18 August 2024
The forecast was for a mainly dry day with a good chance of cloud free summits and so right up until the morning of this adventure I had been ready to ascend two Munros from Glen Affric: Tom a’Choinich and Toll Creagach, walking between the two peaks along an exposed ridge. However, that morning the wind forecast on the peaks was for gusts above 50mph. I was persuaded to revert to my bad weather option. As we drove along the road up Glen Affric, I saw some people in the car park near Chisholme Bridge who looked as though they were planning a serious walk and at that moment I wished that my husband would stop the car so that I could follow the route up the mountains. However, he firmly continued to drive and dropped me off in the car park further on from where I could complete a circuit of Loch Affric.
The information that I had collected beforehand and further information I had gathered from talking to the owner of our guest house was that the more difficult path which had potential to be flooded and impassable was on the north of the loch. Hence I decided to tackle that side first to avoid the risk of being more than halfway round the circuit and needing to retrace my steps.
Soon after I started, three bikes overtook me – the riders were just using the bikes to get as far as they could before leaving them to ascend on foot to a summit. They had completed a high level route the previous day and didn’t think it was any more windy today. This did nothing to avert my disappointment at not heading for the mountains.
The only consolation was that I could enjoy the magnificent mountain scenery all around me without walking through a gale.
The first main stream crossing over Allt Coire Leachavie was bridged. Just before the second major stream crossing over Allt Caulavie (unbridged) there was a wild camper still in his tent. It was a wonderful spot and he told me that he had woken early to enjoy a superb sunrise, before falling back to sleep. He seemed rather shocked to realise it was already 11am! The crossing on the path here was wide and shallow so I didn’t even get wet feet.
I passed beyond the end of the loch before reaching the junction of my path with the Affric Kintail Way. A left turn here took me on a mainly gravel track all the way along the south side of Loch Affric and back almost to the car park where I had been dropped. The entire circuit had only taken me four hours as the path was clear and there were no significant navigational issues.
In the meantime, my husband had decided to potter around in the vicinity of the car park and take photographs. His plantar fasciitis meant he had to avoid too much walking for it to resolve. By chance, I met him on the path leading up to the car park and we agreed that I could continue my low level walk along the south side of the second loch: Loch Beinn a’ Mheadhain, to a car park about 7-8 miles further up the glen. This was also a scenic walk with views of the mountains to the north, including the two that I had wanted to climb.
We still had time at the end of the day to drive through the preserved estate village at Tomich and then on a narrow, pot holed and partially unsealed road to the car park near Plodda Falls. These falls had also been part of the estate of Lord Tweedmouth, a rich brewer and Liberal MP who bought the estate from Laird Fraser in 1856.
We walked to some viewpoints and viewing platforms to see the spectacular 46 metre high cascading waterfall amongst a background of towering trees including Douglas fir and redwoods. This was definitely a sight worthy of a visit.
I’m still disappointed that I didn’t go up the mountains, particularly as it didn’t seem very windy all day. Nonetheless the low level walk and the visit to the waterfalls made for an interesting adventure. In reality it will have doubtless been much more windy on the mountains and the glen was very sheltered from any wind. I will have to return….
Where's Kathryn? 