May Hill (296m), Ruardean Hill (290m) and Wentwood (309m) 15th July 2010

Looking to the summit of May Hill

 

May Hill (296m)

This hill is located in west Gloucestershire, between Gloucester and Ross-on-Wye. I started the ascent from May Hill village, leaving the car at 1.40 pm. Most of the walk was accomplished by following the Gloucestershire Way, a well signposted and broad track. Lower down the hill was well wooded, whereas on entering the higher part of the hill, owned by the National Trust, the terrain became more meadow like. May Hill is recognisable from many hills on account of the clump of trees at the summit, and it was towards this that I headed for. A trig lay by the clump of trees, although I felt the summit lay inside the clump. It took 35 minutes to get to the top and there was an extensive view: the Cotswolds, the River Severn, the Malverns, the Sugar Loaf, and the Black Mountains were all in view. Although I was in the sunshine, it looked dark and stormy to the west. I knew a front was on the way, so I didn’t linger, but instead hurried back to the car. The whole walk took 55 minutes.

  A hazy view of the Black Mountains

 

Ruardean Hill (290m)

This hill lies near the Forest of Dean but the village of the same name lies at the summit, meaning that this hill is a bit like a rural  version of Crowborough. I parked in the village by the recreation ground and walked the few yards to the green which is the summit. From the recreation ground there was a view of the Forest of Dean and from a nearby field I saw the Black Mountains. However, apart a quick “ascent” this hill had nothing to commend it.

  The summit of Ruardean Hill

 

Wentwood (309m)

This hills lies in the forest of Coed Gwent in Monmouthshire and offers a short and easy walk to the summit. I parked in the Cadira Beeches car park and started walking at 4.10 pm. I followed a broad, straight forestry track, across a minor road and near the trig took a path to the summit. There was no view as the top is in the forest, so I retraced my steps to the car, arriving at 4.50 pm. Despite the lack of a view I found this quite a pleasant walk.

The summit of Wentwood

Cnoc Mor (269m)

Cnoc Mor

 

Chris and I decided to climb this little hill near Strathpeffer on our way back to England. There is a car park in the forest at the bottom of the hill, on the outskirts of the town and we started walking from here at 10.30 am. Initially we followed a well made track and we could see a path climbing up the side of the hill but in order to get to this path we had to cross some felled forestry, which had obliterated the path. Once we reached the path it climbed steeply up the hill and then took a traversing line. It seemed to snake all around the hill before heading for the trig point. At the top there were views between the trees of the Black Isle, the Strath Conon hills and a cloud capped Ben Wyvis. We didn’t stay long at the top before descending by the side of a fence. This was a more direct line down the hill and connected with the path we had ascended on. We followed this path and the track back to the car, reaching it at 11.30 am. There was a house near the car park with some amazing life size wood carvings in the garden, of people and animals, and we were both impressed with these. After getting to the car we had the long drive to England.

 

Chris approaching the trig point

 

One of the wood carvings

Meall a’Chrasgaidh (934m), Sgurr nan Clach Geala (1093m) and Sgurr nan Each (923m) 6th June 2010

The walk in

 

Meall a’Chrasgaidh (934m)

These three Munros are in the Fannaichs, although only one is a Marilyn, but Chris and I decided they would be a good objective for a cloudy and humid day. The car was parked at a large parking area on the Gairloch road, near Loch a’Bhraoin. We started walking at 10.15 am and soon bumped into Rob Woodall, who had just climbed these hills and the nearby Corbett Tops and was on his way back. We took the track that headed towards Loch a’Bhraoin and then took the path that branched off this and headed for the pass between Sgurr Breac and Sgurr nan Clach Geala, alongside the Allt Breabaig. Shortly after fording this river we left the path and started the climb up Meall a’Chrasgaidh. It was steep and hard work, we were soon in the cloud and rain was in the air. We reached the summit at 12.50 pm and sat by the cairn in the mist eating our lunch.

