Stallachan Dubha - 1

Kilchoan is dominated by Ben Hiant, Beinn Shianta, the Blessed Mountain. To its left is the long ridge called Beinn na h-Urchrach, the hill of the cast or throw, but the two little peaks to Ben Hiant's right, Stallachan Dubha, the overhanging black rocks, are less well-known. They have always reminded The Diary of the nasal orifices of some great, prehistoric crocodile.

The easiest approach is from the Kilchoan to Camas nan Geall road, parking in the little quarry at NM552642 at the top of the Basin, and then walking southwestwards, diagonally upwards and across Ben Hiant's steep southeast-facing slopes. It's rough walking, but the views simply become more and more spectacular the higher one climbs.

We paused at the base of the first of Stallachan Dubha's peaks and looked back towards the scree slopes below the ridge that is Ben Hiant. The mountain is formed of a hard porphyritic dolerite which was intruded as part of the Centre 1 activity of the great Ardnamurchan volcanic complex - full details of its geology are in a pdf file here.

This picture is a continuation of the previous one, showing how the ridge rises to form the summit of Ben Hiant. The land is covered in coarse grass and heather, with relatively few stands of bracken. It belongs to Ardnamurchan Estate, and supports a few sheep and their lambs.

Stallachan Dubha consists of no less than three small peaks separated by open saddles, the westernmost being marginally the highest. From it, there are magnificent views eastwards along Loch Sunart. At lower left in the picture is Camas nan Geall, with the Ardslignish peninsula beyond it, and, in the right distance Oronsay Island and the entrance to Loch Teacuis, a sea loch which runs south from Loch Sunart into Morvern.

Looking in the opposite direction, the whole of Kilchoan and Ormsaigbeg are laid out below. Click on the photograph and Mingary Castle, the Cal Mac pier and Kilchoan Bay are all clearly visible, with the island of Coll lying along the horizon.

A map of the area, with an arrow on Stallachan Dubha, is here.