The Crater Rim

Viewed from space, the western end of the Ardnamurchan peninsula looks as if it's been hit by a meteorite, leaving a huge crater.  In fact, this circular structure is the eroded remains of the guts of a great volcano that erupted some sixty million years ago.

In Mid-July we set off to climb the southeastern wall of the 'crater'.  As always, we had a target in mind, in this case to explore three lochans and an un-named peak.

The easiest way up the crater wall is to follow one of the burns that have eroded its slopes.  When we were there a month ago, West Ardnamurchan was in the grip of the 2012 Drought, so it was surprising that there was any water in the burn.  But the huge boulders that have been shifted are testimony to the sheer power of the water that must funnel down this glen after heavy rain.

The low water levels in the first little lochan were further evidence of the recent drought.  The hill beyond is Meall an Tarmachain, Ptarmigan Hill.

On the other side of a low ridge, this lochan was also showing signs of low water levels.  Lying in Coire nam Bothan, this is a local feature to which the Ordnance Survey hasn't given a name.

The main object of our walk was Lochan na Cloiche, which literally means lochan of stone.  Perhaps it was called this because it is so shallow.  In the distance is the northeast wall of the 'crater', with the hill called Meall an Fhir-eoin, the hill of the bird man, at centre.

The hill we climbed after visiting the lochan lies to the right of this picture, a bald, rocky outcrop with steep sides.

Near its summit, as so often happens, there is this little rock pool.  It's one of the mysteries of this place that so many such pools seem to form high in the hills, in places where one would expect them to drain away quickly.  This one even seemed unaffected by the drought.

From the summit we looked northwards to a lochan we had visited a few days before, Lochan an Dobhrain - see post here - with more un-named hills to the right and beyond it.  All of this country is formed of the hard igneous rocks of the ring dykes, the rock outcrops smoothed by the recent glaciation.

Finally, we looked westwards, straight across the 'crater' to the little township of Achnaha, lying in sunshine, and the opposite crater wall, with the summit of Meall Sanna.

We started from the Sanna road.  As the crow flies, our walk was about 6Km, but it was so up-and-down, and across such rough terrain, that it felt far more.  A map of the area is here.