A New Peak

Some of The Diary's readers may remember the days when small things which we almost take for granted today seemed very special - like the once-a-week bottle of wine (Liebfraumilch or Mateus Rose) to go with the meal on a Saturday night. It's a bit like that with the sun here at the moment.

All the forecasts we use - Yr.no, XCWeather and magicseaweed - promised that yesterday would be different from the run of 'weather' we've been enjoying, so we planned a long walk, both horizontally and vertically, to take full advantage of it. As with most of our walks, there had to be a target, something we hadn't reached before, so we chose what The Diary now calls Beinn na Seilg II, the un-named 310m hill immediately to the north of Beinn na Seilg (344m).

To reach it, we had to cross the ridge of Druim na Gearr Leacainn and drop down into the valley of the twin lochans before climbing into the saddle between Beinn na Seilg and Stacan Dubha - pictured, above, across one of the lochans. We then turned west, climbing across terrain that became increasingly rough and rocky until we reached the summit of Beinn na Seilg II. Although it was a better day, by that time the sun was only out for 50% of the time, and the wind, from the northwest, had risen to force five and turned distinctly chilly.

With the peak of Beinn na Seilg staring down on us, and only 24m higher, it seemed a waste not to reach it, so we dropped down into the intervening valley and scrambled up to the summit. By that time the wind was unpleasant so, each of us having placed a lump of rock on the summit cairn, we slid down the steep, southern slope into the twin lochan's valley again, and slogged our way home over Druim na Gearr Leacainn.

The last of the heather is dying on the hills, though there are some patches which are still bright with colour; and our efforts were rewarded in another way, when an eagle hung motionless, effortlessly, for minutes above the summit of Beinn na Seilg II.

But the main reward was, as always, the stunning, all-round views we had, this one looking from the slopes of Druim na Gearr Leacainn westwards across Kilchoan Bay to Ben Hiant.

A map of the walk area is here.