Cute little pony in the pastures near Incheril