 

Chris at the trig on Sgurr nan Clach Geala

Heading for Sgurr nan Each

 

Sgurr nan Clach Geala (1093m) and Sgurr nan Each (923m)

After lunch we descended on a path, in the mist, and made a detour to Carn na Criche. Below this Munrp Top the mist cleared for a while but by the time we got to the top it had closed in again. After Carn na Criche we paid close detail to navigation, as the col was confusing in the prevailing conditions and it would have been easy to go wrong. We found a path that climb Sgurr nan Clach Geala, on a ridge that quite narrow. It fell in cliffs and crags on one side and would have been a delight in clear weather. The mist had turned drizzly and the wind had increased with the altitude and it wasn’t very pleasant. We reached the summit of Sgurr nan Clach Geala at 2.50 pm, marked by a cairn and a broken trig point. We carried on along the path up to Sgurr nan Each, the top of which we reached at 4 pm. By this stage we were anxious to be off the hill as we had had enough, but worse was to follow. On the descent to the col between Sgurr nan Each and Sgurr nan Clach Geala it started to rain heavily and despite our waterproofs we became soaked. The ground was wet underfoot and all the burns were in spate, and it really wasn’t much fun. We found a minor path and this brought us to the main path by the side of the Allt Breabaig. We crossed the river at the same point as before and noted that it was higher than it had been in the morning. It was a long trudge to the car, which we reached at 6.50 pm, but we felt we had thoroughly deserved our beer.

 

The long trudge to the car…

 

The Allt Breabaig

Beinn Enaiglair (889m) and Meall Doire Faid (730m) 5th June 2010

Meall Doire Faid from the slopes of Beinn Enaiglair

 

Beinn Enaiglair (889m)

Chris let me borrow his car today, as he was off to the Summer Isles for day, and I decided to climb Beinn Enaiglair and Meall Doire Faid with Tony. I parked the car in the car park at Braemore Junction, 12 miles south of Ullapool and we started walking at 9.55 am. It was a warm and sunny morning, although there was plenty of cloud about. A path, marked by wooden posts, climbed the hillside and views opened up quickly to the Fannaichs, the hills of the Fisherfield Forest and a mist covered An Teallach. Home Loch was a lovely sight, with a boathouse and a single Scots Pine, backed by An Teallach and the Fannaichs. The path reached a track and we had a sight of our two hills. A path branched off this track and we followed this to the bealach between Beinn Enaiglair and Meall Doire Faid. On the way we passed a beautiful waterfall plunging into a refreshing looking pool, which temped me to jump in even though I can’t swim. We left the path at the bealach and climbed the slopes of Beinn Enaiglair. The crags and scree meant that we couldn’t take a direct line but we easily found a line that avoided all difficulties. I reached the summit at 12.15 pm and Tony arrived 5 minutes later. As we arrived at the summit, mist came rolling in from the sea and obscured the view towards An Teallach. However, we did have views to the hills of Coigach and Assynt, Beinn Dearg, Ben Wyvis, Am Faocagach, the Fannaichs and the Fisherfield Forest.

 

Beinn Dearg from Beinn Enaiglair

 

An Teallach from the slopes of Beinn Enaiglair

 

Meall Doire Faid (730m)

We had lunch on the top of Beinn Enaiglair and then we descended back to the bealach. However, we didn’t take a particularly good line in descent and we ended up amongst the crags and scree. We had a rest at the bealach, before tackling Meall Doire Faid. This was much more rugged than the map indicated and we had to weave between cliffs and crags. It took a bit of route finding but we found a way through and reached the summit at 2.10 pm. The weather had cleared and An Teallach, Ben Mor Coigach and Stac Pollaidh looked fantastic in the sunshine. However, Ben Mor Fannaich was in the cloud and it looked rather stormy in that direction. After a bite to eat, we descended back to the bealach. We took a better and easier line in descent and got to the path at the bealach with no problems. We followed the path back towards the car and enjoyed amazing views to the Fannaichs, An Teallach and the Fisherfield Forest in the hot, afternoon sunshine. It seemed too soon when we reached the car at 4.15 pm. The walk had taken 6 hours and 20 minutes and we both felt it had been a fantastic day.

 

An Teallach from the summit of Meall Doire Faid

 

Beinn Enaiglair from Meall Doire Faid

 

Ben Mor Coigach and Stac Pollaidh from Meall Doire Faid