The Ridges of Beinn na h-Imeilte - 1

We've often driven along the road that leads past Lochan na Crannaig, the lochan of the crannog, and The Sonachan Hotel to Portuairk, and looked across the valley to our right to the series of ridges that run northwest-southeast, the highest of which is Beinn na h-Imeilte.  Yesterday morning, with the forecast promising bright sunshine but a drizzly rain persisting, we decided to chance the weather and explore the area.

We parked the car near the turn to the Old School House at Achosnich and walked along the track as far as the bridge, leaving the road and striking eastwards into the rough ground.  The photo above looks back along the line of the ridges to the small township of Achosnich.

This whole area was burnt in a huge moorland fire in April - Diary report here.  The areas of flat land, which were damper at the time, now show no signs of the fire, while the still-charred steeper slopes are beginning to recover.  Young heather plants are well-established - look closely in the picture and you'll see one small heather in late bloom - while there are masses of small, broad-leaved shrubs growing, some of which may be cowberry, but the most successful plant is a coarse grass which, at this time of year, is a rich yellow-orange colour.

Tucked into the side of a hill is this stone-walled structure.  Look carefully on the 1:25,000 OS map and it is marked at NM448672, but it isn't identified, so it looks like a rock outcrop - which, in a way, it now is.  It's probably an old fank, a gathering place for animals, with a larger enclosed area at this end, and a smaller one at the far end.  The walls are high and well-built.

We had been asked by an Ormsaigmore crofter to keep an eye open for some missing ewes if we were in the area.  Apparently they had moved northwards after the fire to enjoy the better grazing, and hadn't come home again.  We found nine that fitted the description, all looking extremely guilty.

As always with walking in this beautiful area, the higher we climbed the more magnificent the views became despite the continuing poor weather.  As we worked our way southeast along the ridges, climbing down into the next valley and higher onto the next ridge, we looked directly down onto The Sonachan Hotel and the Kilchoan-Portuairk road.  To the right of the hotel is the Community Garden with its new polytunnel, the last one having been destroyed in a gale last winter.

An interactive map of the area is here.