Munros 2024 : Dingwall to Lairg

Munros this section :

Ben Wyvis

Back in Scotland.

What, more walking?  Well, this should be rather different to Spain, I am in the Highlands of Scotland, spending a month climbing more Munros, should be good exercise and given it's June, maybe there'll even be nice weather!  I start with a flight to Inverness, then a train to Dingwall, where I camp next to Ross County's football stadium.  The walking starts with a climb of course, on roads at first, then a track, which after a while abruptly disappears.  For a couple of km I struggle through some really nasty bog, at one point my right leg sinks in up to the hip.  It is a great relief to find a path again, and it leads up Ben Wyvis, the first Munro of the trip, with a fine view, out to the sea one way, and more mountains the other.  I take a stony path down, down, then follow a river for a km to my planned camp spot, but oops, seems this is the heart of the Wyvis estate.  Well, I am OK to walk a bit more, to camp up on a saddle.

Loch Glass, probably.

There are two days with no Munros now, well, the first is still very scenic, I walk past lochs, up into proper wilderness, with descents to more estates, Kildermorie, then Glencalvie, I'm not sure if I'm technically allowed to walk past the palatial buildings but nobody stops me.  My route follows the very pretty River Carron, rushing through its rocky course, sometimes on the banks are great boulders of quartz.  I camp beside the river, near one of many fishing spots.   It's nice, but the next morning I am beset by midges, well it makes for a fast start, indeed this should be a fast day, all road, and I am 6km ahead of my plan.  More lovely surroundings, I follow the river down to the sea, a substantial inlet of course, on one side Ardgay, then Bonar Bridge on the other.  From here I follow another river, the Shin, upstream for a fair distance, past the scenic Falls of Shin, where salmon will be leaping in a month or two's time, and on to Lairg.  This was meant to be my camp tonight, at a little past 2pm I have made great time to it, but sadly the campsite here is no longer taking tents, so I am booked into a place fully 6km further.  I was vaguely thinking of buying something to cook there, but an evening in a campsite in the middle of nowhere doesn't really appeal, so, I walk there and then back to Lairg.  Worth it for a nice pint or three of Black Isle Blonde, and a highland hotdog - yes, it has haggis on it.

Snug in the snug.

I take a day off, after only three days of walking, so lazy.  Well, yesterday was a bit of a slog in the end so nice to relax, wash stuff and yes, go to Lairg again.  Not a big place, but nice views of Little Loch Shin, and the dam holding back Loch Shin, which surely should be Big Loch Shin.  On the little loch is a small island with a charming Wee Hoose - allegedly a successor to a full size house and distillery, located on a rather larger pre-hydro power island a century or two ago.  As is often the way in Scotland there's a woodland walk with carved wooden animals, and I even find a second bar, the Nip Inn in the Highland Hotel.  Then back to where I ate last night, the very comfortable snug in The Pier, and a plate of tagliatelle.

Photos to go with this post can be found here.